Highland Council will not object to ‘necessary evil’ for Skye energy
Highland Council has lent its support to SSEN’s Skye reinforcement project – but only if a specific route is followed.
SSEN says the existing overhead transmission line in Skye is nearing the end of its working life. Its proposed new line is a £400 million investment in the network in one of the most remote areas of the UK.
If agreed by Scottish ministers, it will run for 110km, from Edinbane to Fort Augustus substations. The project also requires extensions to substations at Broadford and Edinbane, and the creation of a new switching station at Quoich Tee.
As a national scale development, its fate rests with the Scottish Government. Highland Council is one of the statutory consultees. The council held a joint meeting of its south and north planning committees on Wednesday March 22 and agreed not to object to the plan.
However, planning experts and local councillors agreed they could only support one specific route through Kyle Rhea – and it sets the council at odds with NatureScot.
The mood in the council chamber was a fairly practical one. Councillors welcomed the SSEN investment in the Skye network but expressed sadness at the impact on the landscape.
Councillor Drew Millar summarised: “Although it’s probably a necessary evil, there’s no doubt the visual impact will be huge.”
There were two main points of concern for local members. The first, that only a small section of the power line will be buried underground.
Mr Millar claimed that the community had expected a much larger area to be underground, and local landowners may refuse access. However, council planners said SSEN believe large stretches of underground line could cause more maintenance problems. This would mean larger substations, so there is a trade-off in terms of the visual impact.
The community also made its views crystal clear regarding the route of the power line across the Kyle Rhea. Here, SSEN offered up two options.
Option A – SSEN’s preferred route – follows the existing overhead line then heads south near Loch Alsh to the existing crossing point, utilising the existing towers north of Kylerhea village. Option B follows a more southern route down the Glen Arroch road, down the glen towards Kylerhea, traversing the hillside above the village and the ferry terminal. It would then head north through woodland to the existing overhead line’s crossing point over the Kyle Rhea.
Both options have a significant impact on the Kinloch and Kyleakin Hills Special Area of Conservation. NatureScot has objected to both, but says option B will do the least ecological damage.
However, local community councillors strongly favour option A, as does the council’s own planning service. Highland Council planners say the alternative route carries significant landscape and visual impacts.
Their recommendation to councillors was to raise no objection to SSEN’s Skye reinforcement project, on the condition that the line follows route A.
Scottish ministers will now have to weigh up the benefits and risks before reaching a decision.
However, SSEN has welcomed the council’s overall support for the project. A spokesperson said: “We welcome today’s decision by the Highland Council to support our Section 37 application for the replacement of the Fort Augustus to Skye overhead line.
“We also note the council’s clear support for our preferred alignment as the line passes Kylerhea, which is also supported by a number of our stakeholders, in particular the local community.”