Another bite taken out of the Scottish Wilderness
The Scottish government has announced it’s approval of a plan to run overhead power cables from Beauly, west of Inverness, to Denny, near Falkirk, through Britain’s largest area of arctic mountain landscape,the Cairngorms National Park.
The new lines will run for 137 miles, using pylons between 42m and 65m in height. The scheme is aimed at tackling climate change by increasing Scotland’s use of renewable energy. By 2020 Scotland’s government hopes to have 50% of it’s electrical needs met by renewable energy.
Part of the affected area will include the Cairngorms National Park, Britain’s largest national park. The Cairngorms contain the finest collection of different landforms outside arctic Canada – from granite tors to heavings and leavings from Ice Age glaciers.
Ramblers Scotland president Dennis Canavan described it as “an act of sheer vandalism.”
Although the line may run as far as 50 miles past Aviemore, it will surely be a topic for discussion at the Adventure Travel Trade Association’s world summit in October this year.
