Scotland’s energy minister has yet to meet any of the 20 North east community groups along the 400kV Kintore to Tealing route, it has emerged.
SSEN Transmission is planning a corridor of giant pylons and substations between Aberdeenshire and Angus, in order to connect offshore wind energy to the grid.
The 70-mile, 400kV line will contribute to the Scottish Government’s 2030 carbon net zero road map — but the overland route has been criticised by campaigners who have called for underground or marine transmission as the default.
Busloads of campaigners from across the north and northeast of Scotland demonstrated outside the Scottish Parliament on May 2.
Most of the groups have asked SNP Aberdeenshire East MSP Gillian Martin to correspond with them over fears the route will over-industrialise communities along the path of pylons, substations and turbines.
And First Minister John Swinney said he was “sure” she would meet campaigners.
Now, Scottish parliamentary answers have revealed Ms Martin has not met any of the 13 affected community councils or seven local campaign groups along the route. She says she “currently has no plans to meet” the community councils either.
Scottish Conservative shadow energy secretary Douglas Lumsden said residents along the Kintore to Tealing route did not feel like there was “a just transition”.
And he claimed the Scottish Government has “egged on” UK Labour plans to void the automatic right of councils to public appeal when it comes to energy infrastructure.
Mr Lumsden said: “Gillian Martin needs to stop hiding behind her job title.
“The First Minister said he was ‘sure ministers would be happy to meet campaigners.’
“The ministerial code means she would be careful about engagement – not running away from it.
“It is now much easier and less expensive to underground lines or have them out at sea. That should be part of the offer on the table from SSEN.
“But these communities feel as if the original, unvarnished plan is being railroaded through.
“And now, UK Labour are about to bin the last bit of local democratic protection Scots will have — egged on by the SNP.
“The buck will stop with the Scottish Government’s energy consents unit, not with councils. And we all know how that will go.”
A petition to the Scottish Parliament noting “serious concerns about the quality and transparency of the public consultation” has already received more than 3,500 signatures since it was lodged on April 10.
