A proposed 70-mile overhead power line linking Kintore in Aberdeenshire to Tealing in Angus has drawn more than 10,000 formal objections, in what campaigners describe as one of the largest public responses to an energy infrastructure project in Scotland.
The scheme, brought forward by SSEN Transmission, includes two new substations and around 350 pylons of up to 190ft. A public consultation closed this week with responses to the Scottish Government’s Energy Consents Unit more than doubling in the past seven days from roughly 4,500 to about 10,300.
Objectors cite concerns over landscape impact, potential health effects, loss of prime farmland and property devaluation along the corridor, which includes parts of Deeside and the Mearns. Local elected members said the scale of opposition underlines the strength of feeling in rural communities.
Scottish ministers will make the final decision, as applications for onshore electricity infrastructure above 50MW and all overhead line consents are determined nationally.
SSEN Transmission said it remains committed to engagement and has amended elements of the design in response to feedback. A spokesperson said the Kintore–Tealing application followed “one of the most extensive public consultations in the north of Scotland”, resulting in “significant changes” to initial proposals.
Campaign groups, meanwhile, are urging ministers to give greater weight to community views and to consider alternatives and route mitigations before any consent is granted.
