Thank you for contacting me regarding SSEN’s Kintore to Tealing 400kV connection. I understand your concerns about the potential impact these developments could have on the landscape, environment, and the local economy, and I am already supporting a number of constituents and communities who feel their concerns are being dismissed and their objections ignored.
I believe it is essential, where developments such as these are taken forward, and only after fully engaging and consulting with local people and businesses, that this should be with the support of the local community and with the local council.
I am also aware of, and extremely concerned by, recent cases where planning decisions made by our local councils have been overturned by the Scottish Government on appeal. This challenges the very essence of local democracy and local decision-making, with communities and their elected representatives side-lined by Scottish Government ministers and civil servants in Edinburgh.
While I am broadly supportive of renewable energy playing a role as part of our energy mix, that cannot and must not be at the expense of local people, businesses and communities. Nor should it not come at the cost of undermining local democratic processes or accountability.
That’s why the Scottish Conservatives would introduce a Community Empowerment and Support Bill to empower communities with greater decision-making authority over local infrastructure projects through abolishing the Scottish Government’s Energy Consents Unit, establish a compensation fund for local communities impacted by energy infrastructure and require that approved energy infrastructure developments provide clear, tangible benefits to the community, and make pylons an option of last resort for energy infrastructure projects.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me and, if I can provide any further assistance, please do get back in touch.
Jamie Halcro Johnston MSP
