Douglas Lumsden, has condemned First Minister John Swinney for refusing to meet communities facing the prospect of 550 giant pylons being built across the Highlands and North East.
At First Minister’s Questions, Douglas pressed the First Minister to engage with residents ahead of Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks’ (SSEN) imminent planning application. The proposals would see 190-foot pylons constructed along several routes, stretching from Beauly in the Highlands to Peterhead in Aberdeenshire, as well as Kintore to Tealing in Angus.
But the First Minister dismissed the calls, claiming he “cannot engage himself” with communities because the plans will ultimately be determined by ministers under planning rules.
Douglas described the response as “a public scandal,” pointing out the stark contrast between the Government’s refusal to listen to residents while holding repeated meetings with SSEN. A freedom of information request has already revealed that SNP Energy Secretary Gillian Martin met with SSEN officials on three separate occasions last year, despite refusing to attend a major community gathering in Beauly in June. That event brought together representatives from 52 community councils, speaking for more than 72,000 residents across the Highlands.
Douglas said the SNP’s actions reveal a clear double standard:
“It’s a public scandal that John Swinney is refusing to meet residents over these monstrous pylon plans, but Scottish Government officials and his energy secretary Gillian Martin are all too happy to meet with SSEN.
The SNP are choosing to destroy our countryside and they want to silence rural Scotland's voice while they do it. John Swinney’s pitiful excuse of hiding behind the ministerial code will not wash with these communities, who have had enough of this onslaught.”
The proposals have already sparked widespread alarm across rural Scotland. Many communities fear that the sheer scale of new pylons, wind farms, and battery storage plants will industrialise the countryside and ruin landscapes that are vital to tourism, farming, and local identity. Residents have warned that they risk being “imprisoned” by towering infrastructure that brings no direct benefit to their areas.
A grassroots gathering of politicians and local groups is now being planned in Aberdeenshire and Angus later this year, following the momentum of the Beauly meeting. Campaigners are determined to ensure their voices are heard, even if ministers refuse to listen.
Douglas pledged to keep pressing for accountability and fairness:
“This First Minister has no empathy for the concerns of people living and working in rural areas who fear becoming imprisoned by pylons, wind farms and battery storage plants.
I will not give up in my pursuit of ensuring the voices of these communities are heard during the planning process for both this SSEN application, and the many others that risk destroying our countryside.”
With SSEN’s application expected imminently, rural residents are bracing for a fight to protect their landscapes and way of life. Douglas has vowed to stand alongside them and continue challenging the SNP’s failure to engage with the very people most affected.
