'Monster pylons' through idyllic rural village plan sparks fury from locals

Plans to build “monster pylons” through an idyllic rural village – including near a primary school – have provoked a storm of outrage from locals.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) updated their proposed route at the start of December so that it runs “slap-bang” over picturesque Drumoak, in North Deeside.

Residents said the massive East Coast 400kv Phase 2 scheme is now set to scythe through the village, local schools, pristine countryside and protected ancient oakwood.

It will also affect Drum Castle, the oldest intact building run by the National Trust for Scotland.

SSEN said any pylons would be a minimum of 250 metres from local schools. The firm insists the project is necessary for Scotland’s net zero push, connecting clean, green power to the National Grid.

But parents have raised fears over health links between magnetic field interference caused by mega-pylons and childhood leukaemia.

The towering steel structures would dwarf existing pylons and range from 180 to 220 feet tall – twice the height of the Kelpies, or the same as a dozen double-decker buses stacked on top of each other.

SSEN said any pylons would be a minimum of 250 metres from local schools. The firm insists the project is necessary for Scotland’s net zero push, connecting clean, green power to the National Grid.

An electric pylon

Mum-of-three Alexa Duncan said SSEN’s plans were like ‘the Highland Clearances’.

The energy giant ditched earlier plans to build part of the 66-mile route through iconic countryside around Fiddes, Aberdeenshire – made famous by Lewis Grassic Gibson’s classic novel ‘Sunset Song’ – after local outrage.

Now, Drumoak locals say the revised route – sprung on them without warning – is “completely unacceptable”.

Community councillor Anne Shearer said: “[The proposed route] was already close to Drumoak but now it is slap-bang over the village and over the primary school.

“That’s something we find totally intolerable.”

She said she didn’t believe SSEN had properly considered the alternatives of going offshore or using subsea cables for the scheme instead of wrecking their rural environment.

mum and kids

Image of countryside around Drumoak, Aberdeenshire, where huge ‘monster pylons’ scheme planned.

The announcement has mobilised hundreds of locals to get involved in local WhatsApp groups, Shearer added, with a protest already held this month outside Drumoak Primary.

The scheme aims to build a 21st century “electricity motorway” from Kintore, Aberdeenshire, to Tealing, Angus.

Local parent and engineer Alexa Duncan she would feel compelled to move and sell her house if the plans went ahead, where she has lived with her husband Michael and three boys for nearly eight years.

She added: “Like my mother says, it’s a form of the Highland Clearances.

“And that’s what I feel like – we’re going to be forced out of our houses and have to accept negative equity just to save the nation from paying an extra 1p on their electricity bill.”

Farmer and mum-of-three Emma Shepherd revealed the proposed route would cut right through her land.

Under a Scottish Government climate scheme, she runs an eco-friendly farm which promotes biodiversity and wildlife – and said the “irony” that could be trashed by a net zero scheme wasn’t lost on her.

Emma told the Record: “We’ve been farming like that for five years now under special management – it’s going to come right through and undo all our good work.”

A spokesman for SSEN Transmission said: “After comprehensive route planning and extensive initial consultations with communities and other stakeholders earlier this year, we are making a change to the initially preferred route for the Kintore to Tealing 400kV Scheme.

“The option being brought forward, which includes a new 2.5km section of route near Drumoak, represents a balance of numerous constraints in the area and considers community and environmental impact too.”

He added: “In Spring 2024, at the next round of consultation, we will be providing further details of the proposed new section of overhead line, which at the very least will be 250 metres from Drumoak Primary School.”

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