Our Press Release - 29th April 2025
Communities B4 Power Companies has discovered important topics are NOT being addressed in the Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) in multiple Big Energy planning applications.
This has been agreed with the local authorities and the Scottish government and we suspect this is happening throughout rural Scotland.
In a nutshell the likes of SSEN are NOT required to address MAJOR human health impacts of their proposals and rely on outdated guidance.
We have checked Fanellan and Banniskirk substation and found similar topics are being scoped out. We have looked at some others like Carsaig substation, Spittal to Beauly 400KV overhead lines and Netherton Hub near Peterhead and although we didn’t find the scoped out topics we did find what was scoped in and the health impacts, as in Fanellan and Banniskirk, were missing.
We have been informed that Hurlie substation in Aberdeenshire is also missing the same health impacts in its planning application.
What is going on? Don’t people matter anymore or perhaps the energy companies are finding it impossible to ‘mitigate’ our health as they would a badger sett or an Osprey’s nest ‘satisfactorily’ and simply refuse to address these issues?
If health impacts are then forthcoming who is liable? Not Big Energy but the authorities who allowed them to walk away from addressing such serious issues before construction.
We have seen this most recently in ‘Toxic Town’, the true story of families who suffered years of deformity, disease, and death due to the negligence of Corby Steel Works. However, it was the Corby Borough Council who the victims took to court, (and beat), with their lawyer claiming, ‘Corby Borough Council demonstrated ‘naivety, arrogance, ignorance, incompetence and a possible serious conflict of interest..’ For it was the council that permitted the Steel Works to operate in the manner it did, no doubt permitting them to ‘scope out’ important topics that could have saved people from suffering and even dying.
NEVER BEFORE HAS THIS SCALE OF ELECTRICITY INDUSTRIALISATION BEEN ROLLED OUT THROUGH AND OVER COMMUNITIES IN SCOTLAND.
WE ARE AN ELECTRICITY EXPERIMENT WITH ADVERSE IMPACTS TO THE HEALTH OF THOSE IN THE FIRING BEING DISMISSED. THEIR HEALTH IS LITERALLY BEING ‘SCOPED OUT’.
With evidence that even bees can be adversely affected by electrical infrastructure how can it be said that human’s are not?
We advise ALL GROUPS, communities, individuals, and community councils in rural Scotland who are affected by massive infrastructure proposals, and in particular substations, to find out if their health has also been scoped out.
Lyndsey Ward from communities B4 Power Companies says: “This is the shocking realisation that we really are collateral damage as far as Big Energy is concerned. It is profit before people and our elected representatives are not only going along with it they are actively enabling it. For topics like EMF to be on the scoping list for impact in the first place clearly demonstrates that it is something that is understood to be valid yet in every case we have looked at SSEN is not producing an impact assessment for it with the agreement of local authorities and the Scottish government.
This is electrical experimentation on those who live in rural Scotland and it may be years before anyone will know if people will become sick because of the close proximity to this massive increase in electricity infrastructure near homes and, no doubt, decades more in litigation. With the widespread belief, based on conversations with SSEN staff, that at least two more 400KV lines will follow the one currently in planning it really is time to call a halt – morally, ethically and environmentally – until and if people’s safety can be guaranteed.”
Below is the email sent to Fanaellan Substation Case Officer Peter Wheelan at Highland Council. We are yet to receive a response.
Dear Mr. Wheelan,
We have recently written to you and Bob Roberston regarding the ‘scoped out’ subjects of Fanellan substation application and have yet to receive a satisfactory response. As the public currently has until 4th May 2025 to respond to this highly complex and concerning application we have had no choice but to write to you in more detail and request a prompt response.
This application has seven ‘scoped out’ subjects, all listed below. We will address each as we feel appropriate.
Land Use and Agriculture
The proposed Fanellan Substation site is 868 acres of which the majority is farmland, used for growing crops and grazing animals. To remove such a substantial amount of acreage from agricultural productivity is to remove ‘locally produced food’, which contravenes with the ethics of sustainability and combating climate change.
Has that been included in any emissions calculations?Due to the infrastructure running through the site, waste, dust, debris, and emissions from HGVs and heavy machinery may pollute nearby agricultural land on farms and smallholdings, causing toxicity and rendering the land unusable. This type of contamination will also affect private gardens, vegetable patches, orchards, and tree plantations (and waterways) - all of which are in the immediate area.
The 868 acre site will disable any residential development in an area which is already short of affordable rentals and homes for sale. Already five households are being consumed or demolished to appease SSEN’s proposal. This further depletes the housing market.
Population and Human Health
1. Tomnacross Primary School in Kiltarlity has approximately 120 children, with most attending from the village and local vicinity. The majority of these children walk or ride their bikes to school, which means they will be using the road during the periods when it has been suggested by SSEN that there will be an HGV entering or exiting the village every minute on average. This raises major safety concerns such as:
a. RTAs with pedestrians and cyclists
b. Air pollution from diesel and petrol fumes, dust, and debris, all of which the children and the adults accompanying them will be inhaling during the duration of their journeys.
It has been proven that small children and those in pushchairs are even more susceptible to breathing in toxic fumes given their closeness in height to exhaust pipes.
c. TheScottish Government has implemented LEZ (low emission zones) in cities across the country in an effort to combat air pollution and climate change. To allow on average 1 HGV per minute to travel through a small village would seem contrary to the Scottish Government’s efforts to combat pollution, clean up air quality, and discourage respiratory diseases, such as asthma, from developing in children.
2. The village of Kiltarlity has over 1000 residents. SSEN’s proposed traffic levels through the village may result in the following problems:
a. The roads are used by villagers and visitors to access amenities, deliver and collect children from school, exercise such as walking, cycling, and horse riding, and to travel to and from work by motor vehicle, public transport, walk, or cycle.
Air quality will diminish, contributing to respiratory problems.
b. Frustration due to congestion and delays can cause accidents and stress, contributing to health problems such as anxiety, high blood pressure, and heart disease.
c. Vibration and noise from the HGVs throughout the working days will interfere with residents’ sleep, peace in their homes and gardens.
d. Vibration from numerous construction traffic vehicles may well result in damage to properties, pavements, walls and, of course, the roads.
e. People working from home may struggle to concentrate causing work performance to diminish and perhaps result in sick leave or redundancies.
Electric and Magnet Fields (EMF) and Radio Frequency Interference (RFI)
1. The studies and guidance done which are referenced are over a decade out of date. Nowhere in rural Scotland has such massive electrical infrastructure in and over our communities. There is NO precedent to say this is safe.
2. The Beauly to Denny pylons average 57m in height. The pylons proposed for this project range from 42-65m in height. While the pylons and OHLs will not be determined by the Highland Council, but rather the Scottish Government, due to the salami slicing of a single project, their impact MUST be considered for the health and safety of all local residents, visitors, domestic pets, and livestock.
3. The project, approved in 2010 but not completed until 2015, will have avoided the studies and guidance because the infrastructure could be located the ‘safe distance of 120-150m from residential dwellings’, as stated in the Banniskirk substation application.
4. Prior to the guidance which is referred to in the scoping out statement, pylons were on average 38m in height. The difference in height, cables, and potential EMF is NOT negligible.
5. With the phasing out of landline cables for domestic telephone use reliance on mobiles will mean good signals with avoidable interference will be essential for connecting rural communities with friends and family, working from home (as has been endorsed by the Scottish Government in an effort to combat climate change), and calling essential and emergency services. EMF is known to disrupt such signals.
6. Until there is new research in place, the impact of EMF and RFI must not be disregarded when new supersize pylons, OHLs, and a mega substation is being set within a crofting community of at least two dozen homes and several businesses.
To ignore these issues and allow SSEN to not properly address these topics is no more than an electrical experimentation on the people living in such areas.
Major Accidents and Disasters
1. The village of Kiltarlity, through which on average one HGV and/or wide load transporter will travel every minute of the working day for at least a year, is not suitable for such travel for the following reasons:
a) The village has one main street which has two narrow lanes. Local residents often park their cars on the street which means traffic must take turns to give way. This can mean reversing. In the event that two HGVs and/or wide load transporters will have insufficient room to pass, resulting in either the large vehicles mounting the pavement or private driveways, or reversing or turning down single track lanes or farm tracks to allow for passing.
b) Children walk to and from school using these pavements and the road. One HGV per minute is a lot of traffic for children to navigate. A wide load could easily knock a child.
c) Adults, teens, and children use the main road through the village and the single track roads running to and from the village for commuting and leisure. Cycling, walking, running, and horse riding are regular daily activities for locals. Again, HGVs mounting the pavement to make room for others to pass and wide load transporters moving through the village can easily knock someone over or off their mode of transport. Wide loads and HGVs easily spook horses.
d) Theroads between KIiltarlity and Fanellan are mainly very narrow, barely allowing two cars to pass, or single track, by which vehicles must pull into passing places to allow oncoming traffic to continue. The hazards foreseen are:
e) These roads are used daily and frequently by pedestrians, cyclists, runners, and horse riders. There is not enough room for road users to ‘move over’ to make room for such huge vehicles, without stepping into ditches, into foliage, or over fences.
f) Many pupils attending high school in Inverness catch the school bus on these single track roads. In the winter months, they do so in the dark and are dropped off after dusk. This will be during the working hours at the substation, making these roads particularly hazardous for young people going to and from home.
2. Roads congestion will occur as HGVs and wide loads attempt to pass each other on the road between the Rose Bridge and Kiltarlty. This road, again frequented by walkers, runners, cyclists, and horse riders is narrow, winding, and has hedgerows and trees growing on it. There are a multitude of blind spots.
Air Quality and Climate
1. Dust, debris, and emissions from HGVs and wide load transporters will be relentless for the working day with one vehicle per minute on average travelling through the village and along the country lanes.
2. As stated previously, the SG has implemented LEZ in cities to reduce air pollution. To permit this level of traffic in a rural area where homes are close to the roads, people use the roads for commuting and leisure - many walking, cycling, running, and on horseback – is contrary to government policy about air quality improvements and climate change.
3. The dust and debris will be hazardous to crops, farm animals, and all road users.
4. Homes along the route and particularly in the Kiltarlity and at the Fanellan site area will need to keep windows and doors closed to protect themselves from the dust, debris, and emissions.
5. On particularly dry days or dry periods, the dust, debris and emissions will impact on resident’s enjoyment in their gardens or on local walks, discouraging exercise.
6. SSEN has been forced to clean up the roads and dampen them daily during their ‘investigations’ work at Fanellan. This will not be possible on the roads when there are HGVs and wide load transporters moving at a rate of one per minute throughout the working day. The area that would require sweeping and dampening extends to approximately 6 miles.
7. The climate, in the sense of ‘local climate’, will be impacted by the dust and debris as it clouds the atmosphere causing the air to be drier and vegetation to be less able to absorb moisture.
8. The ‘wider climate’ will be impacted by the increase in local emissions from the HGVs and wide load transporters that will be travelling through the area at a rate of one per minute during the local time (a substantial increase on the current rate of travel). Given this proposal is being submitted as a ‘necessity’ for Scottish government climate targets where is the analysis that proves this has any benefit to those goals at all?
Disposal and Recover of Waste
1. Waste, particularly toxic, is a great worry.
a. Many people rely on private water supplies which run-off could easily contaminate.
b. Mains burns run near the Fanellan site, adjacent to Kiltarlity, and in close proximity to the roads the SSEN traffic will travel daily. These burns finish in the River Beauly, which is in very close proximity to Fanellan. Dust, debris, and toxic material may easily enter watercourses.
For many years industry has been permitted to ‘scope out’ fundamental parts of their proposal, no doubt in an effort to avoid the hassle of getting over the hurdles, particularly when the hurdles cannot be mitigated.
We have seen this most recently in ‘Toxic Town’, the true story of families who suffered years of deformity, disease, and death due to the negligence of Corby Steel Works. However, it was the Corby Borough Council who the victims took to court, (and beat), with their lawyer claiming, ‘Corby Borough Council demonstrated ‘naivety, arrogance, ignorance, incompetence and a possible serious conflict of interest..’. For it was the council that permitted the Steel Works to operate in the manner it did, no doubt permitting them to ‘scope out’ important topics that could have saved people from suffering and even dying.
Another recent example of negligence, by permitting such important environmental matters to be ‘scoped out’ is the claim against DuPont in ‘Dark Waters’. Here local residents in an area of rural West Virginia found themselves suffering from cancer and other diseases more than those areas away from DuPont’s toxic waste disposal. They found their farm animals diseased and dying. The waste was unregulated and ignored in a manner similar to the various ‘scoped out’ topics in Fanellan’s substation application. This resulted in DuPont having to pay claimants affected by their unregulated waste $671 million.
There is also the famous case against Pacific Gas and Electric Company where the corporation was found guilty, eventually after years of fighting by the industrial victims, of polluting the water supply and had to pay $333 million to the plaintiffs in 1996.
Highland Council is fully aware of complaints of contaminated water from a private water supply in Strathnairn that suddenly occurred after the construction of a Beauly Denny pylon 100m from their PWS.
After several years of fighting for justice that has resulted in no compensation or resolution a 40 year plus useable water supply is now undrinkable, as photos of brown contaminated water running from their taps can ascertain. The householders have the expense of buying bottled water as their PWS is now undrinkable.
Is there potential for this to be repeated over rural Scotland if this massive scale industrialization goes ahead without proper scrutiny of PWS?
Who will be named in the lawsuits if that is the only course of action to get justice?
Communities B4 Power Companies is currently compiling a list of concerned residents who are on PWS near Fanellan and other SSEN proposed infrastructure. The area and route has many people reliant on a clean PWS.
SSEN should be instructed to do flow and quality checks on any PWS within a specified area so that those reliant on bore holes, springs, burns etc can have a record before and after development if approved. They should not be expected to bear the expense.
Decommissioning
1. This is not a small construction. It will dominate and possibly extend to the boundaries of and beyond its proposed 868 acres. There has been no consideration of the following:
2. There is no mention in the application of who is responsible for the decommissioning of the substation site at the end of its lifetime.
3. There is no mention in the application of how the substation will be decommissioned at the end of its life: the disposal of its demolition, the disposal of its waste materials, or the location of all such disposal.
4. There is no mention in the application of who affords the cost of such demolition and deconstruction.
In conclusion:
For the Highland Council to permit such topics to be ‘scoped out’, requiring nothing from SSEN with regards to such important topics regarding major environmental, ecological, and human health matters is a very serious matter. Also, as it has done so with other substation applications, this suggests it is the ‘norm’ for the council.
How does not fully addressing these topics benefit the people living and working in the Highland Council area? How does it benefit the developers or even THC?
Shouldn’t the precautionary principle be applied when there are no up to date studies on the impact on human health relating to the scale of the development that we are seeing proposed now?
Are the reported cancer clusters and childhood lukemia near pylons really insignificant?
What written guarantees for human health and clean PWS is SSEN prepared to give to those in close proximity to their proposed infrastructure?
Because these are some of the most important topics to the population of the Kiltarlity and Fanellan area and in some instances to Beauly too, we demand these topics be addressed by SSEN.
We request either 1) the application be withdrawn and SSEN produce scoping responses to the above ‘scoped out’ topics.
or
2) THC provide an extension to the deadline for responses to the application so the local population can consider these ‘scoped out’ topics against the planning application and submit representations to that effect.
We look forward to receiving your reply by 30th April 2025 unless you are granting a reasonable extension of time for the public to make comments beyond 4th May 2025.
Yours sincerely,
Denise Davis and Lyndsey Ward
On behalf of Communities B4 Power Companies
29th April 2025
