Councillors set to challenge huge Highland powerline plan
9th September 2026
Highland councillors are set to reaffirm their opposition to a massive new 400kV powerline stretching across the region when they meet today.
The North and South Planning Committees are joining forces to consider the proposed Spittal–Loch Buidhe–Beauly transmission project, one of the biggest electricity infrastructure schemes ever proposed in the Highlands.
The overhead line would run from the Caithness area through Sutherland and Easter Ross towards Beauly, with hundreds of pylons and associated infrastructure along the route.
Council officers are recommending that councillors maintain Highland Council’s objection to the project.
Concerns include the impact on the Flow Country World Heritage Site, peatlands, wildlife and important landscapes, as well as effects on historic sites and rural roads.
The Council is also raising concerns about the combined impact of the growing number of electricity transmission and renewable energy projects being developed across the Highlands.
It argues that the cumulative effects of the projects — including construction traffic, pylons, substations and other infrastructure — need to be properly considered.
The application is being dealt with under the Electricity Act, meaning the final decision will be taken by Scottish Ministers, rather than Highland Council.
The project is now moving towards a public inquiry later this year, making today’s meeting an important opportunity for councillors to establish the Council’s position before the inquiry begins.
The Council accepts that Scotland needs major investment in the electricity grid, but argues that the environmental and landscape impacts of this particular proposal have not been adequately addressed.
The unusual joint meeting of the North and South Planning Applications Committees begins at 9.30am today, Wednesday September 9.
However, today’s decision will not give Highland Council a veto over the project. Because the application is being considered under Section 37 of the Electricity Act, the final decision rests with Scottish Ministers. The Council’s objection means the proposal goes forward to a public inquiry, where the need for the transmission line, its environmental and landscape impacts and possible alternatives will be examined.
The inquiry reporters will then make recommendations to Ministers, who will ultimately decide whether the project should proceed, potentially with conditions or modifications. In other words, today’s meeting is about establishing Highland Council’s case against the scheme rather than deciding whether the powerline will be built.
So could Ministers say "we need the grid" and approve it anyway? Yes
The national importance of the electricity network will be a major consideration. Scottish Ministers have the statutory power to determine Section 37 overhead-line applications.
But it isn't as simple as Ministers saying "this is nationally important, therefore it gets built."
The inquiry will examine the evidence and objections, including environmental impacts, landscape, biodiversity, heritage, alternatives, cumulative effects and the case for the development.
The reporters then produce a report for Ministers. Ministers can ultimately grant consent, grant it with conditions/modifications, or refuse it.
And there is an important distinction here: Highland Council's objection forces the matter into the much more rigorous public-inquiry process; it doesn't automatically stop the project.
The meeting also highlights a wider problem facing major infrastructure projects in Britain: the tension between the urgent need to build new energy infrastructure and a planning and consenting system that can take years to reach a final decision.
There is clearly a need for proper scrutiny of projects of this scale, particularly where they affect sensitive landscapes and communities. But with the electricity grid under increasing pressure and new connections urgently required, the question is whether the current system can deliver the infrastructure Scotland needs quickly enough.