Eileen West has a strange object in her home in Aberdeenshire - a scale model of a huge electricity pylon, built as part of a local campaign against the “monstrous” metal structures.

A new pylon line is proposed just a few hundred metres from her home. The steel towers will typically be 187ft (57m) high - significantly taller than most pylons in Scotland. Some could be as high as 246ft (75m).

They are part of a planned 66-mile (106km) route - between the town of Kintore and the village of Tealing - to transfer power from wind farms off the north-east coast of Scotland to where the electricity is needed.

“I think we’re being sacrificed,” says Eileen, a member of Deeside Against Pylons.

The plans are part of one of the government’s key missions, a drive to decarbonise the UK’s electricity system by 2030. Just over half of our power currently comes from wind, solar, nuclear and biomass - organic matter. The government wants to raise that to 95% by 2030 - just five years’ time.

The target is ambitious, and controversial. Energy Secretary, Ed Miliband, told the BBC it is essential to “cut bills, tackle the climate crisis and give us energy security”.

But are local concerns being overlooked to meet national objectives?

BBC Panorama has travelled across the UK - to Aberdeenshire, Lincolnshire and Suffolk - to hear from people in landscapes bracing for change, including Oscar-nominated actor Ralph Fiennes.

In Aberdeenshire, Eileen West denies she is a Nimby, she says the pylons should not be built anywhere.

“These things will be standing for another 100 years. That’s not a legacy we want to leave our future generations.”

While not against green-energy ambitions, she argues that the government should be exploring alternatives that are less disruptive to the landscape.

“This is outdated, archaic technology. In Europe they do better, investing in proper, modern undergrounding and offshore,” Eileen says.

  • @MirthfulAlembic
    link
    English
    91 day ago

    “I’m not a nimby–this shouldn’t exist anywhere” is basically the refrain of the modern nimby. Don’t worry; they’ve discovered a better way… that’s more expensive, less efficient, whatever. People will be arguing for better alternatives as the ocean rises around their feet.