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Protesters to fight cross-border giant pylon plans

Reuters Looking up from the ground to a giant dual-line electricity pylon against a blue skyReuters
The pylons will be positioned every 200 metres for close to 50 miles

Protesters from across the Scottish Borders are fighting plans for giant pylons to be used to run wind farm energy into England.

Scottish Power Energy Networks (SPEN) wants to connect a planned electricity sub station near Lauder with awaiting overhead lines near Carlisle by using 60m (197ft) high steel towers.

Residents living in rural areas along the 50-mile route are concerned about the impact of the pylons and are calling for a complete rethink.

A SPEN spokesman said: "After much research, a preferred route has been identified that balances providing a cost efficient, robust and reliable electricity network, needed by everyone, with landscape, wildlife, visual and community considerations."

A grey-haired man with a wine-coloured hoodie standing outside a village hall. There are trees and a metal railing behind him.
Edward Kello from Lauder is opposed to the pylon plans

The Cross Border Connection is one of several links being proposed to take renewable power between Scotland and England as part of a £58bn upgrade of the national grid.

While undersea connections, taking offshore energy to the south, have attracted little resistance, the overhead proposals through the Borders are meeting growing opposition.

Around a dozen small community protest groups have formed to fight against the proposed pylons.

Edward Kello, from Lauder, said: "I feel very strongly about the climate crisis and the need for renewable energy, but this is such a crude way of sending energy to the south."

A bearded man with grey dreadlocks, wearing a green wax jacket a light shirt and a blue jumper and a blonde-hired woman wearing a leopard-print jacket and dark top with glasses on her head look at the camera. They are inside a hall with people in the background.
Anthony James and Rosi Lister moved to their remote cottage near Hawick last year

Author and film-maker Rosi Lister has spent the past 18 months refurbishing a remote farmhouse near Hawick with her partner Anthony James.

If SPEN's plans are realised, their property will be a stone's throw from both the overhead line and a new Teviot electricity substation.

Mr James said: "They talk about community benefits but the only benefit I can see is to move back to England and take advantage of the electricity coming down the line."

Ms Lister added: "We just found out about this three weeks ago and we are absolutely horrified.

"We moved here because of the views, but there's pylons, the sub station and a wind farm on the way."

A bald-headed man with a brown wax jacket, a blue shirt and dark jumper smiling at the camera. He is carrying a folder and is in a hall with lots of red chairs stacked up behind him. There are also three people in the background and windows with brown curtains hanging at the sides.
Douglas Walker believes the Ettrick Valley he lives in will be ruined by the pylons

As well as dissecting the Teviot Valley, the double 400kV overhead line will cut through the Tweed, Yarrow, Ettrick and Liddel valleys.

Douglas Walker, who lives in Ettrickbridge, is not convinced the steel towers are needed.

"This has nothing to do with Scotland meting its net zero targets, it's all about taking energy to England," he said.

"The Yarrow and Ettrick valleys are some of the most unspoilt areas in the country - we are all very concerned about these proposals."

Walter Baxter A frost-covered hill track with heather on either side and views of hills stretching into the distance.Walter Baxter
The giant pylons will cross over Minch Moor between the Tweed and Yarrow valleys

The Cross Border Connection will link an overland spine taking onshore renewable energy from Aberdeenshire, Tayside, Perthshire and the central belt to reach power lines in Cumbria.

New sub stations are also planned for near Livingston, Lauder and Hawick to allow for wind farm energy to flow into the upgraded grid system.

SPEN claims that while renewable energy will go south, nuclear and hydro power will come north when it is needed.

A spokesperson said: “The Cross Border Connection is vital to strengthen the UK’s electricity system."

Around 100 seated people in a village hall facing a suited man who is addressing them about potential pylons. There is also a TV screen on the stage showing a landscape.
Protesters gathered in Caddonfoot Village Hall
MP John Lamont looking at the camera. He is wearing glasses and a blue shirt with a blue suit jacket. He has a poppy pin in his lapel. He is in a hall and there are curtains drawn at windows behind him.
Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk MP John Lamont

On Saturday, Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Berwickshire MP John Lamont chaired a meeting to allow protesters to raise their concerns with SPEN managers.

Mr Lamont believes other options should be considered.

"It's very clear that there are huge concerns about these giant pylons," he said.

"We are now demonstrating to SPEN and the Scottish government how strongly people in the Borders feel about these proposals.

"They need to investigate underground options rather than having these big pylons crossing some of the most historical and beautiful parts of the UK."

Following the concerns, SPEN has extended the current consultation period to the end of November.

Managers will take forward feedback and commission an Environment Impact Assessment next year ahead of publishing their fixed route proposals in 2026.

If planning approval is obtained from Scottish ministers, construction is expected to start on the Cross Borders Connection in 2029.