EIR/202600501727 · FOI/EIR · already published
Local Authority correspondence on Accelerated Strategic Transmission Investment (ASTI) electricity transmission projects: EIR release
Information requested
Under the FOI act, I am requesting that copies of correspondence, submissions or any formal objections from local authorities or relevant bodies in relation to the electricity transmission projects associated with the ASTI programme.
Some of the projects associated:
Beauly to loch Buidhe 400kV reinforcement Loch Buidhe to Spittal 400kV reinforcement Beauly to Black hillock / Peterhead 400kV reinforcement Any other related projects listed under the ASTI framework
I have attached an outline map of the framework for clarity.
This request includes any relevant information on objection letters involving local authorities or relevant bodies.
These may be:
Highland Council Moray Council Aberdeenshire Council Angus Council
Response
As the information you have requested is 'environmental information' for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.
This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.
Please find enclosed a copy of some of the information you requested, entitled Annex A (1 - 9). Owing to the file size of the attachments, these will be emailed directly to you.
The Accelerated Strategic Transmission Investment (ASTI) programme includes several transmission reinforcement projects. The relevant projects are:
1. Spittal to Loch Buidhe to Beauly 400 kV OHL Connection (ECU00006008) 2. Beauly to Blackhillock to New Deer to Peterhead 400kV OHL (ECU00005165) 3. Kintore to Tealing 400 kV Overhead Line Connection (ECU00005225) 4. Tealing - Westfield/Glenrothes 400kV Overhead Line (ECU00005168) 5. Alyth - Tealing 400 kV Overhead Line (ECU00005167) 6. Cambushinnie 400kV Overhead line tie-in (ECU00005074) 7. Emmock and Tealing OHL Tie In's (ECU00005204) 8. Bingally 400 kV Substation OHL tie-in (ECU00005145) 9. Beauly Denny OHL Diversion (ECU00005056)
We are interpreting your request to mean the local councils you provided in your request, as well as other statutory consultees involved in these projects.
You can view some of the information you have requested from the Energy Consents Unit (ECU) Portal - Scottish Government - Energy Consents Unit.
The ECU Portal provides full transparency by publishing all documents relating to each application, including consultation responses, public representations, and final decisions. From the main page, select the ‘Search’ tab, followed by ‘Advanced Search’. You can then search by case type and status before selecting ‘Go’ to return the relevant results. These results can also be exported into various file formats for further analysis.
Additionally, some of the information within scope of your request has already been released through previous Environmental Information Regulations (EIRs) requests and is available on the Scottish Government’s publication page.
Relevant links include:
Material related to the overhead line from Spittal to Beauly: EIR release - gov.scot Spittal to Beauly overhead power line project documentation: EIR release - gov.scot
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because:
An exception under regulation 11(2) of the EIRs (personal information) applies to some of the information. An exception under regulation 6(1)b of the EIRs (publicly available information) applies to some of the information.
An exception under regulation 11(2) of the EIRs (personal information) applies to some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation and in section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018. This exception is not subject to the 'public interest test', so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception.
An exception 6(1)(b) of the EIRs (information already available) is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exception, as the information is already publicly available.
About FOI
The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.
Detected exemption language
We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA. This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. An exception under regulation 11(2) of the EIRs (personal information) applies to some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation and in section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018.