NEWS RELEASE For Immediate Use 11 December 2009 SNP GOVERNMENT KEEPING QUIET ON BEAULY-DENNY DECISION In response to fears that the SNP Government will announce the decision on the Beauly to Denny power line upgrade application during the Christmas break, MSP Murdo Fraser has called on them to be more transparent and allow the decision to be fully scrutinised when it is announced. It was confirmed to MSP Murdo Fraser in a parliamentary question earlier this year that a decision on the power line will be made by 31st December 2009. The SNP Government has announced all the Parliamentary Business that will take place in the Scottish Parliament for the rest of 2009 and the Beauly to Denny power line is not on the agenda. As a result of the omission, it means that the announcement on the decision will not be made in a statement to Parliament. MSP Murdo Fraser is demanding that the SNP Government make a statement in Parliament when it announces the decision on the power line. Commenting, Murdo Fraser said: “The Beauly to Denny power line upgrade is the biggest planning application in a generation and it is only right that the decision is announced to Parliament so that it can be fully scrutinised. “The SNP Government has stated it will announce the decision before 2009 is out. As the application decision has been omitted from the Parliamentary Business then there are now fears that the SNP plan to make the announcement during Christmas time in order to receive as small a reaction as possible to the decision. “The way that the SNP Government has conducted itself with the decision on the Beauly to Denny power line is an absolute insult to all the organisations, charities and individuals who have given evidence at the public inquiry and who will be affected by this power line if it is given the go ahead. Already the SNP Government has tested the water on the reaction by leaking information to journalists back in October. “Communities in Perthshire and Stirlingshire will be affected by this power line and the potential health hazards are still not fully known yet it seems the SNP Government will still push ahead with this project. We must see undergrounding for parts of the route if it is given the go ahead so that Stirling and Perthshire communities are not adversely affected. “If the SNP Government plan to make the announcement during Christmas time then it is a new low for the SNP.” ENDS   back to top of page