The proposed Beauly to Denny power line (Letters, 2 November) not only routes through the Highlands, the Cairngorm National Park and Stirling, but also crosses beautiful Strathearn from the Sma' Glen to Muthill. The proposed route skirts to the east of Crieff, passes diagonally across Strathearn and comes within 500m of Muthill village before it goes over the hill on the skyline to Braco.
The special conservation village of Muthill would be ringed on its eastern edge by 60m pylons, twice the height of the oak trees that surround every field and line every road in Strathearn.
At the inquiry the developer's experts described Muthill'
s situation as being "moderate adverse", an under-statement admitting the severity of the problem. The power line would become the dominant landscape feature of the Strath. Visitors approaching Muthill from the south on the A822, the tourist route to the Highlands, would pass under the line and next to a pylon where it sits directly adjacent to Muthill Cemetery, hardly an appropriate welcome to Scotland's magnificent scenery.
If Scottish ministers decide to approve construction of the line, undergrounding of several critical sections is essential, particularly in Strathearn.
Some 18,000 objectors to the planning application refused to accept the need for the line had been justified or that practical alternatives had been considered. It is still not too late for ministers to listen to the people, refuse permission and look at the alternatives.
PROF CHARLES ROBERTSON
Muir of Lintibert
Muthill, PerthshirePatrick Harvie MSP, co-convener of the Green Party, says climate change "remains the most serious current threat to our environment in Scotland and globally" (Letters, 31 October). I beg to differ.
The most serious current threat to our environment are those, such as Mr Harvie, who seem to believe that by industrialising ever more of Scotland's wild rural landscape with massive turbines and power lines, they are somehow "protecting the environment" and bringing climate change under control. Such ideas are sorely misguided.
As for his remarks on the effects of climate change on the landscape, which he says will "change beyond recognition within our lifetimes", everyone must make up their own mind as to the truth of such a statement.
If the choice is between paying heed to a city-dwelling Green MSP who spends much of his time ensconced with all other like-minded politicians within the cosy confines of the Holyrood bubble, or those who have lived and worked in rural areas all their lives and have to deal with the many variations of change in climate on a daily basis, I am clear where my allegiance lies and whom I see as best equipped to talk on the matter.
NEIL McKINNON
Tulchan Garden
Glenalmond, PerthshireTiffany Jenkins' suggestion (Opinion, 29 October) that we should ignore calls to reduce our carbon footprint and instead focus entirely on technological solutions to counteract global warming is, at best, misguided and, at worst, dangerously reckless.
Emissions continue to grow at an alarming rate, and while technology is undoubtedly part of the solution, by itself, it simply won't be enough.
The good news is, cutting back on carbon does not mean, as Ms Jenkins suggests, being "cold, hungry, and in the dark". Eating less meat does not mean being vegetarian, just as driving less does not mean burning your car.
It is time we stopped pretending global warming is somebody else's problem and all started doing our bit to keep our planet safe for ourselves and our children. Our survival is far too precious to gamble on the success of experimental technology.
DARRAGH CONWAY
Doune Terrace
Edinburgh