A WALKING and climbing group representing 9,000 people in Scotland has launched a campaign to block a controversial £6 million project to build a hydro electric scheme in a picturesque part of the Highlands.

Dundee-based Highland Light and Power (HLP) submitted a new application this month to develop the scheme in Shieldaig Forest in Wester Ross.

The company says that after nine years of consultation it believes the scheme is one of the most environmentally-friendly small-scale hydro projects proposed anywhere in the world .

But the Mountaineering Council of Scotland (MCoS) says the project amounts to “vandalism” of the unspoilt countryside.

Under the plans a small weir would be built at each of the Badachro and Kerry rivers, supplying 3.55 megawatts of electricity to the national grid - enough to power more than 5,000 homes.

The proposals were strongly opposed when put forward initially in 1996 and led to a public inquiry the following year. However, the developer withdrew in 2000 before the inquiry result was announced.

Mike Dales, access and conservation officer for the MCoS said: “That inquiry would have cost between £500,000 and £1 million of public money and yet HLP were able to veto the process when they feared it wasn’t going their way.

“We argued at the time that HLP should be made to repay that money, but they didn’t and they are now able to come back with another application and could potentially repeat the same tactic.”

He said the group’s main objection was the impact it would have on one of Scotland’s finest tracts of wild land: “The four mountain lochs threatened by this scheme are surrounded by the great Torridonian mountains of Beinn Alligin, Liathach, Beinn Dearg, Beinn Eighe, Beinn an Eoin and Baosbheinn.

“Most hillwalkers regard the Torridon mountains amongst their favourites and will not allow this kind of damage to be inflicted on such a special part of Scotland. HLP can expect serious opposition to this scheme.”

Mr Dales added: “HLP are like a gambler hooked on trying to win back what they’ve already lost. They abandoned the first public inquiry because their arguments weren’t strong enough. They should accept that and find somewhere less controversial, because the opponents of this scheme will never give in.”

John Mackenzie, MCoS vice-president, added: “These mountains form the most spectacular landscape in the British Isles. To do anything artificial to this landscape is nothing short of vandalism, and for such a paltry amount of energy this proposal should not even be considered as a viable proposition.”

MCoS has also accused PR firm Weber Shandwick Worldwide, which is acting for HLP, of double standards as it is promoting green energy while also working for British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL). Mr Dales said: “It seems incredible that HLP should turn to a company that is so entwined with the nuclear industry.”

Jock Robertson, an HLP director, said: “The mountaineers are arguing this scheme will be a blight on the landscape, but if that were the case they would have my sympathy and encouragement. I am not someone who would be party to building some industrial building in the middle of somewhere like Shieldaig Forest.

“This scheme will blend in. Everything will be underground except the weirs which cannot be put underground.

“They will be extremely small and much smaller than the original scheme because we have listened to the views of mountaineers and everyone else in the last few years and so modified the scheme to make it much more inconspicuous. It will not be a blight and it will not reduce the visual effect the mountaineers are claiming.”

He added: “We did not lose the inquiry. We withdrew as the planning process had taken so long that the regulations and policy on renewable energy had changed.”

A spokesman for Weber Shandwick said its London office has worked for BNFL on decommissioning projects, while the work for HLP is handled from Edinburgh.

He added: “BNFL is 100 per cent in favour of renewables and we strenuously deny there is a conflict of interest.

“We are there to help the community and others, to provide information and the community has generally appreciated that. We feel we have a lot of support because of the goodwill we have achieved over the last few years.

“This is a desperate measure from the MCoS to divert the argument from the main issue which is the use of land by the local community.

“This is not a pristine wilderness and it is completely separate from the main Torridon walking area.”