line section Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park SHET.6

Glen Falloch #

132 kV overhead line seen from the A82 near the Falls of Falloch

Landscape and visual context

This section of line runs along the floor and occasionally onto the lower glen sides of Glen Falloch, a long glen, forming the main transport corridor north-south through the National Park, containing the $ 5$

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A82 trunk route and West Highland Line railway. The # $ $ overhead line runs parallel to the road and rail line, $ $ $ crossing over them in several places, from $

$ in the ##north though to a point just north of Inverarnan $ in the south. The has undergone recent $ major upgrades south of Crianlarich, substantially $ detracting from the scenic quality of the glen in parts. $

Other detractors include the construction compound $ and various tracks associated with hydro schemes $ being installed on the eastern side of the glen. $

6$ Landscape and visual impacts $ $

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The glen displays general (rather than specific) special $ qualities of the National Park. The line runs in parallel $ and in close proximity to the road crossing over it in $

$ several places. The scale of the pylons is generally $ $ $ $ accommodated within the large scale of the glen, $ $ $

particularly those on the glen floor. However, the $ #

$ YW #$ # cumulative effect of the line interacting with the road .1 $ $

and other built development within the glen leads to a $ #

# $ # High impact on landscape overall. # $ $ KEY $ The line is better accommodated on the lower glen $ Loch Lomond and The Trossachs NP $ # sides and floor where it is backclothed by woodland # Assessed line section $ and in keeping with other human scale landscape 7 Line section in focus Y $ $ $ W Tower location elements. In certain views from the A82, the pylons . 2 $ long distance route can be seen on the rugged ridges on the side of the $ Core path

glen, diminishing the scale of the hills and detracting $ # $ # Wild Land Area from the scenic backdrop. Overall the visual impact is $ 0 1 2 E $ km © Crown copyright and database rights 2015 Ordnance Survey 0100031673. Medium. $ $ Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. #8

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$ # # Mitigation proposals

Undergrounding A Landscape enhancement B

Undergrounding of approximately 9 km of 132 kV overhead line between the foot Restore and expand native woodland (Caledonian pine forest) in upper part of of Gleann nan Caorann and Crianlarich, removing visibility from the A82, railway the glen to screen views of overhead line from key routes, including the West

line and West Highland Way. Highland Way, railway line and A82.

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