Applause and tears greet rejection

There were tears of joy and applause when councillors rejected plans for the substation yesterday.

Nearly the whole of Blackdog banded together to oppose the plans, citing concerns about heavy traffic, loss of amenities, noise disturbance and access to the beach.

But their main concern was for their health, as they repeatedly claimed there was asbestos in the former landfill site, which was confirmed after councillors deferred the application in April to allow further surveys to be carried out. After the decision, pensioner Edna Booth said the group were “chuffed to bits” that their lobbying had been successful.

She said: “It’s a victory for commonsense, but we were worried as we sat listening to the councillors go through all the for and against arguments.

“We’ve won the first fight, but we’ll have another one on our hands if Vattenfall appeals to the Scottish Government to overturn the decision.”

Fellow opponent Nicola Black added: “I was really encouraged about what they said about the asbestos. As they said, the levels are unknown, why disturb the unknown? It’s better left alone.

“For a village that’s been so ignored, we’ve got nothing, we’ve done well. I’m so happy.”

US billionaire Donald Trump had also opposed the substation, as part of his campaign against the 11-turbine windfarm.

He argued that it would destroy the views from his nearby golf resort at Menie.