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Fechlin Work has now started on a hydro scheme on the Fechlin, and is due to be completed in August 2004. This scheme will also affect the Tarff and a couple of small tribs in the upper reaches of the catchment. The SCA were unaware of this until it had happened as the planning application was not widely advertised outside the immediate area. Once the new scheme is operational an intake weir 1 km below Loch Killin will divert a substantial amount of the water from the river. It will still be possible to paddle the Fechlin but the number of times a year when the river is high enough to paddle will be drastically reduced. Members of the SCA access team met with the developers in the planning stages (but after the scheme had planning consent) and suggested a variety of measures by which the development could protect the opportunity to paddle the river. These included a canoe pass at the weir, compensation flows for paddling and the provision of an online gauge to monitor water levels. The SCA are seeking another meeting with the developers to find out if any of these measures have been incorporated into the scheme. Notices have been erected at the start of the river warning of the construction activity and telling people not to paddle the river in the interests of safety. The SCA believe that the developers should take account of the fact that this river is a resource for paddlers and that they should seek to protect access to the river during the construction stage. For many paddlers the next few weeks may be their last chance to experience the Fechlin and we believe that any restriction on the grounds of health and safety should be for the minimum period and relate to specific locations, construction activity and safety issues. Another larger scheme (200MW as opposed to the 2 MW that the approved scheme would generate) has been proposed for the whole Glen Doe catchment, starting upstream of the approved scheme i.e it would cut off its water supply! Doesn't look like an awful lot of foresite or planning is going into the approval process! There are rumours of various similar schemes being planned on other rivers throughout Scotland. The most effective way for the SCA to respond to any which effect paddlers is to get involved before a planning application is approved - once its approved it may be a case of trying to make the best of a bad job. If you see a notice pinned up near a river you're about to paddle please take the time to read it, and if it is a planning application for a hydro scheme please contact the SCA office. The SCA is also debating what approach it should take to new hydro schemes in a wider sense and is seeking your views on this - Hydros - Good or Bad? discusses some of the issues. Last
updated 19/1/04 |
