Is road chaos between Carluke and Lanark really necessary?

That is the question being asked of ScottishPower this week as local politicians and businesses lodged official objections to the scheme.

ScottishPower plans to lay new cabling under a crucial stretch of the A73 to take power generated at the Blacklaw Wind Farm near Climpy down to the feeder station into the National Grid at Linn Mill, Kirkfieldbank.

Campaigners against the scheme have claimed that there is an alterative grid station at Wishaw which is not only much nearer to Blacklaw but would also cause far less disruption running cabling into.

ScottishPower’s reply so far has been that its Wishaw station is already working at full capacity and simply couldn’t handle the extra supply from Blacklaw.

That claim has been seriously questioned this week.

For more on this, pick up a copy of the Carluke and Lanark Gazette.