Garry Campaigners Lobby AGM of SSE

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Garry Campaigners Lobby AGM of SSE

The campaign instigated by the Tay District Salmon Fisheries Board to get a sufficient flow restored to the River Garry went up another gear last week when the campaigners descended on the Annual General Meeting of Scottish and Southern Energy plc, the company which abstracts all of the flow from this once important salmon river in north Perthshire.

Shareholders arriving at the meeting were offered leaflets outside Perth Concert Hall, and inside, other campaigners attended the AGM. During questions, Dr David Summers of the Tay Board put it to SSE that the proposal to take even more flow from the Spey in order to return what he called 'a cosmetic flow' to the Garry was unacceptable, especially in the light of SSE's recent achievement of having been awarded "premier league" status for environmental management.

He said that a great opportunity was now available to SSE to do something really positive by putting back a sufficient flow to restore the Garry’s salmon population which could earn the company much respect.

Ian Marchant, SSE’s Chief Executive replied that SSE was engaged with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency in the European Water Framework Directive River Basin Planning Process which now requires improvements to overabstracted rivers like the Garry and that and that some improvement should eventually be forthcoming. But restoration of the scale demanded by the Tay Board would result in a loss in renewable energy.

The Tay Board contends the amount of lost energy required would only be small, equivalent to around four wind turbines, a price it thinks worth paying to repair the worst example of this type of damage in the country. In concluding the session, Sir Robert Smith, SSE’s Chairman, remarked that he too had been surprised to find the River Garry comprised nothing but rocks and stones.

Perhaps the campaign is finding support in unexpected places!