All seven hydro electric schemes proposed for Glen Etive have been approved at a planning meeting today, a decision that has met with anger among conservationists.

Glen Etive from Ben Starav © Dan Bailey

Energy firm Dickins Hydro Resources applied to build the electricity plants last year. Despite the fact that Highland Council received over 650 objections from environmental groups, concerned individuals and walking and mountaineering bodies, they have now given the project the nod.

Conservationists fear the impact on the glen will be highly damaging. Three of the seven sites are within a designated Wild Land Area, while the whole glen is part of a National Scenic Area.

"It's a sad day and we are bitterly disappointed at such a decision for this beautiful and iconic glen" said Stuart Younie of Mountaineering Scotland.

"Highland Council has failed in its stewardship of this wild and scenic area by allowing built development to spill up from the glen floor and into the open hillside.

"The erosion of the wild qualities of the land and the picking away at the edges of wild areas is a major problem for our internationally important landscapes, and Highland Council and the current planning system have let us down badly."