Badenoch community fighting ‘irrevocable change’ threat from SSE
A Badenoch community is claiming that its concerns over a proposed huge power substation on its patch are being ignored by an energy giant.
Residents in the Laggan area have been angered by the preferred site chosen by SSEN Transmission near Strathmashie for the 400kV facility.
They also believe that the ‘Coirie Mashie’ site is unnecessarily large and that their views should have been sought long before the decision was made.
The concerns come after an unprecedented meeting of 53 community councils in Beauly just over a week ago which ended with a unified call for a pause on the major energy infrastructure developments sweeping the Highlands.
The Scotland Government’s Energy Consent Unit recently approved proposals by Gilkes Energy to construct the biggest pump hydro storage scheme in the UK at Lochan h-Earba within the Laggan watchdog’s area.
The project requires additional substation capacity to allow the voltage of electricity to be stepped up or down ready for transmission in this case for the Beauly–Denny line.
Laggan Community Council said it was made aware that there were several sites under consideration for the new local substation early on in its discussions with Gilkes.
Chairwoman Karen Thew said: “We contacted SSEN-T repeatedly to find out what sites were under consideration so as to be able to provide early input but all our requests for information were completely ignored.”
The community council found out at the start of April - through Gilkes - that the community hall had been booked by SSEN-T for a ‘community consultation’ for May 28.
But the first direct information the watchdog received from the power giant did not arrive until May 22.
Ms Thew explained: “The consultation took place in Laggan Village Hall over several hours. In fact, the hall was set up as an information session rather than a consultation.
“There were many information boards, but no presentation or Q&A session had been planned.
“Many residents felt that this approach was a deliberate ploy to try and reduce the sharing of information and thus reduce potential opposition.
“At my request, the SSEN-T representatives agreed to a Q&A session which revealed how strongly the community felt about the proposed siting and size of a new substation.
“Residents are angry that despite the fact that the Earba projects will be for private profit, the preferred site is on public land owned by Forestry and Land Scotland and within the Cairngorms National Park.
“Two sites on Ardverikie Estate who will house the Earba pump hydro scheme and receive significant financial compensation for doing so were discounted.
“One site that had been proposed was virtually on top of a historical village so was never going to be chosen and some residents felt that this was included as window dressing.
“Residents of Strathmashie were also angry that despite the substation being on their doorstep not once had SSEN-T reached out to them to canvas their views.
“One resident spoke of the difficulties she is now facing as she tries to sell her house with potential buyers being turned off by the thought of the disruption and living next to a substation.”
The watchdog has point out said the development site itself requires an ‘enormous platform of approximately 700 metres by 370 metres’ of land.
But according to SSEN-T only one third of the capacity of this site is actually needed to service the Earba project.
Residents at the meeting expressed concerns that this would open the door to other similar developments or more windfarms.
Ms Thew said: “Residents already face several years of building works, disruption and substantial increases in HGV traffic along substandard roads - and all this in an area that relies on tourism for much of its income.”
Suggestions were provided by the residents for alternative sites at the meeting.
These included redevelopment of the existing Melgarve substation and for the substation to be housed on an alternative site on Ardverikie Estate who will ‘reap significant financial gain from the project’.
CNPA board member Russell Jones (pictured) who is also a local councillor, raised concerns over the lack of public consultation at the latest park authority meeting.
He said: “Since the liaison event, Laggan Community Council has been in touch with the (SSEN-T) community liaison officer and her reply has been wholly inappropriate.”
It had not covered any of the points they raised, he said, and asked if there is anything the CNPA could do to assist the community.
Mr Jones was advised that the park authority would be able to engage in the statutory pre-application process.
An SSEN Transmission spokesperson said community engagement forms a key part of their project development process.
She said: “In September 2024 we first informed Laggan Community Council of our intention to engage with the local community in Spring 2025, once the project had reached a stage where we were able to share an appropriate level of information on our initial proposals.
“This was followed by a presentation to local community councils and residents a week ahead of the drop-in information event on May 28, with the drop-in event advertised via a maildrop to over 500 properties in proximity to the proposed development and notices in publicly accessible places.
“We’d like to thank the community council and all those who attended this event, where we shared information on potential locations for the new substation, while answering questions.
“The feedback we received will help shape our plans, ahead of further consultation events that are scheduled to take place later in the year.”
She added: “The connections to the new substation from the Earba pumped storage hydro scheme and existing Beauly-Denny overhead line will be delivered via underground cable, and sited relatively close to the overhead line to limit the additional infrastructure required.”
Under its network operators licence, SSEN-T is required to deliver the substation and associated connections ‘in a technically efficient, co-ordinated and economic manner’.
But the energy giant also has to ‘help support the local economy and maximise positive legacy impacts such as a Biodiversity Net Gain on all projects gaining consent, while working with local communities to mitigate construction and other impacts’.