The community-driven route proposal for the Kintore-Tealing overhead line has advanced to development stages, highlighting public engagement’s impact.
- The Kintore to Tealing 400kV overhead line project, part of SSEN Transmission’s Pathway to 2030, progresses with routes suggested by local communities.
- Public consultations in March and April 2024 significantly influenced the decision to advance community-led routes, confirming SSEN Transmission’s commitment to stakeholder involvement.
- Scheduled public consultations in September and October 2024 will further refine route proposals, ensuring continued community and stakeholder input.
- Previous consultations led to notable changes in project proposals, demonstrating the effectiveness of engaging local and wider stakeholders.
The community-led route for the Kintore to Tealing 400kV overhead line project has been formally accepted into the next stage of development by SSEN Transmission. This significant move is part of SSEN Transmission’s ambitious £20bn Pathway to 2030 megaproject, which works in conjunction with National Grid’s Great Grid Upgrade to enhance Scotland’s electricity transmission network.
SSEN Transmission has published its ‘report on consultation’, detailing the considered community and landowner feedback affecting the path from Kintore in Aberdeenshire to Tealing in Angus. The initial feedback was garnered during public events in March and April 2024. The routes near the villages of Careston, Drumoak, and Echt are now among those taken forward.
These community-proposed routes are being developed alongside other SSEN Transmission options, with potential alignments along the entire Kintore-Tealing route being refined. Further public consultations are slated for September and October 2024 to gather feedback from local communities and other interested parties.
Calum Grant, SSEN Transmission’s senior project manager, emphasised the vast extent of public consultations, describing them as “one of the biggest Scotland has ever seen.” The feedback, regarded as ‘invaluable,’ has already led to substantial amendments in the company’s plans.
SSEN Transmission underscores past instances where community input has resulted in strategic changes. For example, it redirected plans away from a proposed substation at Fiddes in Mearns to a new location in Hurlie, Fetteresso Forest, due to constructive community interactions. Such shifts highlight the robustness and receptiveness of the consultation process.
The advancement of community-driven proposals underscores the power of effective public consultation in infrastructural development.
