Beauly – Denny Replacement Transmission Line Project Community Liaison Scheme November 2010 Community Liaison Team North Beauly to Fort Augustus Lisa Kelly Central Fort Augustus to Tummel Bridge Neil Anderson South Tummel Bridge to Dunblane Vicky MacDonald Telephone: 0845 070 1696 *Calls to this number costs 2p per minute plus your phone companies access charge Email: [email protected] Table of contents 1 Corporate Context 2 Company Overview 2 Role of Community Liaison Team 2 Aim of Community Liaison Plan 2 2 Project Context 4 Need for the Project 4 Project Route 4 Routeing 5 Project Data 5 Timeline 5 Access 5 Forestry Works 5 Tower Construction 6 Substation Construction 6 Associated Works 6 Dismantling of 132kV Line 7 Rationalisation Schemes 7 3 Expected Areas of Interest 8 Developments affecting Construction 8 4 Communication Framework 9 5 Key Media & Journalists 10 Media Protocol 11 Website Communications 11 6 Appendix Beauly to Fort Augustus 12 Fort Augustus to Tummel Bridge 17 Tummel Bridge to Dunblane 22 7 Community Liaison Scheme Amendments 29 1 1. Corporate Context Company Overview SSE’s (Scottish and Southern Energy) core purpose is to provide the energy people need in a reliable and sustainable way. Our strategy is to deliver sustained growth in the dividend payable to shareholders through the efficient operation of, and investment in, a balanced range of regulated and non-regulated energy-related businesses. To help achieve this, we have plans to invest £4bn between 2008 and 2013. SSE is listed on the London stock exchange and on 26th February 2010 was ranked 31st in the FT-SE 100 by market capitalisation. In line with its core financial principles SSE maintains one of the strongest balance sheets in the global utility sector. Role of Community Liaison Team The Beauly-Denny Community Liaison team are a dedicated full time resource supporting the project. They will manage and co-ordinate communications and engagement with the public, community bodies, elected representatives and any other groups affected by the project. In addition the Project Team will handle all statutory engagement whilst media enquiries will be handled by the SSE press office. Landowner and occupier relations will continue to be managed during the construction and dismantling phases by the Wayleave Team who will deal with all landowner issues. One of their main responsibilities will be to agree reasonable compensation for impacts on shooting, stalking, farming activities and forestry during construction and dismantling. In addition the Wayleave Team will strive to maintain good relations with all landowners and occupiers to allow construction and dismantling to progress as smoothly as possible and will also seek to provide a prompt resolution of issues. Out of hours calls will be handled by a 24 hour contact centre where staff will take details from the caller and pass them to the appropriate liaison manager. Aim of the Community Liaison Plan The Beauly-Denny Community Liaison team will use information in this plan to support the work of the Project Team throughout the construction phase of the project. This plan will build on the consultation to date and the requirements of the current conditions. It will detail our proactive approach to engaging with the public, community bodies, elected representatives and the media. The Environmental Liaison Group (ELG) was formed to “provide advice on appropriate and necessary mitigation and construction procedures, associated restoration and habitat management measures and to advise the Scottish Ministers of any concerns relating to the construction of the development”. In addition to ourselves, the bodies that contribute to the group are; · The Highland Council; · Perth and Kinross Council; · Stirling Council; · Scottish Natural Heritage; · Scottish Environment Protection Agency; · Cairngorms National Park Authority; · Historic Scotland; and · The Forestry Commission 2 The Tourism, Cultural Heritage and Community Liaison Group (TCHCLG) has been formed with the purpose to “provide advice on appropriate and necessary mitigation and construction procedures that impact on tourism, historic sites and cultural heritage”. In addition to ourselves the bodies that contribute to the group are; · The local planning authorities for the areas in which the Development is situated; · Scottish Natural Heritage; · Historic Scotland; · The Forestry Commission; · Visit Scotland; · National Trust for Scotland; · Scottish Enterprise; · Highlands and Islands Enterprise; and · Skills Development Scotland. 3 2. Project Context Need for the Project SHETL is a licensed electricity transmission company. We have a duty under the Electricity Act 1989 to develop and maintain an efficient, co-ordinated and economical system of electricity transmission and to facilitate competition in supply and generation of electricity. The levels of renewable generation that developers are contracting to connect to transmission and distribution networks are such that the existing transmission capacity is insufficient. The replacement transmission line will provide less constrained electricity network capacity for around 2,500MW (megawatts) of renewable energy capacity in the north of Scotland, and will form a basis for growth in the long term. The significance of such growth has been confirmed by the Scottish government’s target to generate 50% of Scotland’s electricity from renewables by 2020, and the UK Government, who confirmed that it is committed to the EU target for 20% of all energy requirements being met from renewable sources by 2020. Project Route The proposed 400kV transmission line is 220 kilometres (km) long from Beauly in the north to Denny in the south, of which 200km is in our area and 20km is in Scottish Power’s (SPT). The land use character of the route has been described in four sections as follows: · Beauly to Fort Augustus: This 50km long section follows a predominantly upland route over areas of remote and unpopulated moorland, forested in sections. Several river valleys are crossed along this section. The existing substations at Beauly (near Balblair), Fasnakyle (near Cannich) and Fort Augustus will all be redeveloped. · Fort Augustus to Tummel Bridge: This 77km section crosses the Grampian Mountains over areas of remote upland moorland and coniferous forests and some river valleys. From Dalwhinnie to Dalnacardoch the alignment of the proposed route follows the line of the A9 trunk road. A new substation will be constructed near Tummel Bridge. · Tummel Bridge to Braco: This 63km section crosses upland areas comprising moorland and some river valleys before reaching the low lying landscape to the east of Crieff and Muthill. The proposed route crosses moorland and forestry to the proposed new Braco substation. · Braco to Denny: This 30km section crosses the Allan Water and A9 before crossing moorland on the Ochil Hills. South of these hills the proposed route crosses the broad flat valley of the River Forth and follows an alignment avoiding the main settlements along the route. The proposed route terminates at the proposed new Denny North substation to the North-East of Denny. This section crosses the boundary with SPT at the Wharry Burn. 4 Routeing The routeing process considered a number of options; · Initially broad or strategic route corridors were identified and assessed; · This was followed by a more detailed analysis of the options remaining between each pair of substations and along the line of the strategic route corridor. · The detailed route selection first considered topography and settlement distribution and potential line routes were then devised to achieve the best fit within the landscape, balancing the need to avoid impacts to designated environmental areas and cultural heritage sites and keeping alignments more than 100m from residential buildings as far as possible. · The detailed routes were tested against all environmental and technical criteria, to identify a preferred route which was then subject to a major public consultation exercise. · Following consultation, an indicative proposed route was identified. · Further consultation was undertaken and alternative routes tested. · The route was then further refined to arrive at a draft proposed route and ultimately, the proposed route. Project Data · 220km of 400kV line to be constructed, replacing 220km of existing 132kV line which will be dismantled · 815 towers will be replaced by approximately 600 new towers · In creating the access tracks, 154km of temporary track will be created along with approximately 124km of existing track being upgraded Timeline Once started, construction is likely to take around four years and will include the preparation of access tracks; installation of tower foundations; erection of towers; stringing of conductors; and reinstatement of the land. This will be carried out in conjunction with the development and upgrading of the required five substations along the route. A further year will be required to dismantle the existing line. The details of the stages are as follows; Access Access tracks will be required to facilitate construction of the line and substations. The required works include 154km of temporary track, some of which could become permanent if the required permissions are obtained, and the upgrading of 124km of existing track. In addition, there will be works required where some of these tracks form a connection with the public road. Forestry Works Although the line route has been chosen to minimise the impact