‘We’re living with the noise of it, we’re living with the lights’: Achalone residents feel impact of Spittal substation
Achalone residents have already experienced the noise disturbance and visual impact of a substation construction project, this week’s Banniskirk Hub meeting in Halkirk heard.
Catherine Mackenzie highlighted the reality of living close to the existing Spittal 275kV substation which will be dwarfed by the Banniskirk scheme if it goes ahead.
SSEN Transmission is seeking planning permission from Highland Council for a 400kV substation and high-voltage direct current (HVDC) converter station.
If approved, Banniskirk Hub will connect to the proposed 400kV overhead line between Spittal and Beauly and to the existing Spittal substation.
Speaking on Wednesday night at Halkirk District Community Council’s EGM, Mrs Mackenzie said: “Residents at Achalone have gone through it already.
“That’s the problem – we’ve done our bit with the 275kV Spittal substation that’s already there.
“We’ve experienced the flooding, we’ve experienced all the workers, we’ve experienced all the litter, we’ve experienced the blasting and them not telling you, the complete lack of any information.
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“We’re living with the noise of it, we’re living with the lights. There are no dark skies there any more because it’s lit up like I don’t know what.
“Even when the sun is shining, it just gleams back like a great big mirror. They took all those big trees down that were shielding it – and it’s tiny in comparison to what we’re looking at.
“And they’re even admitting that it may well be bigger, there’s room for expansion.”
Speaking afterwards, Mrs Mackenzie described the prospect of the Banniskirk scheme as “scary”. She said three of the four people in her household are shift workers and could be affected by noise disturbance during the lengthy construction phase.
Martin Sinclair from Watten Community Council described the data presented by the two speakers, Edith Budge and Kathrin Haltiner, as “mind-blowing”.
He told the meeting: “The thing that baffles me is how can they get that through planning? Its capacity outstrips the demand for it.
“The scale of it is just massive for what is actually needed.”
Dave Busby, vice-chairman of Halkirk District Community Council, pointed out: “We don’t really know what the ultimate goal is.
“We know that Banniskirk is a huge substation – it must be getting designed for some reason or another. They’re not telling us what that is.
“If we had the whole picture, we could comment on that as concerned locals through the planning system. But we don’t even know what it is.”
