Energy / Viking to consider temporary repair to road damage
ENGINEERS from SSE Renewables have confirmed they will consider some temporary repair of local roads ahead of a major overhaul once the construction of the Viking Energy wind farm is completed in autumn of next year.
The issue of damage to the road network due to the amount of traffic by heavy trucks came up during a meeting of the Viking Community Liaison Group, held via Teams on Tuesday evening.
The meeting heard from community councillors that the A970 carriageway near the golf course was particularly affected with rainwater running down the grooves rather than off the road.
Wind farm construction interface manager Gerald Hamill told the meeting that he and his team would be happy to assess the damage with a view to instigate temporary repairs.
“[Damage to the road network] necessary to repair as a result of project related work would be repaired and paid for by ourselves and the project,” he said.
“Typically, full roads repair would not be carried out until post-construction phase, however, in the interim if there is any area deemed unsafe or could be a hazard or a risk to road users, then these would be identified and repaired as a priority.”
Hamill said he was happy to hear from the public about areas of concern and also agreed to discuss detailed locations of road damage with Tingwall, Weisdale and Whiteness community councillor Neil Leask.
Meanwhile, that meeting heard that NorPower, the company constructing the new Gremista to Kergord connection along the A970, was making good progress with 48 of the 275 wooden poles erected so far.
Constructing temporary access tracks for the underground cabling element of the link that will feed electricity from the Viking wind farm into local homes and businesses are ongoing.
Finally, people have been reminded that there is no access under ‘right to roam’ legislation while the wind farm continues to be a construction site.
This will change once the wind farm has been handed over and produces electricity.
SSE Renewables Aimi Munro said: “People will be absolutely free to walk, cycle, and take horses up to the wind farm tracks.”
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