Energy / Petition against pylon plans launched at Voe community meeting
A PETITION against plans to run 38-metre high electricity pylons through Voe to connect large green energy projects was launched in the village hall last night (Tuesday).
Around 40 people followed the call by the Voe Community Development Association (VCDA) to show unity and attempt to limit the impact of infrastructure works planned by SSEN Transmission.
Their main demand is for all the proposed overhead power lines to be buried instead.
It follows a well-attended information event, hosted by the developer at the end of last month, when local people realised for the first time the sheer size of what is planned for Voe and the north of the Shetland mainland.
To connect future green energy projects as part of the energy transition, SSEN Transmission is tasked by regulator Ofgem to provide the infrastructure needed to make these projects happen.
This includes:
- A large substation (four buildings of up to 75 metres in length and 15 metres high), called Kergord 2 – but likely to be located to the south of the B9071 road to the west of Voe
- Two lines of 28-metre high pylons running through the Kergord valley to connect the existing Kergord 1 substation to Kergord 2 (eight pylons per kilometre)
- A single line of 38-metre high pylons (three structures per kilometre) to connect Kergord 2 with an even larger proposed substation near Sullom Voe to link to the second subsea cable. This line of pylons will inevitably run through Voe or just east of the village.
Introducing the petition to the meeting on Tuesday, VCDA chair Martin Naylor urged the community to “use their voice” to give SSEN and the council “the clearest and strongest picture of what we find acceptable and what not”.
He said the group, formed two years ago to lobby for a reduced speed limit through the village, was not against development per se.
But he insisted that any work should be carried out with local people at heart.
Naylor said: “Island communities thrive if they stand up for themselves,” and added: “Your voice carries weight – use it.”
The petition, which will be available to sign at local shops (Tagon Stores, Weisdale Shop and Brae Garage) between now and 5 January, calls for:
- Sensitive site development at Kergord 2
- All cables from the existing substation Kergord 1 to the proposed Northern Hub station near Sullom Voe/Scatsta to be buried
- Respect the islands’ Geopark designation
- Protect the tourism and visitor experience
- Conduct a full and transparent cumulative impact assessment of all energy projects.
One of the local councillors for the area, Andrew Hall, said there were currently 18 separate energy projects being pursued in Shetland, including seven by SSEN Transmission, and it was high time that their cumulative impact on the islands and its people was looked at.
“It is absolutely crazy what is going on,” he told the meeting.
He has a similar motion to be discussed by a meeting of the full council later today (Wednesday).
SIC leader and local councillor Emma Macdonald was the first to sign the petition.
The Voe resident said she was supportive of everything the community had said during the 90-minute meeting.
The meeting also discussed what response, if any, to expect from SSEN Transmission and what else they as a community could do to be heard.
“This is much bigger than just Voe,” one said, “and we do need help.”
Naylor said a vast amount of work had gone already into mobilising the community and get the petition going.
Speaking to Shetland News after the meeting he said: “I feel we have achieved a unified voice that we were hoping to.
“There is genuine and profound concern at future pending developments and the Voe community is willing to come together to start representing ourselves in a very robust way to make sure they bury these cables and behave responsibly to Shetland, and our landscape and people.”
Naylor and those speaking at the meeting urged everybody concerned about the impact of the proposed projects to not only sign the petition, but also respond individually to the various projects via the feedback avenues provided by SSEN Transmission.
The links are:
https://www.ssen-transmission.co.uk/northern-shetland-kergord
https://www.ssen-transmission.co.uk/projects/project-map/kergord-2-substation/
SSEN Transmission has an office in Lerwick’s Stewart Building and can be reached via e-mail: shetlandengagement@sse.com
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