Working together
SSE is working hard to closely involve the community around Glendoe
with the development of the hydro scheme. The company has funded the post of a Community Liaison Officer who meets regularly with community representatives and acts as a ‘direct line’ to SSE and Hochtief for any questions raised by local people. Monthly meetings and progress bulletins ensure that people living in the area are kept in touch with
the project.
As Fort Augustus and the surrounding area rely very heavily on tourism,
major concerns for locals have been the likely traffic issues, particularly on the B862, and the impact of such a large workforce (around 450 staff) on the Fort Augustus infrastructure. As a result, a Traffic Management Agreement was drawn up with The Highland Council as part of the Planning Application process for the project. In addition, a lot of time has been taken to reduce the visual impact of the camp and office accommodation by screening it and painting the buildings with subdued colours.
It was recognised from the outset that local contractors and suppliers should be given every opportunity to pitch for work and to this end Hochtief and Highlands & Islands Enterprise got together to organise a series of ‘Meet the Buyer’ workshops in Fort Augustus and Inverness. Over 50 companies participated in the events, a number of which were successful in securing contracts.
Inevitably the noise of the blasting at the early stages caused a fair bit of concern and although Hochtief tried to avoid detonating the explosives beyond late evening, for safety reasons that was not always possible. Once the TBM took over however, and the work moved underground, the noise ceased to be an issue.
Video: Working with the local community