Community Engagement with SSE - SSEN

Garve and District Community Council

Added at 10:58 on 01 July 2026

GDCC and other local Community Councils have been trying to have some meaningful engagement with SSEN especially in regard to the Western Isle HVDC Link since last year. All attempts failed, even with the intervention of the The Highland Council Social Values Charter Team - SVCT trying to broker a meeting.

Yesterday though we had some progress!! The following is an extract from Nick at the from the SVCT.

 "I would like to take this opportunity to update you on the outcome of our meeting with SSEN on 18 June.
  Attending from the SVC team were myself, Gail Anderton (Social Value Manager) and Anna Myeshkova (CSO-RE West & Mid). From SSEN, attendees included Stuart Macpherson, Kevin Morrison and Lucy Ibison.
  The key updates from the meeting are as follows:

- Stuart is still to meet with Members at an Area Business Meeting to provide an update on the progress of the WIHVDC link. This is expected to take place in August.
- SSEN is currently reviewing the list of projects provided and assigning a RAG rating to each. The RAG rating is not a guarantee of a request being delivered but has enabled them to consider what projects could fall within the scope of the WIHVDC link project. Due to this project being a UK requirement to support infrastructure, the cost of community benefit will rest with GB electricity bill payers, who will ultimately fund community funds. Where there is no direct community benefit fund due to lines being placed underground, consideration needs to be given as to how projects could potentially be funded / supported.

The projects are likely to be RAG categorised as follows.
    Green – projects that could potentially be supported and have a clear link to the WIHVDC activity.
    Amber – projects they may be able to support subject to further scrutiny and exploration, again have a link to the WIHVDC activity.
    Red – projects they are unlikely to support due to being out of scope of the project delivery. These could be considered through other funding e.g The Regional Fund or some other funding mechanism.

  These ratings are still being discussed internally by SSEN. Any final decisions into what projects could be supported cannot be confirmed until the WIHVDC project moves into the construction phase and planning permissions are secured for related elements of the wider development.

- I have reiterated the request for SSEN to attend a meeting with yourselves; however, they have not yet been able to commit to this."
 

Then later in the same day the following invitation came in from SSE's Kevin Morrison, Community Liaison Manager for SSE Transmission 

"As part of the Western Isles HVDC Mainland Cable Project, we are in the process of establishing a Community Liaison Group (CLG) to provide a forum for open discussion, project updates, and community feedback.

We are pleased to invite you to attend the inaugural Cable East CLG meeting (Venue TBC, Wednesday 12th August 2026, 7pm). This initial session will outline the project, clarify the purpose and structure of the CLG, and provide an opportunity to agree how the group will operate moving forward.

At this stage, we are extending invitations in the first instance to Community Councils, as key representatives of their local areas. Following this, we intend to broaden participation to include a wider range of community representatives to ensure balanced and inclusive engagement across all affected areas. However, to ensure the group remains effective and supports focused, constructive discussion, overall membership will need to be kept to a reasonable and manageable size. In practice, this will depend on the level of interest from Community Council representatives and wider community members, and we will work with you to agree an appropriate approach.

The proposed meeting will cover:

- An overview of the Western Isles HVDC Mainland Cable Project

- The role and remit of the CLG

- Membership and representation

- Proposed meeting schedule and next steps

 
We would very much welcome your participation and input. Your perspective will be important in helping to shape effective and meaningful engagement as the project progresses.
Please let us know if you would be interested in attending the inaugural meeting, and we will provide further details in due course."

Naturally we have accepted the invite and will keep you posted on the outcomes, but this is being viewed as some positive tangible action following months of trying to engage with those that say they welcome community engagement but until now clearly were not engaging!