The Issue

A major new energy hub is being proposed in the Deveron Valley, around Strathbogie, Rothiemay and Huntly in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

Decision makers addressed by this petition: SSEN Transmission, Aberdeenshire Council, and Scottish Ministers.

SSEN Transmission is currently considering two shortlisted locations: Rivestone and Cruchie.

This petition is not asking for one farming family, one village, or one rural community to be sacrificed instead of another.

It is asking for a fair, transparent, evidence-led process before any preferred site is selected.

This is not empty land on a map.

It is a living rural landscape of farms, homes, narrow roads, rivers, burns, trees, hedgerows, flowers, pollinators, wildlife corridors and community life.

It is productive farmland.

It is family land.

It is habitat.

It is water.

It is memory.

It is home.

For those who live in and care about the Deveron Valley, the impact is not abstract.

People see the seasons changing across the fields. They see bees working through flowers, birds crossing the valley, red squirrels moving through trees, and burns feeding into the wider River Deveron catchment.

This landscape is already under growing pressure from multiple major infrastructure proposals and land-use changes, including grid infrastructure, wind energy proposals, quarrying, road pressure, possible future battery-storage interest, and other development pressures.

Each project may be presented separately.

But communities live with the combined impact.

That is why we are asking for joined-up assessment before decisions harden.

The Deveron Valley and wider Strathbogie area are important for protected and priority wildlife, including Scottish wildcat, otter, osprey, red squirrel, raptors, salmonid interests, pollinators and many other species that depend on connected habitat, quiet corridors, clean water and undisturbed edges.

The concerns are not only about wildlife.

They are also about:

loss of productive farmland;
pressure on multigenerational farming businesses;
construction traffic on narrow rural roads;
road safety near homes, schools, farms and villages;
water, drainage, burns and private water supplies;
landscape and visual impact;
emergency access and resilience;
cumulative pressure from multiple energy and infrastructure proposals;
whether local knowledge is being properly heard before decisions are made.
Local people are not saying no to clean energy.

We are saying that clean energy infrastructure must be planned properly, placed responsibly, assessed honestly and shaped with the communities most affected.

Community benefit is not a substitute for community consent.

Green claims are not a substitute for evidence.

A benefits ledger is not a full balance sheet.

A public local account has reported possible battery-storage developer interest near a future substation. We are not treating this as proof of a formal proposal. We are asking SSEN and public authorities to confirm whether BESS, private-wire, energy-park or other associated infrastructure is current, likely, enabled, reasonably foreseeable or ruled out.

Before SSEN selects any preferred site, communities need clear information, proper comparison, meaningful consultation and a full understanding of what the proposal may cost as well as what it may add.

What We Are Asking For

We are asking SSEN Transmission, Aberdeenshire Council and Scottish Ministers to ensure that before any preferred Strathbogie Hub site is selected:

Both shortlisted sites are compared transparently using clear, like-for-like evidence.
No preferred site is advanced until impacts are fully assessed, justified and explained in plain English.
A dedicated Rothiemay consultation is held before site selection hardens.
Communities are given proper maps, realistic visuals and clear 3D modelling, not only technical drawings or selected viewpoints.
Roads, bridges, haul routes, school routes, homes, farms and daily life are fully assessed.
The River Deveron catchment, burns, drainage, private water supplies and pollution risks are properly considered.
Protected and priority species are taken seriously, with appropriate survey work, seasonal evidence and safeguards.
Cumulative impacts are assessed, including grid infrastructure, wind farms, battery storage, quarrying, roads, data-centre demand and other connected or foreseeable infrastructure pressures.
Future associated infrastructure is not left outside the frame, including BESS, private-wire connections, energy parks or high-demand industrial connections where these are current, likely, enabled or reasonably foreseeable.
Local knowledge is treated as evidence, not dismissed as emotion or inconvenience.
Clear accountability is provided, showing who monitors promises, who enforces conditions, who can stop work if harm occurs, and who pays if mitigation fails.
This petition is about process, protection and fairness.

It is about making sure rural communities are not left to carry the hidden costs of national infrastructure without proper scrutiny.

Power should serve life.

Not the other way round.

Please sign and share this petition to support a fair, transparent and properly assessed process for the Deveron Valley before any preferred site is chosen.

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