Dear Ms Manson
PS-270-1: Red John Pumped Storage Hydro
Thank you for your email of 29th June 2020 requesting further comments from the Community Council in relation to Flood Risk and Seismic Activity and Traffic and Transport. After consideration of the developer’s further responses, we wish to reiterate our original submission of 27th February 2019 along with the following comments.
Flood Risk and Seismic Activity:
We remain concerned at the reliance on the provisions on the Reservoirs Act and the confidentiality surrounding that. We would wish to draw the Reporter’s attention to the recent publication of an independent review report in February 2020 by Professor David Balmforth following the partial failure of the Toddbrook Reservoir in August 2019 (copy attached). It is stated there that it is possible for ‘the reservoir and its owner to be compliant with the legislation without the reservoir necessarily being safe’ and, among the recommendations, that ‘there is a systematic review of how the current Reservoirs Act and the associated Regulations and Guidance are implemented.’ We would request that the Inquiry has regard to the Balmforth Report and its recommendations in the context of this project.
Traffic and Transport:
Whilst we are pleased with the progress that has been made between the Applicant and the Highland Council in agreeing planning conditions and other legal agreements to regulate these matters, success will depend on collaboration and agreement among the parties during the project implementation stage. It is welcome that the Applicant has committed to the establishment of the Community Liaison Group but this will come with considerable demands on time and resources of the Community Councils involved, which we would request that the Applicant acknowledges through grants or other subsidy being made available.
We would also wish to point out that Scottish Water are in the process of finalising a planning application for water extraction from Loch Ness. If consented, this could result in both developments overlapping, with potentially serious impacts on the road network and, in particular, on traffic on the B862.