1. Alternatives and site selection
How all shortlisted sites are compared, what evidence is used, and whether community evidence is considered before preference hardens.
The EIA should inform site selection. It should not merely justify it afterwards.
This draft page sets out the community topics that should be scoped before any preferred Strathbogie Hub site is selected.
What is a Community Shadow EIA?
A Community Shadow EIA is not a replacement for a formal Environmental Impact Assessment.
It is a community-led way of identifying the issues, local knowledge and cumulative effects that should be properly considered before decisions harden.
It helps residents ask: what should be assessed, what evidence is missing, and what questions need answered before site selection becomes inevitable?
Draft scoping chapters
2. Landscape, visual impact and sense of place
Effects on the Deveron Valley Special Landscape Area, viewpoints, routes, settlement setting and the lived identity of the valley.
3. Water, drainage and private water supplies
River Deveron catchment, runoff, pollution pathways, construction risk, private supplies and long-term monitoring.
4. Roads, traffic and construction access
B9022, rural lanes, HGV flows, verges, school/nursery routes, emergency access, winter conditions and cumulative construction traffic.
5. Biodiversity and habitat connectivity
Wildcat priority area, salmon restoration, otter, badger, pine marten, red squirrel, birds of prey, pollinators, woodland and habitat corridors.
6. Farming, soils and rural business
Productive land, drainage, access, tenancies, livestock, biosecurity, succession, farm viability and land-take effects.
7. Homes, health and amenity
Noise, light, stress, property uncertainty, visual intrusion, daily life, mental load and community cohesion.
8. Fire, emergency planning and security
Substation and battery-related hazards, emergency access, responder capacity, water supply, wildfire and major-accident planning where relevant.
9. Associated infrastructure
BESS, private wire, energy parks, additional substations, compounds, access tracks, grid connections and data-centre demand where relevant.
10. Cumulative impact
Strathbogie Hub in the context of OHLs, quarries, estate intensification, roads, wind, BESS, data centres and other pressures.
11. Consultation and evidence handling
Whether local knowledge is preserved, whether feedback changes outcomes, and how AI-assisted summaries are checked for loss of detail.
12. Public benefit and fair share
Who owns, who profits, who carries risk, who loses land, who gains capacity and what enforceable public benefit is secured locally.
How we will label evidence
Verified fact
Reported local concern
Pattern evidence
Question for authorities
Keeping these labels clear helps the community stay credible and makes it harder for important local evidence to be dismissed.
Help us build the record
Useful evidence can include photographs, local observations, maps, letters, notices, road concerns, water-supply information, wildlife records, farm impacts, meeting notes and questions that still need answered.
Careful evidence is not weakness. It is how communities become harder to dismiss.