What happens next after the SSEN Strathbogie Hub feedback deadline?

Updated: Monday 3 August 2026

The first SSEN feedback deadline for the proposed Strathbogie Hub has now passed.

That does not mean the process is finished.

It means the campaign is moving into a new stage: from urgent public response to careful scrutiny, evidence keeping, and preparation for what comes next.

Where things stand now

SSEN Transmission is still assessing possible locations for the proposed Strathbogie Hub. Its current project page describes Shetland 2 as being in early development and at the first of five published stages: Project Assessment.

Two shortlisted sites remain under consideration:

• Cruchie
• Rivestone

SSEN has also informed people that ground investigations have begun at both locations to help inform the site selection process. These investigations may include surveys and intrusive works such as boreholes or trial pits.

Ground investigations do not mean planning permission has been granted. They are part of SSEN's assessment work before any future planning application.

Save the Deveron Valley submitted formal feedback before the deadline, including a main response and a final supplementary submission.

We have also published a public-safe summary of earlier SSEN correspondence and formal questions, so residents can see the wider record that was already submitted before the main public package.

A separate formal process: the Beauly–Peterhead line inquiry

The proposed Beauly–Blackhillock–New Deer–Peterhead 400kV overhead line is being examined through a separate DPEA inquiry. It is not the Strathbogie Hub site-selection process.

Save the Deveron Valley has submitted a community-hearing statement, and DPEA has acknowledged it. The hearing at which the campaign is due to speak is:

• Tuesday 25 August 2026
• 5.30pm
• Baden Powell Centre, Turriff

Please check before travelling: Hearing arrangements can change. Use the DPEA case page below for the latest timetable and venue information.

The formal processes are separate, but rural communities experience the combined pressure on the same roads, farms, rivers, habitats and daily lives. That is why joined-up cumulative assessment remains important.

Case references: TRL-270-2 / ECU00005165.

What we are asking for now

The key issue now is transparency.

The community needs clear answers on:

• how both shortlisted sites are being compared;
• whether both sites are being assessed equally;
• what ground investigations involve;
• how land, water, drainage, wildlife, farms, roads and private water supplies are being protected;
• how local evidence will be used;
• how cumulative impacts will be assessed;
• whether the proposed hub is linked only to current known grid needs, or whether it may also enable wider future infrastructure;
• what opportunities the public will have to comment at later stages.

We are not saying SSEN has already chosen a site.

We are saying that any site selection must be fair, transparent, evidence-led and open to proper scrutiny.

What happens after this consultation?

SSEN will review the feedback it has received, alongside technical studies, surveys and ground investigation results.

At some point, SSEN is expected to identify a preferred site.

If the project proceeds, a formal planning application is expected at a later stage. That will be another important opportunity for the public to comment.

This matters because a planning application is different from this early feedback stage. At the planning stage, comments normally need to focus on planning issues such as landscape, roads, ecology, water, drainage, construction impacts, noise, safety, farming, land use and cumulative effects.

Save the Deveron Valley will prepare clear public guidance for that stage when the time comes.

What residents can do now

Even though the first deadline has passed, local knowledge still matters.

Residents can still:

• sign and share the petition;
• keep copies of any feedback they submitted;
• save SSEN letters, maps, emails or screenshots;
• photograph road conditions, flooding, drainage issues or access concerns where safe and lawful;
• keep notes of local wildlife, seasonal conditions, traffic patterns and water issues;
• record any concerns about ground investigation works;
• share practical local knowledge with the campaign;
• use the rural resilience guide to make one small household or neighbour-to-neighbour preparation;
• follow future updates from SSEN, the council and Save the Deveron Valley.

What Save the Deveron Valley will do next

Our next steps are to:

• keep the evidence gathered so far safe;
• track SSEN's responses;
• ask for clear information about ground investigations;
• prepare a list of questions SSEN still needs to answer;
• compare the consultation process with other linked infrastructure consultations;
• build a simple guide for any future planning application stage;
• keep sharing plain-English information;
• continue gathering local knowledge;
• keep the focus on community, nature, farming, roads, water, wildlife and the River Deveron catchment.

Why this still matters

The Deveron Valley is not an empty space on a map.

It is a living rural landscape of farms, roads, homes, burns, wildlife, woodland, history, working land, private water supplies, local businesses, family memories and future hopes.

Large infrastructure decisions have local consequences. That is why communities need clear information, enough time, proper comparison of all options, and joined-up assessment of cumulative impacts.

The deadline has passed.
The scrutiny has not.

Local knowledge is evidence.
Community care is infrastructure too.