Local school gets a helping hand from New Deer substation team

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A team from Scottish & Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) Transmission and its contractors Amey and Corries Construction staff visited New Deer Primary School this week to talk to the children about keeping road safe and to put their practical skills to good use, tidying up the school’s eco-garden.

The team area working locally on the construction of SSEN Transmission’s New Deer substation.  The substation is required, being built to facilitate the connection to the National Grid of the 900MW Moray East Offshore Windfarm, supporting the transition to net zero. Once complete the substation will form part of SSEN Transmission’s reinforcement and improvement of the transmission network in the North East and East Coast of Scotland.

During their visit the team talked to the pupils about staying road safe around increased local and construction traffic. Teaching the children their road safety A, B, C’s - be road aware, think about their behaviour and how to make safe choices - each pupil was given a high visibility vest and reflective snap bands to wear when travelling to and from school on dark mornings and winter nights, helping the children to “think bright” about road safety and improve their visibility to drivers on the road.

The team also put their practical skills to good use in the school’s eco garden, weeding, repairing the planting boxes and giving them a fresh coat of paint. They also built a set of new picnic benches, donated by AMEY, which they hope the pupils will be able to make use of during outdoor classes and while using their newly spruced-up garden.

Gary Donlin, SSEN Transmission’s Community Liaison Manager, said:

“As a responsible developer we are keen to work together with the local community to raise awareness of our activities and to ensure they understand the background for these works”.

“We were pleased we were also able to put our skills to good use on the day and tidy up the garden and we look forward to seeing the picnic benches being put to good use. We would like to thank the school for inviting us along and hope to continue our relationship throughout the New Deer Substation project”.

SSEN Transmission and Amey have been working closely with the community since construction began to minimise disruption and ensure they are kept up to update with the progress of the substation. Work on the substation began in April this year and is expected to be completed early in 2021.