Elgin’s Bilbohall housing development has been delayed because the new houses cannot be supplied with power.
Scottish & Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) told Moray Council they did not have the grid capacity in Elgin to service the new housing.
Council officers spoke of their “frustration” with SSEN, who they have been liaising with for some time.
SSEN say they are “working closely” with the council to see if they can find a solution to the power issues sooner than 2030.
Why has the housing development been delayed?
In November of last year, SSEN told Moray Council they had concerns with the capacity of the grid to service new homes.
Improvements to Elgin’s grid system planned to take place in 2026 have now been delayed to 2030, the council was told.
An SSEN spokesperson said: “We are starting work to upgrade our local network later this year; these projects will run through to 2030, releasing additional capacity onto the network in stages.”
However, the current amount of electricity SSEN could provide the Bilbohall project makes it “not viable” according to council documents.
Moray Council have said they intend to continue developing plans for the site but no work will get underway until SSEN can guarantee grid capacity.
Bilbohall plagued by delays and revisions
Recently, the P&J did a full breakdown of the Bilbohall development.
The site was first identified for housing almost twenty years ago.
Since then, plans have revised and reduced multiple times culminating in the current development, approved in October last year.
The first phase of this planned to bring 106 new homes to the end of Edgar Road.
The housing is a mixed-development of one to five bedroom housing and two-bedroom flats.
Council officers aware of the ‘irony’
Head of Housing and Property Services Edward Thomas said: “It’s a matter of frustration we’ve hit this problem.
“We’ve been engaging with SSEN for some time in relation to this.”
SSEN’s housing strategy hopes to “not worsen” rural housing issues, by providing alternative housing for workers outwith local housing options.
Mr Thomas remarked “the irony… is not lost on us” rural housing is now being impacted as a direct result of SSEN’s delays.
However, a spokesperson for SSEN said they are “exploring potential network solutions to help [Moray Council] meet the current project timescales for the Bilbohall development.”
This includes decisions on accommodation for workers coming to work on Elgin’s power grid.
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