Road closure will leave rural communities ‘cut off’ until Spring

The closure of the A838 in the north-west Highlands will leave Sutherland communities cut off as the vital road to Inverness will be effectively closed for seven months to facilitate construction of the Sallachy windfarm near Lairg.

Canadian energy firm Boralex this week revealed that the A838 will close from 26 October to April 2027, apart from three 30-minute periods during weekdays when the single-track route will be open in theory, but traffic tailbacks could make access almost impossible.

This initial phase of roadworks will be followed by a separate phase of turbine deliveries, likely necessitating further traffic restrictions and road closures. Periods of disruption are expected over the next three years.

Community group Keep Kinlochbervie Special warns of an unacceptable impact on local communities in Kinlochbervie, Scourie and Durness and added costs for businesses.

Susan Black from Kinlochbervie says she will cancel plans rather than attempt to make the journey: “I was at the Boralex information event and although they are very polite, they don’t understand the impact this will have. They told me there is never snow here in the winter! The Altnaharra road is often closed for snow and the Ullapool road is very steep and exposed, with sharp bends, it’s not something you’d want to use in the middle of winter. Fuel is very expensive already and this could add hours on to our journey times. I just won’t be able to go to Inverness at all until the roadworks are finished.”

Fellow Kinlochbervie resident Jenny Shaw believes that completing the roadworks will take far longer than the developer expects: “The contractor who has been appointed is not local to the area and they won’t appreciate the enormity of the project, nor the condition of the road and the impact of snow and ice. It’s bound to overrun past April. All this will have a huge impact on businesses and on people’s day to day lives.”

David Forbes, a local crofter, says: “The diversionary route proposed, via Kylesku, is not a reasonable alternative – it is part of the NC500 and is often filled with slow-moving campervans, many more deer where it passes limestone pasture and is steeper, higher, and can be problematic in winter conditions. This is just the start of three years of roadworks. I don’t think this level of disruption would be imposed on people in Glasgow or Edinburgh, but we are always an after-thought.”

The 44MW Sallachy windfarm involves nine turbines with a blade height of 149.9metres.

Kinlochbervie residents are fighting the much larger development proposed by Galileo, which would involve 15 turbines with a tip height of up to 200 metres, a battery energy storage system, solar panels, substation, control building and new roads.

Susan Black concluded: “For all these windfarms, the benefits go elsewhere, while local people suffer the disruption and damage to our environment. If the Kinlochbervie windfarm were approved it would be a thousand times worse than Sallachy. It’s a more remote location, it’s a much bigger project and it has taller turbines, which are more challenging to transport on our roads. The construction period for that could go on for four or five years, it doesn’t bear thinking about.”