The massive 350-person workers' camp set for Scottish Highland glen

A massive workers’ camp is set to be built in a Highland glen.

Around 350 people working on a major powerline upgrade to Skye will be housed in Portacabins at the camp in Glen Mor near Fort Augustus.

The camp will sit around 2.5miles south of Fort Augustus (pictured) in Glen Mor. | AFP via Getty Images

Contractor Balfour Beatty has lodged a pre-application notice for the camp, which will include welfare facilities and a medical surgery, with Highland Council.

The temporary development will support the upgrade of the Skye to Fort Augustus powerline, which will take until 2030 to complete. Full permission for the development has yet to be granted by the Scottish Government.

The company met with members of the community at a meeting of Fort Augustus and Glenmoriston Community Council this week to discuss the camp.

Deirdre MacKinnon, chair of the community council, said a request will be made to Balfour Beatty to change the workers’ Portacabins from the company colours of blue and white to green to blend them into the surrounding environment.

She said: “We have been told they need 100 staff to get the project going and this will rise to 350.

“The main concern raised at the meeting was that the lighting at the camp was too bright. We hope to get the Portacabins painted green so they blend in and there was also concerns raised about the amount of traffic going from the camp to Invergarry but, as we understand it, they are going to put in a park and ride scheme.”

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Ms MacKinnon said the community generally felt “ok” about the camp given the same site was earlier used for workers on the Beauly to Denny powerline. A camp that was set up during the construction of a tunnel at the Glendoe hydro scheme in the erly 2000s was far bigger, she added.

A full planning application for the Glen Mor camp is due to be lodged in early 2025, it is understood.

The Skye to Fort Augustus Reinforcement Project will upgrade the existing 132kV overhead transmission line which is the sole connection from the mainland electricity transmission system to Skye and the Western Isles.

Parts of the existing line need to replaced and overall the capacity needs to increase given the rise in renewable projects requiring a connection to the electricity transmission network.

The cost of upgrading the powerline, which spans 82 miles, is £690m.

A statement from Balfour Beatty said: “We can confirm that we have submitted a Proposal of Application Notice for temporary worker accommodation in readiness for SSEN Transmission’s Fort Augustus to Skye Reinforcement project, ensuring that we are able to mobilise our workforce in a timely manner.

“The proposed site will provide accommodation and welfare facilities for our workforce, and has been carefully chosen to minimise disruption to residents and to avoid impacting the local housing market."

Ailsa Raeburn, chair of Community Land Scotland, spoke earlier this week about the need to build more houses in the Highlands to accommodate the influx of workers due to take employment on a range of large-scale energy and infrastructure projects in order to retain employees - and their families - in the north and aid population growth.

A statement from SSEN Transmission, which is leading the Skye to Fort Augustus Reinforcement Project, said: “comment to come.”