Winchester MP Steve Brine met with senior managers from SSE Power Distribution on Thursday 9th February following a series of power cuts which have caused major disruption in the Kings Worthy area. The MP was joined by representatives from Kings Worthy Parish Council (KWPC) for the meeting which he called after last weekend's frequent disruptions to supply.
Mr Brine said; "It was clear after last weekend, but also after a series of problems which have affected residents over many years, that we cannot go on like this. The meeting with SSE had two aims, to explain what went so badly wrong in recent days and agree a plan going forward which will radically improve security of supply to the area. I made it very clear at the outset that events over the first weekend in February were the straw that broke the camels' back and conveyed to the team from SSE how much anger there is locally because of the constant disruptions to supply. I also wanted to establish upfront that we need to see a robust set of agreed actions to give residents some confidence".
The meeting considered four key points;
1) The new sub-station in Willis Waye is now installed and has sufficient capacity to supply local homes.
2) The power cuts that affected Kings Worthy, parts of Martyr Worthy and Harestock last weekend were not connected to these works. There were problems with the circuit breaker at Courtney Road which delayed how quickly power could be restored.
3) SSE acknowledges that it can, and will, do more in the future to communicate these issues to residents. It is particularly concerned with access to the most vulnerable customers. Due to data sharing concerns SSE can only identify those vulnerable customers that make themselves known to SSE, it has therefore agreed to work with the Parish Council and neighbourhood watch services to identify those in the most need.
4) SSE have stepped up their ongoing cycle of inspection and have re-visited all supply lines this week (to finish 9 February) to secure immediate supply into Kings Worthy.
The meeting also agreed a five point action plan;
1) A £1.5m-£2m investment plan will be deployed to lay two new (underground) cables into Kings Worthy from a recently upgraded primary sub-station at Sparsholt. SSE will work with KWPC and Steve Brine MP to resolve some outstanding land uses to start work as soon as possible.
2) SSE will hold an open session (to be organised by KWPC) to explain to residents local power supply issues and outline their future investment plans.
3) Steve Brine will contact the Cart & Horses and King Charles Public House owners and put them in touch with the SSE team to discuss the storms and the help that is available.
4) Representatives from KWPC will visit the SSE's English HQ (in Portsmouth) to see the whole company operation, including customer call handling.
5) SSE will liaise with KWPC to identify if there are any suitable community projects they can contribute towards as part of their commitment to the community.
Steve Brine added; "The meeting consisted of some pretty straight talking and it had to be that way. To give credit to SSE, they have taken this criticism on the chin and set about making it right. I cannot say with 100% certainty there will be no further problems in Kings Worthy in the short-term, and I cannot stress this enough, but we have a clear and robust plan that will make a significant investment in the security of supply and we now need to see this through.
"There are some outstanding issues from last weekend that need resolving and that may involve some form of compensation for affected local pubs and I think that deserves exploring fully. SSE are now taking this very seriously and I alongside the Parish Council will be working with them from hereon to follow up on everything we have agreed."
Pictured; Various images from the meeting, held on 9 February 2012. Present at the meeting were; Colin Arnett (Clerk of KWPC), Ian Gordon (KWPC Councillor and Willis Waye resident), Craig Gilroy (SSE Head of Operations South), Martin Winterbourn (SSE Performance Manager), Stuart Hogarth (SSE Director of Distribution) and James Staffe (SSE Corporate Affairs).