Power struggle for Peeblesshire pensioners
Published 12 Apr 2010 12:21
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Workmen reconect the Walkerburn supply
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A LOCAL pensioner has told of her plight after being left without power for over four days.
Heavy snow wreaked havoc on Peeblesshire's power network last week leaving many homeowners without electricity or heating as the mercury dropped across the region.
Power was lost to hundreds of homes on Tuesday night and wasn't reconnected again until Friday afternoon. Walkerburn lost power after the weight of snow on power lines caused a pole on the right bank of the Tweed to collapse.
As a result local residents, Dorothy Anderson, 74, and her husband, John, 74, of High Cottages, were left without heating or light for four days.
Dorothy, who suffers from both arthritis and Raynaud's Disease a condition aggravated by cold, fortunately had gas for cooking.
She said: "It brought back memories of long ago, having to put on extra clothes to stay warm. We had our coats on just sitting in the house.
"We lost power before but never as bad as that. It was freezing at night.
"Each day the power company told us that it would be reconnected soon but then another night passed."
In West Linton power was returned the next day (Wednesday March 31) but many residents of surrounding areas were left snowed in and without electricity until Friday.
One such resident was local councillor, Willie Archibald.
He said: "It's ridiulous really. We're 20 minutes drive from Scotland's capital city and have had to spend four days snowed in and without power.
"All the main roads were cleared but the secondary routes were just left. This is a rural area and no-one could get out.
"It's just not satisfactory from Scottish Power, it seems we're an afterthought up here.
"And not just with Scottish Power but Scottish Borders Council also. More could have been done to clear the surrounding roads.
"It's for this very reason that the SNP requested further roads funding in the last budget but were ultimately defeated."
A spokesperson for Scottish Power denied that rural areas were being left as an afterthought.
He said: "There was no prioritisation of any area over another. Last week was exceptional weather with heavy snow and high winds causing havoc from the Borders right up to the Highlands.
"Our engineers would only fix one problem and then another would pop up elsewhere. Access was another issue we had to contend with.
"Tens of millions have been spent in the Borders on improving the system in recent years and we are sorry for any inconvenience caused last week."
This article appeared in Peeblesshire News 09 Apr 10
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