Upgrade works by Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) to improve and strengthen the resilience of Chichester's electricity infrastructure are set to begin again after a holiday hiatus to help the cathedral city celebrate Christmas.
Nearly £650,000 is being invested in the West Sussex city's network to build a strong and resilient power supply for its 27,000 customers, and SSEN engineers had halted the works over the festive season to avoid any possible disruption to local residents and businesses.
Now, the project to upgrade existing electrical equipment - including three substations - and refurbish the underground cable network will recommence on Monday 6 January, when preparatory works including mapping slabs and setting out barriers will begin ahead of the main works that will take place in St Martin Square and East Street over the next ten weeks.
While parking restrictions will apply in St Martin Square from Monday 6 January to Monday 30 March 2020, there will be no restrictions affecting East Street and access will remain open for businesses and residential properties.
SSEN's Project Lead, Graham Humpston said: "Chichester is a thriving cathedral city and, as a considerate constructor, SSEN was very aware that the festive period is an important time for both business owners and residents.
"With this in mind, we planned our works' schedule to ensure that we didn't cause any disruption, and had agreed with local authorities and stakeholders to clear away any works in the weeks running up to Christmas before starting the project again in the first week of January."
Network reliability is a key priority for SSEN and the customers it serves. Following a series of engagements with its customers SSEN took the decision to make the investment in Chichester to further improve network resilience, and future-proof its infrastructure for customer's changing demands. This is part of SSEN's commitment to taking a "you said, we did" approach to investing in its vital infrastructure.
While SSEN does not anticipate any interruptions to the power supply during the remaining ten weeks of these works, it is aware that people can feel vulnerable when their electricity goes off, especially during severe weather and customers can join the Priority Services Register if they:
- Are deaf or hard of hearing
- Have a disability
- Live with children under five
- Are blind or partially sighted
- Have a chronic illness
- Use medical equipment/aidsreliant on electricity
- Are over 60
By registering for SSEN's PSR, customers will be proactively contacted to warn them of potential bad weather to help them prepare and to offer extra support where required. SSEN's teams will also keep in close and regular contact with its PSR customers during network outages to check they are getting the help they need.
To find out more about the PSR, click here, or call 0800 294 3259. For more information on all the support available from SSEN, and for helpful advice on preparing for and dealing with a power cut, please visit our dedicated webpage.