Following an outcry from businesses, Scottish and Southern Energy has bowed to pressure and delayed works in Dunkeld that would have caused havoc for retailers.
Around 113 properties in the village had been told “essential maintenance” work would be carried out on one of the busiest days of the Easter holidays.
It would have left them without power for up to five hours during the day, potentially costing shops and cafes thousands of pounds in custom.
However, following increasing disquiet from anxious shopkeepers, the Perth firm has performed a dramatic U-turn, postponing the work until next month.
The move has been welcomed by the proprietor of the Country Bakery, Iain Boyd, as he faced losing a day’s business from the hundreds of tourists and visitors to the village.
He contacted The Courier in a desperate bid to place pressure on Scottish and Southern Energy and believes this played a part in the change of heart.
“I don’t think they were planning on speaking to the community until they knew the local media was involved,” he said.
“The message I was getting when I last spoke to them was that they were still going ahead with the works as planned.
“All they were telling me was that, because they had given me two weeks’ notice, they couldn’t be held liable for any losses as I had been given time to sort out alternative arrangements.”
After consulting with businesses, the energy firm has indicated it is willing to carry out the works on a Thursday a traditional half-day in Dunkeld.Close earlyAlthough Mr Boyd usually remains open all day, he said he is willing to close early on this one occasion rather than face shutting up shop for an entire day.
This will go some way to easing the pressure he originally faced, as his business has already had a tough couple of years caused by the harsh winters and last year’s wet summer.
He added, “Easter is traditionally one of the busiest times of the year for us. We are almost totally reliant on tourists, so if we had missed this one day then it could have really been disastrous.
“It has already been a struggle for businesses in the area to survive, so being forced to close for up to five hours would have made things worse.
“If Scottish and Southern had just carried out a consultation with us in the first place, then they wouldn’t have had all this hassle of changing dates.”
Also putting pressure on the energy provider was Nan Johnston, who owns the Dunkeld News and local pet shop.
Since receiving the letter notifying her of the plan, she has been in constant contact with plant maintenance team manager Graeme Kell.
While she said she would be able to “muddle through” any loss of electricity, she admitted it would take a lot of work and time to do so.
An easier solution for her and other business owners would be to have the maintenance work carried out in the afternoon so they could work as normal in the morning.
Ms Johnston said, “I understand that this needs to be done, but I think the best thing to do is to give everyone until 1pm, which moves the problem a little and gives shops the opportunity to be open part-time.
“Moving it away from easter works better for everyone as things tend to settle down a bit more. Hopefully next time they do anything like this they’ll carry out a bit of consultation right from the start.”