News / In brief for 18 October 2011
Shelter from the storm
TWENTY six fishing boats from Norway and Ireland settled into Lerwick harbour on Tuesday night, along with several local vessels and 10 oil supply boats as gales were forecast.
New Eric Gray
PLANNING permission for a new £4.5 million Eric Gray Centre to be built on Lerwick’s Seafield sports field was unanimously granted by the council’s planning board on Tuesday.
The current building is unable to cope with demand from adults with special needs, whose numbers are expected to double in the next decade.
Council staff told the planning board that lack of space was forcing young people to stay at the ASN department in Gressy Loan for far too long.
Councillor Jonathan Wills spoke up on behalf of objectors to the plan, who wanted the site to kept as a recreational amenity.
Rugby boost
SHETLAND’S oldest sports club is to get a boost with a full time rugby development officer being funded by the European LEADER fund, the Scottish Rugby Union and private sponsors.
The successful applicant will be based at Lerwick’s Hayfield House with the council’s active schools team for the next two years.
As well as providing coaching in schools, there could be summer schools and rugby camps to encourage young people to get involved in the sport, which has seen a burst of growth recently.
Shetland Rugby Club president Forbes Hogg said they hopes to eventually have a team joining Orkney and the western isles competing in the Scottish Schools Cup every year.
Between Weathers
THE PRODUCTION team of the movie planned for Shetland hope to have finished filming in the isles by the end of the first half of next year.
On Tuesdays they announced they had recruited 15 Scottish actors to join the crew that could start filming as early as February.
More than 1,000 people turned up at casting sessions in Aberdeen, Perth, Inverness and Lerwick, but none of the 15 new names came from the Lerwick sessions.
Mackerel talks
A NEW round of talks to break the deadlock in the north Atlantic mackerel dispute start in London on Wednesday, with more talks likely to follow.
The EU and Norway will once again try to broker an agreement with Faroe and Iceland over the mackerel quota, the most valuable to the Scottish and the Shetland fleet.
Scottish Pelagic Fishermen’s Association chief executive Ian Gatt described the mackerel stock as “an incredibly precious resource” and it was more important than ever to reach a deal on sustainability.
Safety first
FOLLOWING Monday’s discussions about the future of the coastguard’s emergency towing vessels, northern isles MP Alistair Carmichael said there was “a genuine commitment on all sides” to find a permanent replacement.
Mr Carmichael said: “This debate needs to focus on maritime safety as well as value for money. I think everyone – from the MCA to the local councils and the Scotland Office – recognises this and is committed to making this process work.”
Monday’s meeting in Edinburgh was convened by Scottish Secretary Michael Moore, and included representatives from local councils, the Department for Transport, the MCA.
CAP proposals
RURAL affairs secretary Richard Lochhead has promised to keep the agricultural industry fully informed of developments as Europe discusses reform of the Common Agricultural Policy.
The government has promised to write to farmers explaining the proposals, to then run a public consultation with a series of public meetings throughout Scotland with senior government officials, update the government website and keep working with stakeholders on the issue.
The latest information will be available at www.scotland.gov.uk/capreform, while the government’s deputy director for agriculture and rural development David Barnes will be blogging throughout the CAP reform negotiations at http://blogs.scotland.gov.uk/cap-reform/
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