News / Unst tells SIC “we’ve lost enough already”
AROUND one sixth of the population of Unst turned out for the public meeting to discuss how Shetland Islands Council could save money on Wednesday night.
More than 100 people packed Baltasound public hall to tell senior councillors and officials that the island has already had enough taken away and could not stand to lose any more.
Smarting from the recent loss of Uyeasound primary school, despite its exemplary inspectors’ report, the departure of the RAF from Saxa Vord and the closure of the local airport, islanders feel threatened by plans for further council cutbacks.
Rumours abound that the ferry schedule will be reduced, further restricting movement on and off the island.
The audience made it very clear to the SIC representatives that such a move would spell disaster for folk needing to commute to work off Unst.
Councillor Cecil Smith chaired the two hour session with support from councillor Betty Fullerton, finance chief Hazel Sutherland and new infrastructure boss Phil Crossland.
Suggestions for savings included familiar themes, such as reducing trips to the Scottish mainland and using video conferencing instead; not manning the Yell ferries 24 hours a day; saving money on fuel by delivering in bulk; and stopping the “gold plating” of services.
Astounding stories of council waste were aired, such as the education officer who travelled all the way from Lerwick to count the number of doors used by primary pupils at Baltasound before driving back again.
There was also little support for the idea of privatising council services, as promoted elsewhere, with some commenting that it was hard to run a business in Unst and it would lead to a reduction in local services.
But the main concern was retaining the existing ferry service, amidst the threat posed by rising fuel prices where every penny added to a litre of diesel adds £45,000 to the annual SIC ferry bill.
The council panel refused to rule out ferry cuts, merely saying that no decision had been made.
Uyeasound parent Cheryl Jamieson said there were a few jibes that the council had initially thought to hold a single meeting in Yell for all the north isles.
“They keep trying to lump the three islands together but it’s a lot of rot. A lot of that folk would not have gone to Cullivoe for a meeting, never mind the logistics of getting 100 folk over to Yell,” she said.
“I was delighted to see such a good turnout at the meeting, but I never doubted that would not be the case and I hope the council listens because we have had enough taken away from us and we don’t want any more taken from us.”
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