Letters / SIC has everything to do with Viking
Like others I too find Drew Ratter’s statement in his letter ‘Council has nothing to do with Viking Energy’ (SN 11/04/12) quite incredible.
In his last tenure as councillor for Delting West Mr Ratter stood centre stage in the hatching of the Viking Energy Partnership (VEP).
There is no way Shetland Islands Council (SIC) has nothing to do with Viking Energy.
As chairman of Viking Energy Ltd (VEL) Councillor Ratter signed the agreement with Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE) in January 2007, on behalf of the SIC.
The SIC also culpably failed to trigger a much justified public local inquiry by recommending approval of the project in December 2010 against their planning department’s professional advice.
Additionally the council has the responsibility of dealing with the full planning application for the converter station at some time in the future; which is inextricably linked to the wind farm.
If the wind farm goes ahead, as local authority they would also be tasked with regulating the many conditions which apply to the development and which undoubtedly would apply to the converter station. Alterations to existing roads and many other issues would also figure.
One can only imagine the conflicts of interest that would prevail at that stage, as councillor/trustees attempt to regulate on the one hand while trying to ensure commercial expediency with the other!
Another involvement which the SIC has is the letter of guarantee they hold for (VEL) to the National Grid, to investigate the viability of an interconnector cable. This has ranged as high as £1.896m (plus VAT?) and now stands with a current liability of £300,000 plus VAT.
In respect to Mr Ratter’s position as chairman of VEL in the previous council, did this give him access to information that helped him negotiate an exceptional connection agreement (250Kw) for his company Hillhead Windpower Ltd with SSE?
I would also like to point to Hillhead Windpower Ltd’s recent £300,000 loan from the SIC Development Committee, a committee chaired by current VEL director Alastair Cooper, who of course sat with Mr Ratter when he was on the VEL board.
This is a loan which benefits just three Hillhead Windpower Ltd shareholders with a grid connection that effectively blocks out the rest of the Northmavine community.
The loan was approved only a few weeks before the possibility of Mr Ratter becoming a councillor again, when presumably such a loan would be inappropriate.
With regard to the size of the loan, the Development Trust introduced a £250,000 ceiling on such sums following the financial losses on SSG Seafoods. The policy, which stipulated that any investments above this amount required approval from the full council, has quietly disappeared during the move from Development Trust back to the Development Committee!
It is worth noting a loan of £372,500 plus grant of £37,250 was approved at the same meeting for Aurora Marine Ltd, to develop a new system for cleaning salmon nets. These two projects had a combined approval of £709,750 with both decisions taken in private session. Should the full council be allowing such a level of delegated authority?
I also find it puzzling how Alastair Cooper’s VEL directorship followed him seamlessly in 2007 as he moved from being a council employee with the Economic Development Unit (EDU) to being an elected councillor.
Presumably when the VEL director posts were originally identified, criteria were set and a post within the council’s EDU was seen as a requirement. Why did this directorship not transfer to another employee, rather than follow Mr Cooper upon his retirement and subsequent position as elected councillor for Shetland North?
Just in case folk think I am airing these concerns in public too readily, I have been addressing questions along these lines to the Development Committee for the past six weeks but with no satisfactory responses.
My patience has worn thin.
Billy Fox
Shetland South candidate
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