Letters / History to repeat itself?
“Development committee chairman Alastair Cooper said none of the bids received had met the specifications the council had been asking for.
“The focus of the new contract, he said, was not so much on the tourism aspect, but on encouraging people to move to Shetland and for businesses to invest here.”
Thus quote the Shetland News on the 7 June (Trust loses Promote Shetland contract; SN, 7/06/2017). But hang on a minute – people and businesses will re-locate to Shetland for one of two reasons.
Either the nature of their business requires that they come here or the quality of life here is such that they are attracted to the islands. The former require no inducement – they will come anyway. The latter will be attracted by precisely the sort of promotion Andy Steven and his team have been doing so well.
Thirty or so years ago, the development department commissioned a video to attract incomers to Shetland. It was produced by a company from the Mainland – far too important a task to invite a tender from anyone in Shetland.
The result had all the impact of a plate of cold porridge. Boring and unimaginative, the script could only have been written by someone in local government.
History, I fear, is about to repeat itself.
If suitability for purpose is to be examined, then the director of development should seriously consider his position. At the same time, the chair of the development committee, who is, somewhat incestuously, a retired director of development should be asking himself whether he is fit for purpose to undertake that role.
John Waters
Lerwick
Become a member of Shetland News
Shetland News is asking its many readers to consider paying for membership to get additional features and services: -
- Remove non-local ads;
- Bookmark posts to read later;
- Exclusive curated weekly newsletter;
- Hide membership messages;
- Comments open for discussion.
If you appreciate what we do and feel strongly about impartial local journalism, then please become a member of Shetland News by either making a single payment, or setting up a monthly, quarterly or yearly subscription.
Already a member? Sign in to hide this message.
