Council / Planning round-up 11 May
THE OLD HORSA building at the Baltasound Junior High School in Unst is set to be demolished.
The building is currently used as storage for the school, and as a workshop for estate operations.
But it is no longer required on the school site and is said to be in a poor state of repair.
The HORSA building – which stands for Huts On Raising School-Leaving Age – was erected after the Second World War when the school leaving age was increased. They were used for classes up until 1995.
A portacabin and storage container would also be removed from the site.
A prior notification for demolition of buildings application has been submitted by the council to the planning service.
The SIC is also tendering the contract for its demolition, with the work slated to take place in the summer holidays.
A NEW roof hatch is being proposed at the top of Lerwick Town Hall to improve health and safety.
The hatch would be used to access the top of the historic A-listed building, including when flags are changed.
Planning documents said staff “struggle to exit the current access hatch as the upstand is too high for them to hold on to it comfortably, which compromises their safety”.
The proposed new hatch would be larger, and it would be installed on top of the roof structure.
PLANS have been lodged to demolish Scalloway’s galley shed and build a new one in its place.
The proposed new shed would be made out of steel. The galley shed is located on Main Street.
PLANNING permission has been granted to turn an area of hardstanding at the north side of Ladies Drive in Lerwick into a temporary work compound to support an SSEN transmission network project.
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The site would include an office, welfare facilities and a car park, and it would be active for around two years.
Meanwhile plans have been submitted for a temporary junction off the A970 near the north entrance to Lerwick to access the construction site of SSEN’s planned underground cabling project in the area.
This will be required from June 2023 to the end of 2024.
Permanent closure of Walls pool ‘inevitable’ unless energy costs can be cut back
PLANNING consent has also been given for the installation of a 5kW turbine at the Walls swimming pool.
As previously reported, the group which runs the independent pool said rising energy bills threatened its viability.
A wind turbine has been mooted as one way of reducing the costs of running the Westside pool.
PERMISSION has also been granted to the council for two houses at Gary Couper Road in Brae – but there are no plans to build on the site at the moment.
Shetland Islands Council completed work on ten homes at Gary Couper Road back in 2014.
A spokesperson for the council said: “This is an outline planning application only.
“There are no current plans to develop the plots, but this application will tie up some administrative details left over from the previous development and ensure that everything is in order should we wish to develop this area in the future.”
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