Also in the news / Farming call, educational trust funding and more…
NORTHERN Isles MP Alistair Carmichael has called for a new approach to Scottish farming from first minister Humza Yousaf ahead of National Farmers Union Scotland’s AGM on Friday.
Carmichael called for deferred funding to be restored by the SNP-Green Scottish Government and for ministers to “take the needs of farmers and crofters seriously”.
He said the Scottish Government have announced that £15 million would be returned to the rural portfolio in the 2024/25 budget, after the agricultural budget was previously cut by £46 million.
Carmichael said: “It has been a poorly kept secret for years that farmers, crofters and rural issues in general are pretty low on the priority list for our nationalist government.
“It is past time for Humza Yousaf and his party to take the needs of farmers and crofters seriously.”
APPLICATIONS are now open for the Zetland Educational Trust (ZET) for 2024/25.
The trust aims to support a wide a range of beneficiaries with smaller sums of money (e.g. £200-£2,000) towards projects that wouldn’t otherwise happen.
It will also consider larger projects where it is thought the overall educational benefits would make a real difference to the enhancement of education in Shetland.
Applications are particularly welcomed in the categories of:
- Special equipment
- Promotion of knowledge of Shetland
- Educational experiments and research
For more information and to apply, see the Zetland Educational Trust page here.
The closing date for applications is Sunday 31 March 2024.
THE NESTING Primary School is staying closed today (Thursday) due to the continued wintry weather.
Shetland is no longer under a Met Office weather warning for snow and ice, and temperatures are set to pick up slightly into tomorrow.
THE COUNCIL is to offer no objections for retrospective plans overhead line for more than 300 metres of overhead power line at the SaxaVord Spaceport site in Unst.
The 11kV line at Lamba Ness totals 357 metres, supported on poles of 10 metres in height.
Two of the poles are included in a scheduled monument site, with the area including the remains of a former World War II radar base.
The proposal is required as part of the spaceport launch site development at Lamba Ness.
Shetland Islands Council is only a statutory consultee as the matter lies with the Scottish Government’s Energy Consents Unit.
Historic Environment Scotland said archaeological monitoring should be undertaken for the entire development area, and it recommended a watching brief condition be added to any permission.
Shetland’s regional archaeologist Val Turner had written that it was “unfortunate” a pole was installed in the scheduled area without an archaeologist on site.
At a meeting of the SIC’s planning committee on Wednesday, Shetland Central councillor Davie Sandison moved that the council offers no objections subject to conditions being applied.
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