Council / Planning round-up
THERE is a health and safety issue with pedestrians walking through the Huws Gray builders’ merchant site in Lerwick, according to the company – with cruise ship tourists being taken through the area said to be exacerbating the concerns.
To counter this issue the company is seeking to erect a 2.4 metre security fencing at the site and also realign part of the core path there to alongside the quayside.
The current core public path runs from the quayside then onto Freefield Road – which connects the site to Commercial Road – before going past the museum.
Huws Gray is also seeking the ‘stopping up’ of Freefield Road.
The merchant occupies a number of buildings and yards in the area. People can walk around the site for example along the waterfront from the Shetland Museum to the Shetland Amenity Trust building, or along Freefield Road which runs from Commercial Road to the waterfront.
A covering letter including in the planning application for the proposed works said the site has no means of enclosure or controlled access.
“As is typical with the day to day operations of a builders merchant, there are materials stacked throughout the site and regular movement of forklift trucks and other associated operational vehicles,” it added.
The company added that the lack of security fencing and a gate at the entrance to the site is “creating a health and safety issue”.
This is being exacerbated by cruise ship visitors being taken on tours through the site and accessing it at the southern entrance at Freefield Road, which is outwith the core path designation.
The document said: “The local importance of the existing core path, as part of the local outdoor access network and for local connectivity, is acknowledged.
“It is proposed that the existing section of the core path that is currently routed along Freefield Road will be re-aligned to along the quayside, to align with the existing public right of way.
“This will ensure that pedestrian access and continuity of the core path is maintained.”
The fencing would include access points. A map of the proposed fence and changes to the core path can be found on the SIC planning portal.
A SMALL bothy style building is being proposed next to the straight road which runs between Bigton and Rerwick.
It would be built next to a former Scottish Water pump house, which itself could be turned into a shed with an extension housing a composting toilet.
The proposal comes from mainland based Thomas Mushet, an international trade advisor and artist who wants a small base for when he visits Shetland.
Planning documents say the bothy, which would have a timber and metal exterior, would contain a living area and a kitchen, while there would be two parking spaces.
A planning statement says the applicant has the “greatest of respect for the environment as well as Shetland’s natural beauty” and has already stripped back original vision.
PLANS have been lodged to renovate an old meeting hall in Scalloway into a home.
The meeting hall, on the village’s Hillside Road, has not been used for a number of years.
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