Council / Council officials not to attend ‘political’ Tunnel Vision meetings
SHETLAND Islands Council (SIC) is to carry out its own consultation into the future of inter-island transport links as part of a £700,000 project designed to make the case for government funding for future connectivity.
The SIC consultation, to be run by consultants Stantec, is separate from the Tunnel Vision meetings isles MP Alistair Carmichael and Shetland MSP Beatrice Wishart are holding this week in Unst, Yell, Fetlar, Whalsay and Bressay.
Council officials will not be attending these meetings this week.
Over the last years, the two Lib Dem parliamentarians have managed to create some significant local momentum in support of tunnels being built, with hundred of thousands of pounds of private money already pledged for geo-technical and engineering investigations.
However, the council confirmed on Monday that in order to attract funding from governments in Holyrood and Westminster, it had to prove the process of making that business case was free of political influence.
Both Carmichael and Wishart have always insisted the tunnel vision events were part of their legitimate constituency work rather than driven by party politics.
Carmichael said that the SIC was misguided in its approach and suggested that its position was more an excuse for officials not to be exposed to the anger of islanders who have been suffering from a poor ferry service.
The council’s director of development services Neil Grant told Shetland News on Monday that the SIC’s development team was working through the business case methodology required by both governments.
“It is essential that we follow the business case process, which will include community consultation events within that process, and that we can demonstrate the robustness of the Green Book business case process and that it has not been subject to political influences if we are to get any UK Government treasury support for the conclusions,” he said.
“Consultants Stantec are working on the Case for Change element of the business case, and we will be planning first round of community consultation later in this calendar year.”
Carmichael said in response: “If the ‘Green Book process’ as the council calls it, means that they cannot attend events that are organised by elected parliamentarians who happen to be Liberal Democrats, or any other party, is worrying.
“It suggests to me that senior council officials do not understand the process that they claim to be adhering to.
“The logic of their position would be that other councils which comprise of councillors who are elected on party political tickets would never be able to receive funding central government. That is manifestly not the case.
“If this is their understanding of treasury rules or any other process, then I would strongly urge them to think about it more carefully.
“I am certain that those who will attend the Tunnel Vision meetings will be disappointed not to have the direct interface with council officials. That has been valuable in the past, and it would have been valuable again this time.
“The suspicion will remain in the minds of many that the reluctance to participate may have been coloured by the difficulties experienced by islanders as a result of failures in the inter-island ferry service.”
Stantec was appointed in June this year to explore the possibility of tunnels and develop an inter-island network strategy, outline business cases, conduct consultation and set out an implementation route map.
The work is expected to take 18 months to complete, and is being paid for by funds the SIC receives from the Crown Estate.
