SHETLAND LIVE

POLICE in Shetland have arrested a 49 year old man on Monday afternoon after alleged threats he had made.

As a consequence security checks at the Sullom Voe oil terminal have been tightened and staff were briefed in line with safety procedures.

Local firearms officers were deployed to an address outside Lerwick where the man was “safely negotiated” from the house at around 2pm.

The man is expected to appear before Lerwick Sheriff Court, on Tuesday.

A Sullom Voe terminal spokeswoman said they had been helping police with their enquiries.

Security was tightened at Sullom Voe oil terminal today after a 49-year-old man, believed to be armed, was arrested for allegedly making threats.

The police were alerted and the man was traced to an address near Lerwick. Firearms officers were sent in and the man was safely removed from the house and arrested at around 2pm.

As a result of the alleged threats security checks were tightened at the oil terminal and staff were briefed in line with safety procedures.

The man is expected to appear at Lerwick Sheriff Court tomorrow.

The Viking Bus Station in Lerwick, which provides a vital crutch for bus users and a hub for sending freight packages to rural areas of Shetland, could be one of the victims of Shetland Islands Council’s colossal spending cutbacks.

Shutting down the Lerwick bus station and freight centre would save an estimated £67,961, with a possible £12,000 to be levered in by renting the building out for other purposes, according to the cuts report which will go before councillors on Thursday.

Setting the budget for 2012/13, members will consider a package of measures aimed at saving £33 million over the next three years from its £127 million annual budget, including £9 million-worth of ongoing “efficiency” savings made in the current financial year.

The Viking Bus Station provides a waiting room and left luggage service for bus users, some of whom the report acknowledges are “often the most vulnerable” in society. Its closure would also make it more difficult to securely pick up and deliver small items of freight, which keeps the station bustling with deliveries and collections on weekday mornings, particularly on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Alternative ways of providing rural freight collections and a left luggage service should be investigated, the report suggests. “If the station was to close these services would be lost, unless other manned premises could undertake the task,” it states.

As well as stripping millions of pounds from education and social care spending (see separate story), the infrastructure budget will be hit hard. Members are being asked to consider measures amounting to nearly £2.5 million of savings in the year ahead, and a further £900,000 in 2013/14.

The bulk of that will come from yet to be defined inter-island ferry services cuts. A comprehensive review is being carried out and should be published in the summer, spelling out how the SIC will save nearly £1.5 million over two years. North Isles councillors have spoken of how they fear swingeing cuts to ferry timetables are inevitable.

Winter gritting is to be cut back to save £375,000 in the year ahead, which could prevent many people – particularly those living in remote areas – from getting to work, school or college. With fewer gritters and fewer roads being treated, it is “highly likely that this would result in redundancies” once a review of the service is completed.

Four part-time neighbourhood support workers will be axed to save £80,000, risking an increase in anti-social behaviour. It will mean less resources to tackle underage drinking, bullying and littering, and less support for vulnerable housing and social work clients.

Maintenance of roads and pavements will be reduced, while switching off street lights in some areas might save around £25,000. Cuts to street cleansing mean there is likely to be more litter, chewing gum and weeds on the streets of Lerwick and Scalloway, with each settlement standing to lose a cleaning worker.

The council will no longer provide a Christmas tree and lights, something the council believes businesses or community groups should be funding.

Neighbouring Orkney makes £100,000 a year from charging for the use of 302 parking spaces, and meters could be introduced in Lerwick to generate a similar sum for the SIC.

After two public toilets in Lerwick were closed last year, half a dozen rural loos are now in the firing line. Savings of £5,000 apiece could be achieved by shutting down public toilets at Jarlshof, Bressay, Hamnavoe, Sandness, Hillswick and Uyeasound.

Tingwall Airport could be shut on Saturdays and for a half-day during the week to save £20,000. Because it is used by the air ambulance, a third full-time person must be on duty to act as a fireman – the council is to investigate whether the NHS ought to be paying for the service.

Free inter-island ferry fares for concessionary pass holders could be a thing of the past – instead, concessions will be asked to pay 50 per cent fares. The council says that if the scheme is targeted at those on low incomes, it could improve equality across the islands.

Shetland Folk Festival has received £7,150 as part of the Year of Creative Scotland’s One Step Further investment programme.

Click on image to enlarge

The programme aims to enhance festivals and events during 2012, with a focus on cultural tourism. The folk festival received a share from a pot of over £300,000 to help attract more visitors to Scotland during 2012.

The award-winning festival, which features some of the best folk music from around the globe, was given the money to put together a programme of high-profile acts for this year’s event and attract even more visitors.

Festival director Mhari Pottinger said: “It’s a fantastic boost to our festival to receive Creative Scotland investment and to be part of the Year of Creative Scotland in 2012. We are extremely proud of our 100 per cent voluntary-run event and are always looking for ways to enhance our offering to locals and visitors alike.

“We have already noted an increase in visitor numbers in recent years and this investment will potentially help us grow it further, bringing associated social, cultural and economic benefits to our local community.”

VisitScotland island manager Steve Mathieson said: “Scotland is unquestionably one of the most creative countries in the world and these festivals will help showcase that vibrant creativity to new audiences.

“Here in Shetland our culture is one of our greatest assets and a major draw for visitors. That’s why this programme is so important – it’s providing opportunities for visitors as well as local communities right across Scotland.”

As an ex-jarl among the many guests of Sandy Cluness at the town hall reception on the morning of Up-Helly-A’ 2012, may I say that I am disappointed and a bit ashamed that neither I nor anyone else present thought fit to mention at the time the fact that this was his last Up-Helly-A’ speech as convener of Shetland Islands Council.

As a long-term guizer he has, over the years, brought his knowledge of guizing, the squads, and the type of jokes associated with the festival into play in his speeches which have, I am sure, been greatly appreciated by certainly most of those present. (I exclude those who lack essential local know-how and/or just happen to be in Lerwick on some fortuitious pretext on the day.) His inevitable pointed remark at some individual, a historical quip regarding a squad, and the thinly-veiled barbed comments directed at higher authority have always been received with worthy applause.

I would like to say thanks to Sandy, both for the excellent hospitality always provided by the council on these occasions and for his masterly handling of the mixture of apparently knowledgeable and noisy ex-jarls on one side and somewhat baffled and bemused visitors on the other!

I trust that his retiral will free him for many more years of guizing without having to contemplate either the contents of either the Bill or yet another speech. Well done that man!

Douglas C Smith
(ex-jarl Erling Skakki, 1967)
Cliff House,
Montfield,
Lerwick.