Viking Bus Station sale nearing completion
THE SALE of the Viking Bus Station buildings to an unnamed local business interest should be completed early in the new year, Shetland Islands Council has said.
It is widely believed that the owners of the Great Wall restaurant above the station are interested in buying the premises. It is thought the Chinese business hopes to open a cafe downstairs.
An SIC statement issued on Tuesday read: “We expect that the sale of the buildings will be concluded early in 2014, and a further information bulletin will be issued nearer that time.”
Councillors approved the sale in principle at a meeting in September after being informed by officials that the services offered from the bus station could be delivered in a different way.
The local authority hopes the sale will save around £94,000 a year.
Members had previously sanctioned a review when setting the 2013/14 budget in February.
It followed uproar over the proposed closure from those in rural areas who rely on the bus station’s freight centre to receive parcels.
In a statement this week the local authority said transitional arrangements had been put in place to cover the next few months.
New bus shelters are to be erected early in 2014.
Chairman of transport partnership ZetTrans Allan Wishart said there was “still no definite news” about the freight centre’s future.
“It’s either going to stay where it is or go out to Gremista depending on negotiations with the new operator,” Wishart said.
“Or it may still handle small parcels with the big stuff going out to Gremista. It’d be better to see the big trucks going to Gremista – when they reverse in there with their exhaust pipes going, engines churning over, it’s not really an environment most conducive to comfort for people using the building.”
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The bus station, freight centre and toilets will be shut from 5.30pm on New Year’s Eve until 8.30am on Monday 6 January.
Thereafter the freight centre and toilets will operate with revised opening hours.
The freight centre will be open between 8.30am and 5.30pm on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays and for a shorter spell on Wednesdays and Fridays.
The toilets and waiting room will be open from 8.30am and 5.30pm six days a week, closing on Sundays.
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