Fifth lowest roads spending

THERE has been a small year-on-year improvement in the condition of Shetland’s roads in the past year, but the past decade has seen a four per cent deterioration.

Councillors also heard on Tuesday that Shetland Islands Council’s spending per kilometre on maintaining its roads is the fifth lowest out of 32 Scottish local authorities.

Roads manager Dave Coupe presented a report to the environment and transport committee showing the overall “road condition indicator” had improved in the past year so that the proportion of the network that should be considered for maintenance has reduced from 41.9 per cent to 38.9 per cent.

The amount of money required to keep Shetland’s roads in a “steady state” was £5.6 million in 2015/16, but the budget was only £1.75 million – only 31 per cent of what is needed.

There has been an income boost after Total agreed to provide £400,000 towards the cost of repairing damage to public roads in the vicinity of its new gas plant and on its haulage routes. Most of those repairs will take place in 2016/17.

Coupe described the report as a “good news story with a word of caution”.

North Isles councillor Robert Henderson, whose family runs a haulage company, pointed out that the road between Gutcher and Cullivoe in the north of Yell carried “the brucks of £100 million of Shetland’s GDP per annum”.

That relates to the huge volume of seafood exported along the winding single track road, and Henderson said roads playing such a vital role for Shetland’s economy should be given priority. 

“That road is sorely in need of massive attention, and I’d like some assurance that that piece of road could be looked at in the not too distant future.”

He was backed by Lerwick South member Jonathan Wills, who said the road had been “appalling” and “dangerous” the last time he had driven on it.