‘Shetland-centricness’

I’ve got to laugh at the Moorfield Hotel owner’s plan to challenge the decision to approve more planning permission for the Sella Ness accommodation camp (Moorfield Hotel owner challenges Sella Ness camp decision; SN, 2 March 2020).

When the hotel first opened, it reserved all its rooms for oil and gas workers to the detriment of tourism. That’s because you couldn’t get a hotel room for love or money. That was the case also at many accommodations in and around Brae. Relatives coming to visit family couldn’t get a room either.

Now that the workers have mostly gone, hoteliers are squealing about the Sella Ness camp impacting on the economy in the area. Tough.

The many workers who may come in the future will need somewhere to stay, and if Sella Ness accommodation were to be removed, what then? There wouldn’t be enough room in local hotels for them, which is one reason planning permission was granted.

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Hoteliers enjoyed lucrative contracts without a thought for the many potential visitors who were unable to enjoy staying in Brae, and they would do the same again.

I never understood why the Moorfield couldn’t set aside even, for example, five rooms for tourist and visitor bookings.

This issue has highlighted again the ‘Shetland-centricness’ of many people, which includes town centre shops being closed when they should be open (but that’s another subject!!)

I do hope the challenge fails.

Dorothy O’Brien
Brae