Gatherings in Lerwick ferry waiting room a ‘concern’

THERE is a “serious issue” of people hanging out in the Bressay ferry waiting room in Lerwick and sometimes indulging in “anti-social behaviour” – leaving some residents unable to use the facilities, a councillor says.

There has been one instance where a family with an infant had been locked out of the waiting room by teenagers inside.

Lerwick North councillor Stephen Leask said young people using the waiting room with no intention to board the ferry was a “concern for the community of Bressay”.

He raised the matter at a meeting of Shetland Islands Council’s audit committee on Tuesday during a discussion on ferry terminal accessibility around Shetland.

Infrastructure director John Smith said he was not aware of the issue but would raise it with staff.

The matter, though, has been a regular topic at recent meetings of Bressay Community Council.

At a meeting in January members were told that ferry operations would meet with environmental health to see what options would be available.

Saturday afternoons have been the main time for gatherings.

The general consensus was that it was the responsibility of the ferry crew to supervise – but questions were raised if this was in their remit.

An option to shut down the WiFi there was deemed unfair to residents and ferry users, as was temporarily locking the room.

The community council considered there may be a series of solutions, such as more involvement with the anti-social behaviour team, and a poster with a phone number to call in the event of any problems.

An early solution could be to ask the people to move on, minutes from the community council meeting said.