Get your views in

Regarding your article on the current consultation on the former AHS/Twageos/Knab/Bellevue, held yesterday 15th and today 16th, I would refer readers back to an article you posted last year.

Charity shop needs members, Knab contract, makers market, dance and art workshop

I would urge the Twageos, Lerwick and Shetland-wide population to get it’s money’s worth. You all have something valuable to say about this.

The more eyes on it the better, especially if there is no vested-self or departmental interest. If you can’t get along in person, the actually consultation goes on until the 24th June, so write, email or submit your thoughts online.

Or contact the secretary of SERA – the Sooth-End Residents Association – at jimmytex1@gmail.com with your views and they will submit them for you, as well as prepare input into the eventual planning application process later this year.

This is a big strategic development with impact far beyond Twageos or da toon. Some might say too big re the number of houses and wasted land for car park spaces.

For rural cousins living outside the golden housing development and commuter belt quadrangle of Sandwick-Scalloway-Weisdale-Lerwick I’d just say, houses built in the toon are less houses for outlying rural areas with greater risk from depopulation through Lerwick centralisation.

For example build on Bressay, it’s relatively empty and get the primary school re-opened, closed through de-population/ demographic change. Stop the rot!

Rural economic development, diversification and the discovery of home-working needs, you guessed it, houses – with an office space.

My personal experience of working from home, as a public servant for 10 years, was it saved my time, the company’s time (we split the commute time 50:50, 7.5 hours each week, 300 hours a year – 37 working days).

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I was much more productive with no tiring and polluting – me and the environment – commute. My mileage expenses were much less too.

So SIC – invest to save – a moratorium on house building in Lerwick. With all the freed up space from new home-working, re-consolidation and re-configuration of the council office space saved can be converted into accommodation.

Just like all the former myriad of council buildings throughout the town. Perhaps build a third generation council office at the Staney Hill and make it big enough this time to free up Hayfield House, Grantfield and North Ness to name but three.

If finance needed, sell them off to our highly lucrative private house building sector fir conversion a la Brentham Place.

James J Paton
Lerwick