No changes to community council boundaries on the horizon
THERE stands to be no changes to Shetland’s community council boundaries after the majority of people responding to a consultation favoured the status quo.
Only seven of a total of 100 respondents to an online survey said they did not support the current set-up.
This was also mirrored in feedback from drop-in consultation events.
The results of the consultation will go in front of SIC councillors at a special meeting next week.
After that a draft community council scheme is in line to go out to further consultation.
There are some more general changes which feature in this new draft scheme, including the introduction of possible youth community councillors and a revised code of conduct.
A third phase of consultation is also expected to take place in October.
The last major review of the community council scheme was held in the 1990s.
There has been a relatively low number of people interested in standing to become community councillors in recent years, with contested seats a rarity.
A key feature of the first part of the consultation was on boundaries, with a number of options presented.
This included merging Fair Isle, Fetlar, Papa Stour and Skerries into a single “islands with small populations” community council.
But the majority view from the consultation was to stick with the existing arrangements.
A decision to publish the draft community council scheme for consultation is set to be made at a meeting of the full SIC on Tuesday.
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