Also in the news / Lerwick Christmas tree, Danish planes and more …
THE LERWICK town centre Christmas tree has been erected at the Market Cross today (Tuesday).
Edna Irvine, Jane Leask, John Henry Pearson, Neil Graham, Gary Smith. Photo: Living Lerwick
The tree is arranged by Living Lerwick on behalf of all the businesses in the town centre as a thank you for the community’s support throughout the year.
Delivery of the tree is supported by Northwards, who transported it from Solihull in England to Lerwick.
Ness Engineering have donated lights for the tree and will install them too.
Living Lerwick project manager Emma Miller said they hoped the Christmas displays “will keep the town centre brightand cheery for Christmas shoppers and party goers through the festive season.”
The official switch on event for the Christmas lights will take place on Saturday 29 November.
The parade will take place from north Commercial Street to the Market Cross between 3.30pm and 5pm.
DANISH Air Transport planes are being used to operate the Sumburgh-Aberdeen route as part of a move to increase Loganair’s capacity.
The airline’s chief executive Luke Farajallah said they had stepped in to support passengers affected by the suspension of Blue Islands Services.
He added the Aberdeen-Sumburgh-Dublin route was being operated on its behalf by Danish Air Transport as a result.
“Passengers will still experience the friendly and familiar in-flight service, with safe and reliable flying, and we thank all customers for their understanding during this period.
“With our 63-year heritage of serving the UK regions and providing lifeline services to island communities, we remain committed to delivering reliable and resilient air links across the entire Loganair network.”
GRANT funding of up to £9,000 is set to be made available to households to connect to the Lerwick district heating network – if available – from December.
The extension of funding comes from the Scottish Government via Home Energy Scotland’s grants and loans scheme, and comes after first minister John Swinney visited Shetland earlier this year.
Swinney said it was “very clear” to him when he visited Shetland that there were “significant opportunities for households to connect to the existing local heat network” with the right support.
“I am very pleased to confirm that households in Shetland and elsewhere will be able to apply for this support from next month, contributing to our priorities of tackling the climate emergency and bringing energy bills down.”
Up to £7,500 of grant funding will now be available to homeowners, in addition to the existing optional £7,500 interest free loan. For those that qualify for rural or island uplift through the scheme, an additional £1,500 of grant funding will be available.
MP ALISTAIR Carmichael has welcomed confirmation that the switch-off of radio teleswitch service (RTS) meters will be paused over the winter in the north of Scotland.
Ofgem will also report back on its new regulations on RTS by the end of this month.
Carmichael said people have had “understandable concerns” about the service being ended during the coldest winter months, adding he hoped this would give them assurances.
“I still have serious concerns, however, about how Ofgem and the energy companies are approaching the RTS switch-off,” he said.
“The attitude from both the regulator and the companies it supposedly regulates has been utterly complacent, even as new problems have been raised.
“I have had multiple reports from islanders who have found that they cannot receive a signal to their smart meter and are not being correctly billed following switching away from RTS.
“The most fundamental promise in the RTS switch-off has been that new meters will work and that people will get a fair deal on their new tariffs.
“That is the measure by which we shall judge Ofgem, the energy companies and the government.”
SAXAVORD Spaceport has made with two new senior appointments in operations as it prepares for first launch.
Ian Palmer has joined as director of operations and Nadine Armiger-Drake as spaceport operations manager.
Palmer began his career in the RAF as a weapons technician and among other roles served as a lead engineer officer on 14 Squadron Tornados, leaving after 23 years to join GE as senior business operations manager.
Armiger-Drake most recently led complex and award-winning RAF secure infrastructure projects in challenging environments globally.
SaxaVord chief Scott Hammond added: “We are all pleased to welcome Ian and Nadine to the team – I am sure with their skills and experience they will make enormous contributions as we move into the operational phase of the business.”
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