Community / Development company plans new amenity building for Mid Yell pier
PLANS are afoot for a new amenity building at the Mid Yell pier which would offer toilet facilities as well as a store for the local boating club.
The project is the work of the Mid Yell Development Company (MYDC), with the community busy fundraising over recent months.
MYDC director Fiona Stirling said the current estimated cost of the project stands at around £220,000.
The development company already has secured grants for preparatory work, and intends to seek more funding as the project progresses.
The development of the small building could provide a boost to the area following the closure of the nearby Linkshouse shop and post office in 2017.
A planning application submitted to the council shows that the building would have a couple of toilets, including one with a shower.
There would also be a store area, while the roof could have 14 solar panels to help reduce running costs.
Speaking to the media on Monday evening, MYDC chair Graham Hughson said the Mid Yell pier is a working pier, with some leisure activity in the summer.
There is also the Mid Yell regatta which happens in the area too.
Hughson also said there are two days a week of sailing for bairns, and there could also be an adults’ night in the future.
He said there were toilets on the pier which are now “derelict” after being closed by the council.
“We felt we would try and get toilets for the public, but we also felt that we needed an amenity building that was of some use to the locals as well,” Hughson said.
As such, part of the building’s income will come through renting out space to the local boating club as a store.
Stirling meanwhile said the Linkshouse area was more of a “hub” in the past, before the shop closed.
A historic ruined building there was also demolished in recent years.
She said the regatta has been “a bit of a driver” behind the amenity project, while generally there is a “strong feeling [in the community] that we need to have something in the area again”.
Initially the development company received grant money from the Coastal Communities Fund for outline designs, while a second grant is going towards more detailed work.
Hughson said the development company has set itself a target of securing £25,000 of local fundraising by the end of the year, with £17,000 already banked.
Some sources of funding have included profit from the regatta, the local boating club and food nights in the community.
Stirling said the development company is hopeful of securing grants from a range of other sources – “just trying all the main funders that are about”.
There is no firm timeline in mind for the project, but the director said summer 2027 could be a target for completion.
Hughson also said Shetland Islands Council has been “very supportive” over the project, and there is an agreement in principle to buy the piece of land at the pier’s shoreside where the building would be located.
Meanwhile with MYDC being volunteer-only, the amenity building project remains its primary focus.
Stirling said the development company – which has eight directors and an open membership – was first set up a number of years ago amid talk of a district heating type scheme in Mid Yell, which ultimately did not progress.
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