Letters / A strange decision?
The Shetland College closure is a strange decision that should be investigated. The decision made goes against all the evidence, Shetland will be the worse for the decision made on Friday.
The facilities at NAFC are good but quite tight. So, two campuses become one, two sets of staff and two sets of students turn up to an already busy car park, where will all the cars go?
The main road through Scalloway is tricky at times, extra traffic going through to NAFC will definitely be problematic. Was the Scalloway Community Council consulted?
UHI Shetland confirms Scalloway will be future site of campus
So, the buildings in Lerwick are to be closed, purpose built by the UhI for Shetland College, not so long ago. How are the many rooms in Lerwick going to be squeezed into the already busy rooms in Scalloway. Quart into a pint pot, anyone?
One particular example is the well-appointed construction department which is spacious in Lerwick, while there is a much smaller workshop at NAFC which is designed for aquatic work. Where will the equipment go, will the students have to take turns at hammering in nails?”
An NAFC rebuild will take time, staff and students will be working and studying in a building site over a long period of time. Students, especially visiting students, need accommodation.
I think everyone has to accept that all roads lead to Lerwick. If you rely on public transport to get about then getting to Lerwick is reasonably catered for. Getting to Scalloway really means getting to Lerwick, then getting to Scalloway. And on a miserable day…
Shetland College offered a wide range of courses at various levels; access, FE and HE. I know students who started at the bottom and went all the way to the top, which was a real credit to them, and to the fact that the courses were available locally in Shetland. A real community asset has been thrown away.
What will happen to the college facilities in Lerwick? Hopefully, mothballed, until the board realises what a mistake they have made, and has to return to Shetland College.
What exists already, where, and why build the same thing somewhere else, were these questions asked? The conclusion has to be that we are looking at a waste of public funds.
I should declare an interest, having worked at Shetland College for 22 years, and being secretary of the EIS Fela, the lecturers union, but I do not think that that invalidates anything that I have written here.
Brian Nugent
Alliance to Liberate Scotland election candidate in Shetland
