Wednesday 30 July 2025
 16.8°C   ENE Light Breeze

Autonomy debate returns to Shetland

Home / Opinions / Viewpoint

Councillors approved the refreshed policy at the Lerwick Town Hall on Monday. Photo: Shetland News
Ahead of Wednesday’s council meeting, modern political history PhD student Mathew Nicolson argues that the latest bid for self-determination reflects grievances with centralisation and the continued erosion of local government powers rather than the desire for full autonomy.
Here in Shetland we have a climate crisis and we need our council to declare a climate emergency, write Anderson High School students Isla Johnson, Laura Bisset and Celestine Verdcourt-Laurenson of Eco Youth Shetland.
The focus on building a 600Megawatt subsea cable is preventing investment in local renewable energy projects, writes James Mackenzie, the outgoing vice-chairman of Sustainable Shetland, the grassroots group that opposes the Viking Energy wind farm.
Advertisement 
A mocked-up image of Viking turbines as they would be seen from the north end of the Lang Kames.
Pete Bevington is one of the organisers of Lament for the Lang Kames, a ‘funeral procession’ being held on Saturday for “all that will be lost if Viking Energy goes ahead as planned”. He explains why the procession – coffin and all – is taking place.
Wind farm in Shetland
Hillswick based journalist and broadcaster Tom Morton has been supporting the Viking Energy wind farm as a community project for many years. Now, with local control of the project and community benefit lost, he has changed sides.
I often delight in boring my students with the unique social, cultural and political status of Shetland, but the debate around (Lerwick) Up Helly Aa leaves me feeling ashamed, writes former Brae resident Karl Johnson.
Lerwick Up Helly Aa gets under way. All photos: Austin Taylor
‘We are not adverse to change because of gender issues. We oppose it because Up Helly Aa is part of our culture and heritage and we love it the way it is’, writes Linda Hughson.
Advertisement 
WE ARE living in unprecedented times with record defeats, cabinet resignations every other week and a woefully ineffective and disunited Labour opposition, writes SNP Highlands and Islands list MSP Maree Todd.
SIC leader Gary Robinson 'ferry fares reduction will be delivered' - Photo: Hans J Marter/ShetNews
FORMER council leader Gary Robinson explains why buying Shetland Charitable Trust (SCT)’s property arm SLAP was the right thing to do for the council and why public buildings should never have ended up in the ownership of the company in the first place.
Advertisement 
Advertisement 
Advertisement 
Advertisement 
Advertisement 

JavaScript Required

We're sorry, but Shetland News isn't fully functional without JavaScript enabled.
Head over to the help page for instructions on how to enable JavaScript on your browser.

Interested in Notifications?

Get notifications from Shetland News for important and breaking news.
You can unsubscribe at any time.

Have you considered becoming a member of Shetland News?

  • Removal of third-party ads;
  • Bookmark posts to read later;
  • Exclusive curated weekly newsletter;
  • Hide membership messages;
  • Comments open for discussion.