Caeser Posted July 6, 2007 Report Share Posted July 6, 2007 Does anyone have any thoughts on the proposed new theme park down Sumburgh way. I thought the new council was going to balance the books - now we already have Scatness dig opening up with a £150,000 grant and what next a £4Million Lighthouse theme park. Does this mean we have more old folks cuts, higher ferry fares or are we just heading for the financial abyss all the quicker. What about the new ness councillors Budge, Flea and Nickerson. I seem to remember all the pre election propoganda about sorting out wasting money, bad investments, balancing the books. I assume that is all forgotten about now.......? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrutineer Posted July 6, 2007 Report Share Posted July 6, 2007 a theme park at sumburgh? you must be kidding? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pooks Posted July 6, 2007 Report Share Posted July 6, 2007 Caeser is referring to the news in this weeks Shetland Times. Not exactly a theme park. Shetland Amenity Trust is/has been trying to secure a substantial investment for the development of the Old Scatness site and the Lighthouse. Basically turning it into a visitor centre. As much as I would like to see Sumburgh Head developed into a decent tourist attraction without actually spoiling it, £4 million quid seems ridiculously steep. For that amount of money I would expect the proposed walkways to be moving escalators, the road to be patio-paved and the lighthouse itself to be gold-plated. Where do these people grab the figures from? Would it not be more sensible to build it up one step at a time? Gauge public reaction and then decide which step to take next? As for the Scatness Dig costing £2 million over the past ten years... I thought the archaeologists shipped up from Bristol were student volunteers? Has somebody been paying them without realising? Sumburgh as a whole has a real need to be developed into a sustainable community but it has to be done in a realistic, sensible fashion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Para Handy Posted July 6, 2007 Report Share Posted July 6, 2007 Maybe there installing a Dinosaur Challeng Theme Park, after all, the council is always 1000000 years behind everybody else on this planet http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/4012/90032iw3.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Styles Posted July 7, 2007 Report Share Posted July 7, 2007 Cover up scatness and knock down the light house, £100K tops and thats it sorted! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igorsikorsky1 Posted July 7, 2007 Report Share Posted July 7, 2007 Just another waste of money the same as the 8 million for scastsa. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandhopper Posted July 8, 2007 Report Share Posted July 8, 2007 @ styles and @igorsikorsky1 If ... again: If ... we could agree on that point that tourism is a business of vital importance for many Shetlanders ... With what kind of attraction other than the meanwhile worldwide reknown digs at Scatness dig or Stevenson's lighthouses and less than a handfull of other attractions do you want / do you think it might be possible to attract larger quantities of tourists ...? There is a lot which I personally do value very high like the Unst boat haven or the Old Haa of Burravoe ... but that is something of "niche culture" ... ... and yes, I am not talking about the back to the roots business refering to US and Canadian folks, I am not talking about Scandinavians without a ferry link ... but I don't know about a cruise ship passenger buying two or three nights B&B in Levenwick or further down. To develop and marketing the south of Dunrossness from the Ness of Burgi via Scatness to Jarlshof and further on to Sumburgh Light / Quendale Mill is a key development for Shetland tourism ... the more than there are other things like natural beauties / unspoiled nature under the thread of windfarm developments etc. I don't know whethr or not 4 mio £ for this or 2 mio £ for that are right just now ... but I know what your Orcadian neighbours did invest over the past 20 years before they got the status of an UNESCO world heritage site and I do know what they got in return for that since they got this status. It was worth any penny invested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostrider Posted July 8, 2007 Report Share Posted July 8, 2007 I'm loathe to condemn anything which has the potential to bring additional income in to Shetland in general, and the Ness in particular. However, as regards the numbers being bandied about here, I'm asking myself, does the Scatness broch have the potential to bring extra people here in sufficent numbers, that the Pechts (Jarlshof) isn't already bringing, and encourage them to spend here an amount to make it profitable? I have a certain suspicion as regards Scatness, that the most who come to see it, would come anyway to see the Pechts anyway, with both they're simply getting two now for the price of one. The increase in overall numbers and overall income to Shetland is likely to be small. Likewise, "da Head" is already an attractive destination for those interested in birds, sea creatures, the view etc etc. Is doing whatever this is they're proposing to the buildings themselves really going to make all that many more take the trip all the way up there, and make those who already willingly do so, spend while they are there? Again I'm having problems seeing what's proposed making any significant difference to either numbers or spend. That is too, before moving on to the point already very ably made by Pooks, what on earth about either of these places can you spend these kinds of money numbers on. Neither site is of any great size, nor do they contain anything high-tech, sophisticated or complicated. I have nothing against some spend being made on both sites, in fact I'm all for it, but one that is of a realistic level to what the site in question is. From the numbers being put about here, I can only conclude, in the absence of a cost breakdown, that either something absurdly extravagant is being planned, and/or some people somewhere are currently dreaming of making an immense profit out of whatever work is done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tlady Posted July 8, 2007 Report Share Posted July 8, 2007 I do think the Sumburgh Lighthouse definitely needs some money spent on it, but 4 million! ... come on!!! Our sooth relatives stayed there last year and it is very basic accommodation, in fact, I would go so far as saying it's dangerous for families with young children, the back door was no distance from the cliff edge with no barrier ... risk assessment nightmare!! They really enjoyed staying there and had no complaints. But as it's such a small site it has to have a limited potential, how many decades would it take to recoup that amount of money? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrutineer Posted July 8, 2007 Report Share Posted July 8, 2007 doing some work to improve facilities would certainly be worthwhile but IMHO spening vast amounts beyond that wouldnt actually bring more people in its not what people come to shetland for Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Para Handy Posted July 8, 2007 Report Share Posted July 8, 2007 I suppose it might be a better investment over the long term than SMYRIL Line ferry Norröna would ever have been. At least it is based in Shetland on land as well, if nothing else the money would have been spent here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strawb Posted July 16, 2007 Report Share Posted July 16, 2007 Our sooth relatives stayed there last year and it is very basic accommodation, in fact, I would go so far as saying it's dangerous for families with young children, the back door was no distance from the cliff edge with no barrier ... risk assessment nightmare!! Surely when booking a lighthouse holiday, people are going to realise, due to the actual purpose of a lighthouse, it's going to be fairly close to a cliff?? Barrier or no barrier, I think I'd give it a miss with kids in tow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tlady Posted July 16, 2007 Report Share Posted July 16, 2007 ^^ Yes but my point is ... it wouldn't cost £4 million to make it safer for families. It's a lovely place with outstanding views, also our relations loved the fact that it was basic with old furniture, they said it felt like the previous owners had just moved out, and if they'd wanted luxury they'd have gone to a hotel. With a little bit of work especially on the outside it would be more attractive to a wider range of people, but I feel it would lose it's charm if it had too much done to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twerto Posted May 18, 2009 Report Share Posted May 18, 2009 I was down to check out the puffins at the lighthouse last week since we had friends over from America.. Besides the fact that the puffins had gone on a day trip themselves so never saw any. I came away thinking why don't they have those pay 10p/50p a minute kinda binocular things you get at the top of tall buildings etc. Not everyone who goes there is as well prepared as the twitcher people with their own set of binoculars ( i did contemplate mugging one at one point but thought better of it in the end ) and my cameras zoom just doesn't cut it sadly, so would of gladly paid 50p to get a better view of the surroundings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaxFusion Posted May 18, 2009 Report Share Posted May 18, 2009 half the money for the lighthouse could probably be lost in upgrading the road and carparks alone..... as for scatness, dig it out and retain any artifacts then bury the damn thingit's not half the site jarlshof is and most of it has been lost already to roads and airfield! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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