Whalsay : North Voe v South Voe

[Muppet]

I think if the Whalsay fleet is so successful, then why don't they pay for their own harbour?

 

They have the use of a harbour which they pay for through harbour dues.

 

Not sure why they should be expected to pay for a new ferry terminal which is what is being spoken about here though.

[sjeunson]

This week we have had £400k of Judane money written off, and questions have been raised about why such a poorly secured business loan was allowed to go ahead.

 

I would hope that might lead to future investments being looked at more closely. So if the council is going to spend several million to improve facilities for other businesses in Whalsay, I think it is valid that their business case should be looked at as well - what benefits would the new harbour facilities bring, and in what form, what is the payback term, do the returns justify the investment?

 

We're getting past the stage where we can afford to just throw money at it and hope for the best, better to consider the financial case in advance.

 

This would be an investment in infrastructure not a single business. Done properly at the same time as the ferry pier changes the harbour would allow more boats to tie-up and possibly allow the generation of new businesses in the area. Splitting the infrastructure investment into two areas will only lead to larger costs in the long term.

[hoosn]

i think the boys who have invested millions in state of the art vessels which have no other outside interference than need be ,deserves a hell of a lot of respect from the rest of Shetland. Hats off to the Whalsa fleet who have kept Shetland one of the major players in a uk fleet which both westminster and holy"very"rood dont want us to have. Money would be well spent here on both a bigger harbour & ferry terminal if needs be. If there is a real Shetland community here who deserves reward for industrious endeavours its Whalsa. Give them what they ask for i say.

[Carlos]

To clarify:- The ferry terminal location is being assessed under the STAG guidance, which is designed to look at value for money on Transport projects. If you follow that to the letter it should come out against the combined harbour / terminal scheme, as it is not the cheapest way of getting a new ferry terminal.

 

Now there are obviously other benefits to the harbour development, to existing businesses, to possibly letting new businesses start up, to supporting the community and keeping jobs outside Lerwick and so on. At some point you will need to make a judgement if those benefits are worth the extra money.

 

Then comes the question of funding, and if the extra money for commercial benefits can be found in time to build the terminal on schedule, or if not, do you split the schemes at extra construction costs to get the benefits of the new terminal earlier, or do you delay the terminal to do everything at once for less overall cost.

 

All through it you have to weigh up hard costs / benefits, more speculative costs / benefits, and then the other subjective effects, but again I think they should be weighed up, and not just done on assumptions.

[hoosn]

Cheapest is not always best and my point is that for a very small island outwith the sullom voe scene and thriving, contributing and leading in certain fields there should not be over critical penny pinching , this is more typical of our"governments area", the same "government" that has a chronic history in Shetland. The ferry terminal shouldnt be shoved in the cheapest location either.

[damissinlink]

i have tae say that all this speak aboot the fishing boats shouldna really be teen intae it atal, dis is aboot da ferrys and i doot da north voe will end up being the best for the ferrys and cause the least disruption to the symbister harbour. da fishing fleet wid have plenty o room in symbister if da ferrys wis moved tae dir own harbour in da north voe, and whit you have tae mind is that no all the pelagic fleet wid lie in whalsay ony wye cause dir engineers stay in da mainland. it really has tae come doon tae whits best for da future o whalsay and da north voe it should be it ticks da most boxes, and you dunna have tae byde in whalsay tae have a say.

[sjeunson]

it really has tae come doon tae whits best for da future o whalsay and da north voe it should be it ticks da most boxes, and you dunna have tae byde in whalsay tae have a say.

 

How does the North voe provide the best future for Whalsay over having the same ferries in the South voe? Seems like it's all just down to cost here to me.

[hoosn]

i dunna bide in Whalsa and i widna interfere in where da ferry terminal goes ava, but me point i kinda gud aboot lang windedly wis that i think there should no be holding back on givin Symbister a lot of berthage as well as the ferry terminal

[damissinlink]

i wid say dat if da whalsay folk end up we ferrys da size o da eens at yell, they will end up being less runs through da winter we weather coming in and oot the narrow mooth at symbister so dat will do nothing but annoy abody, the council has already said they thinks its too dangerous to tak da yell ferrys in even for a trial run. and da yell skippers dunna want tae do it.

i just canna see da how symbister is better.

[spamspread]

D DAY!! come on councilors do the right thing..NORTH VOE!!!!!!!!!

[Dr Rock]

The right thing to do would be to build a Tunnel.

[swc123]

Seems from the "Breaking News" on Shetland News that the decision has been deferred pending the investigation of a tunnel link.

[Holm O Sanik]

The pier at symbister would not last the time it would take to build a tunnel, thats why this is a voe debate and not a tunnel debate.

[paulb]

how much is it going to cost. maybe if they are going to do it hire the faroese goverment to do it for them.

[Holm O Sanik]

Here is an extract from the sic report submitted to the infrastructure committee for todays meeting

 

]2.3. In other words the fixed link option was discounted not on grounds of cost,

as the common view appears to be, but because it was considered it

cannot be delivered in a timescale that can address the relative urgency to

solve Whalsay’s transport needs i.e. : - The infrastructure at Symbister needs to be replaced in less than 5

years. The recent repair work at Symbister is designed to give a

guaranteed 2 year life extension with reasonable confidence of 4 to 5

years. The terminal at Laxo suffered significant damage in late 2009 which

has been repaired but demonstrated the vulnerability of this structure

when continuing to operate with a vessel that is four times the size of

the vessels it was designed to accommodate. The Hendra had capital investment in 2004 to give it a 10 year life

extension which means it is anticipated to be replaced in 2014/15.

Operating beyond this will require substantial investment to replace

equipment and hull steel on the vessel. The capacity constraints of the current service are already having a

significant detrimental impact which is affecting the community’s

access to opportunities and services off the island.

12.4. The challenges in delivering a project of this size and complexity are: -

Page 8 of 12

 

a) Securing the funding (the current estimate for a tunnel to Whalsay at

7.1km in length is £111 million); and

The time it would take to develop and deliver such a major tunnelling

project.