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Should Whalsay Have a Ferry Service or Tunnel?


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Should Whalsay Have a Ferry Service or Tunnel?  

46 members have voted

  1. 1. Should Whalsay Have a Ferry Service or Tunnel?

    • Ferry Service
      20
    • A Tunnel
      27


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Its a fairly broad question. A tunnel, in principal, MIGHT be the best way forward in the long term but is frankly impractical in the short term.

 

Maybe if the SIC had started planning a tunnel 10 or even 5 years in the past then they would be ready to implement a suitably designed tunnel before the current system becomes unusable due to the state of the ramps.

 

As well as that IMHO there are shorter/busier routes, e.g. Yell Sound, which would benefit from a tunnel and be cheaper/easier to build.

 

I think the farcical way about which this current ferry/tunnel debate has been undertaken is deplorable and has had detrimental effects on the Whalsay community as a whole.

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^^Well that's a good point daveh, and perhaps that's the reason that some of the people on Whalsay don't want a fixed link of any kind, because maybe they want to continue to live on an island, and not on what would effectively be a peninsula of the mainland.

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Something Whalsay folk and those who travel to the island also need to consider is the potential disruption should the tunnel ever get seriously damaged. A few days to repair a linkspan compared to possibly months to repair a tunnel. At the very least I think they do need to press the authorities for details of a backup plan if the tunnel was blocked. Same goes for Yell, Bressay and anyone else wanting a tunnel........or objecting to a tunnel.

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I can never understand this argument that if a tunnel is put in then the island ceases being an island.

 

As mentioned before, I've been through most of the Faroese tunnels and the islands they connect to are still islands, infact if you were parachuted onto one of the islands you wouldn't know if it was a ferry or a tunnel you'd have to use to get off it.

 

What saddens me is that, just like today, we'll still be sitting in 10-15 year's time saying "the SIC should've biten the bullet 10-15 years ago".

 

:)

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I agree with JustMe, what would happen if there was say a bad car crash inside the tunnel?

 

As well as that if a tunnel was built then it would further encourage the SIC to try and close the secondary school in whalsay and send the pupils to the mainland, which is something that most people in whalsay do not want.

 

And Kavi Ugl, I dont think its a matter of later saying the council should have bit the bullet, they do not have the time or the money to build it.

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If you want to be connected to the mainland, why not live on the mainland?

 

I have a house in Whalsay, I like living in Whalsay, it's just turd being at the mercy of the weather. Also, it would be better becuase of advantages such as easily getting to the mainland in an emergency. It'd make commuting more viable and I mean with the factory closed right now a lot of people will be looking to the mainland with jobs. Do you suggest they all just go live on the mainland?

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If you take the SIC report figures as correct

http://www.shetlandtimes.co.uk/2010/04/15/whalsay-tunnel-too-expensive-for-council-officials-warn

then a tunnel would cost £23M to £28M more over its 120 year life than providing a ferry.

 

Assuming things are more or less even, that would mean that putting on tunnel tolls at about £210,000 per year above current ferry fare income would cover the extra costs......

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If you want to be connected to the mainland, why not live on the mainland?

 

I have a house in Whalsay, I like living in Whalsay, it's just monkey being at the mercy of the weather. Also, it would be better becuase of advantages such as easily getting to the mainland in an emergency. It'd make commuting more viable and I mean with the factory closed right now a lot of people will be looking to the mainland with jobs. Do you suggest they all just go live on the mainland?

 

Let the council provide a tunnel then but let there be a tariff that will cover the entire cost of maintaining this.... and cut off the ferry

 

see how many whalsay folks want the ferry then!!!!

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