Claadehol Posted April 14, 2019 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2019 The tourist industry is becoming quite valuable these days Urabug, and Toft gets a high concentration during the summer months. Their pleasure waiting at the Toft pier, looking out for otters etc. would be severely compromised with piles of stinking salmon nets stored nearby. Not on your doorstep though eh! Ideal at Toft eh! Ask some of the ferry crew how ideal it is! Acid 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostrider Posted April 14, 2019 Report Share Posted April 14, 2019 Why Taft anyway. If nets are being gathered in from various locations, anyplace reasonably central to their sources that ticks the other boxes would surely do equally well? A cynic might say the only reason this is being mooted as is, is some bright spark in a suit behind a desk in a SIC office has decided putting it there makes a better business case for building a new pier......which probably wouldn't have been an issue if the same bright spark, or one of their colleagues or former colleagues had maintained the old one for the last 20 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shetlandtrader Posted April 15, 2019 Report Share Posted April 15, 2019 Why Taft anyway. If nets are being gathered in from various locations, anyplace reasonably central to their sources that ticks the other boxes would surely do equally well? A cynic might say the only reason this is being mooted as is, is some bright spark in a suit behind a desk in a SIC office has decided putting it there makes a better business case for building a new pier......which probably wouldn't have been an issue if the same bright spark, or one of their colleagues or former colleagues had maintained the old one for the last 20 years.surely its the closest site on the mainland to all the fish farms in the north isles? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whalsa Posted April 15, 2019 Report Share Posted April 15, 2019 The SIC does not dictate where a private company wants to build a facility, that will be down to the commercial objectives of the company. Of course without the new pier this development would have to go somewhere else but the company involved obviously thinks it is a convenient location or else they would be building it in another location regardless of the new pier. As someone else said, if the facility is properly managed then any odor should be negligible or non-existent for neighboring houses. From a personal point of view, if some development like this was proposed for my community I would be delighted, Whalsay has yet to recover from the blow of the fish factory closing - nobody complained about any smell, traffic etc from there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claadehol Posted April 15, 2019 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2019 Well Whalsa, the 10 householders in Toft are united in rejection of this proposed development. This is the thin end of the wedge, there is going to be further development in the area if this goes ahead. We see no reason why our lives should be disrupted when the plant can go elsewhere.The lasses in Leasks garage in Lerwick can smell the net washing plant at Gremista, does that mean the plant is not properly managed? If so is there any reason to believe it would be better managed at Toft.There is an industrial site at Sellaness, plenty of room there, and the jobs can also be there, not too far away either.Maybe Salmon nets stink a lot more than your Whalsa factory, people I speak to seem to think so. They can smell the nets when on lorries at the pier, and the "clean" treated nets worse than the dirty ones. It will be a damned sight worse when the nets are piled up at the back of the houses in the allocated storage areas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Windwalker Posted April 15, 2019 Report Share Posted April 15, 2019 I recall many years ago, nets being stored near my house, don’t know if they were washed or not, but I could smell them with certain winds to the extent I was convinced the clothes on the line smelt of them. But the biggest issue was blue bottles, we had a house full of them all summer and couldn’t open the windows. I’m sure things have improved a lot since then though and if I were a resident in toft I would visit the net cleaning plant in Lerwick to see what I thought. It might put your mind at rest or confirm your concerns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MuckleJoannie Posted April 15, 2019 Report Share Posted April 15, 2019 The lasses in Leasks garage in Lerwick can smell the net washing plant at Gremista, does that mean the plant is not properly managed? If so is there any reason to believe it would be better managed at Toft.Are sure it's not the gut factory, Shetland Catch or the various other fish processors in the area? I worked at the Marina Business Park for a couple of years and I was never aware of any smell around there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostrider Posted April 15, 2019 Report Share Posted April 15, 2019 The SIC does not dictate where a private company wants to build a facility, that will be down to the commercial objectives of the company. They may not dictate where anybody wants to build anything, but by the time its worked it was through the planning office where and what anybody is allowed to build is dictated in all but name. If planning was fully under the control of the democratically elected members of the SIC like it should be, that situation might be reasonably tolerable, but its anything but unless in name and a very thin facade. Like several other SIC departments they're far more answerable to and under the control of Holyrood than the Town Hall. The Town Hall only contributes in very specific circumstances or in very general blanket policy decisions, everything else is done under this infernal 'delegated authority' by an unelected minion slavishly worshipping Holyrood edicts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claadehol Posted April 15, 2019 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2019 Considering the quantity of hoops the private individual has to leap through to say:- extend the porch, build a shed, put up an agricultural building, build a private dwelling house, etc. one has to wonder when something of this magnitude seems to slide through to a late stage relatively quickly, and without any consultations with any of the affected parties.Considering the multi-million pound international company involved here, one has to wonder what kind of lubricant has been applied to the wheels.A cynic might assume fighting this is a lost cause.I'm not that cynical yet.Yet! Windwalker 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Windwalker Posted April 16, 2019 Report Share Posted April 16, 2019 Are sure it's not the gut factory, Shetland Catch or the various other fish processors in the area? I worked at the Marina Business Park for a couple of years and I was never aware of any smell around there.I think the biggest issue with smells in that area is to do with the sewage pumping station is it not? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claadehol Posted April 16, 2019 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2019 Just thinking Whalsa, why don't you get in touch with the company and tell them all about the closure of the fish factory. Tell them you'd be delighted if they came to Symbister with this exciting new venture. Inform them about the building that is now lying empty and how easy it would be for you to find 5 able bodied individuals to man the plant. Ask them to check out all the benefits Symbister could offer the company including excellent pier facilities. They could even pop over and give a little talk at the school about the apprenticeships and the exciting future that they offer. I'm sure we would all benefit from knowing the details there. I think you may have the answer to our battle with this company, they could transfer their plan and their nets over your way. They may employ you as their PR man.Everyone's a winner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claadehol Posted April 16, 2019 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2019 Note, The PR abbreviation stands for public relations in this instance. The abbreviation does have other unfortunate meanings, I just want to clarify that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whalsa Posted April 16, 2019 Report Share Posted April 16, 2019 Just to be clear if affected residences in the area were not informed and given time to object then that is not acceptable and can rightly be complained about. As far as Symbister goes the old factory is not lying empty, a local engineer bought it and runs his marine engineering company from there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shetlandtrader Posted April 16, 2019 Report Share Posted April 16, 2019 Just thinking Whalsa, why don't you get in touch with the company and tell them all about the closure of the fish factory. Tell them you'd be delighted if they came to Symbister with this exciting new venture. Inform them about the building that is now lying empty and how easy it would be for you to find 5 able bodied individuals to man the plant. Ask them to check out all the benefits Symbister could offer the company including excellent pier facilities. They could even pop over and give a little talk at the school about the apprenticeships and the exciting future that they offer. I'm sure we would all benefit from knowing the details there. I think you may have the answer to our battle with this company, they could transfer their plan and their nets over your way. They may employ you as their PR man.Everyone's a winner.i think the company now operating from the x factory may have something to say about it being empty whalsa 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claadehol Posted April 16, 2019 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2019 Happy to hear the building is being utilised, apologies for not having all the facts to hand. However the pier's still there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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