net washing plant at Toft

[Ghostrider]

I'm still wondering why Taft was chosen as the site for this (other than perhaps as an 'off the record' pawn to push through the case for justifying rebuilding the pier).

 

Correct me where I go wrong, but my understanding is this works are designed to service fish farm nets. There are fish farms dotted all around the central, west and north mainland, and the north isles, so wherever any one single plant of this nature is located, the vast majority of its customers are going to have to factor in a significant transportation mileage to use its services, whether that be by sea or road.

 

Of all the underused piers in Shetland, why this one? For example, if nets come by sea, does it really matter which side of Yell Sound the boat has to dock on, and for road transport, does it make any great difference whether mainland customers have to cross Yell Sound to access the plant, or North Isles customers have to cross Yell Sound to access the plant? So, for the sake of argument, why was Ulsta or somewhere else in south Yell not equally in the running to get this? After all you hear far more about North Isles' residents complaining they have to go off isle for employment/services etc, than vice versa.

 

Taft is a long way from my stomping ground, but from what I've seen of it, it comes across as a very sparsely populated area that has already, and continues to, put up with a significant inconvenience 'for the greater good' and no benefit to themselves, in the shape of having to tolerate every vehicle that goes in to and comes out of Yell, Unst and Fetlar every day, running through their midst.

 

If you're going to add to that what amounts to a not insignificant industrial plant, alongside the road carrying the above mentioned traffic, its very difficult to see such a concentration as that as anything else than very out of keeping and out of character with what is otherwise a very rural area. I'd certainly be a whole lot less than delighted if I lived there and something like this was being proposed within sight/hearing range.

 

We need progress and development to survive and thrive, especially from inward investment, so it goes against the grain to oppose a development such as this and I would like to see it go ahead, but I'm still to be convinced that Taft is the best site for it, or even a very good site for it.

Edited May 10, 2019 by Ghostrider

[Claadehol]

Well Ghostrider, please help us out here, and send an email with your concerns and comments to the planning department.. We're not against development as such, but very much against it when it wrecks people's lives, especially when it can go to a more suitable location.