Wheesht

I am still a bit of a floating voter here, but then again I don’t suppose the SIC are going to give me the opportunity to exercise that vote are they?

My concerns re this project are the long term viability, particularly of a cinema, given our population, its slow decrease and the niche that this venue is aiming at.

Lets get one thing straight, Davie Gardner, in my book, is doing a first rate job or promoting Shetland music which will become, if it already isn’t, a mid sized industry for these islands. His job is essential for the continued success of that but the venue I am not sold on as yet.

A need for a dedicated concert venue is very debatable, but let’s give the pro people the benefit of the doubt on that. I cannot however see that practice rooms, bars and a recording studio are needed, do we not already have provision for these elements throughout the islands already? Centralisation is to be avoided if we are to believe what we hear.

In addition, points that have been raised by others on the loss of earnings for the likes of the Boating Club, Islesburgh Community Centre, Clickimin etc have not been adequately answered as I see it. Will lose of revenue here effect any and/or all of these venues?

For the anti lobby, led by the SLTA it appears, I have a certain degree of sympathy for elements of the license trade but little has been done to counter the perceived effects of trade by the smoking ban by any of them never mind investment in the “entertainment†side of their businesses over the past 2 decades. I hear what they are saying about the weekend propping up the remainder of the week etc but then surely opening at 8 or 11am on a Monday to service a few gugs makes no business sense? Is diversification not an answer here?

I’m still a floating vote!

I think the Hunter Twins should have a page in the times each week

Now that would be some read

I'd like to see a weekly column in which local councilors take turns to tell us what they get up to. I'm sure most people would be interested to know what they spend our council tax on

By jeez oh, can you imagine any off them agreeing to that?

Come on the hops!

Are the cooncil not just nipping the "venue" debate in the bud?

Rosyth I say!

Imagine the savings in hauling everything we need by road from the central belt and farther afield, and lets face it there are a lot less people with emotional or any other kinds of ties to Aberslum as there used to be