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Skunnered

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Everything posted by Skunnered

  1. Skunnered

    Toft Pier

    On Shetland Radio they said that if all the landing dues had been paid, that would have come to about £68,000. But they actually got less than £2,000. So the SIC can hardly be blamed for not wanting to sink money into the pier. Perhaps the fishermen who use the pier could pay for the repairs themselves, since they don't want to pay the landing dues?
  2. Skunnered

    Toft Pier

    The Lerwick Harbour make sure they collect their Dues. If the users of the Toft pier had paid their dues for landings, then it might have been viable for the SIC to repair or replace it.
  3. Excellent idea! But I'm a bit puzzled how you intend to provide un-interruptible power for your computer from the candles?
  4. I like Shoogler's idea (above): one Councillor from each ward, and the remainder representing various organisations throughout Shetland, e.g. pensioners, poor, industry, commercial, crofters, fishermen, etc. etc. and whatever.
  5. Ah yes, a "flit-boat" at Sumburgh. Just like the old days!
  6. ^^A rather "lefty" column, full of irrelevant information and envy-comments. Why should I care what Thomas Cook pays to its CE? If I had shares in the company then I might, but otherwise I don't see what it has to do with the public servants' pensions. If there is a strong argument in favour of these workers, why not stick to the relevant points, rather than shooting off in some other rant and distracting from the real issues?
  7. ^^Good news for the fuel distribution company - more money in their pockets!
  8. Where do I collect my medal?
  9. Perish the thought!
  10. And the nuclear power station on top of Ronal Hill.
  11. ^^I understand that the cable is being laid by a subsidiary of SSE and that VE will pay a charge per unit for exporting electricity through the cable. VE don't have anything to do with the cost of laying the cable.
  12. There is unlikely to be a problem with the banks so long as the loan repayments and interest get paid on time, and so long as VE maintains any conditions the banks put upon them, such as balance sheet ratios etc. But if the banks are to lend 80% of the capital cost (which I would find very surprising) then I wonder what sort of eye-watering interest rates they are likely to charge. And I wonder what sort of interest rates VE have built into their financial forecasts.
  13. And, what frequency of breakdown, and cost, has been built into VE's financial projections? Will we ever know?
  14. AT: Now that I've looked at the figures kindly provided by MuckleJoannie, IT'S WORSE THAN I THOUGHT! Over 23 years at a profit of £26M per annum the total profit to the CT coffers is only (only?) £592M which I am sure is much less than will be produced from SVT over its lifetime especially if we take the Total project into account. The balance of about £11M per annum goes into the community for rent and to suppliers etc. This is certainly much less than the economic activity in Shetland from SVT and the oil industry. Regarding employment: I've seen somewhere that VE estimate that their project will employ about 50 people when it's up and running. Now that is most definitely a drop in the ocean compared to SVT and the oil industry in Shetland. You say that there isn't any other industry that can take the place of SVT and the oil industry. I entirely agree, and it's going to be a big problem some time in the future, maybe not for 20 or 30 years, but it will happen. What I think is dangerous is for anyone to claim that the wind farm project is going to be the Great Saviour regarding the future financial stability and employment for Shetland. It isn't. It may fill the CT's coffers (about which I am still sceptical and will remain so until I see some hard and fast figures) but it will not create anywhere near the level of economical activity that has been generated by SVT and the oil industry. And I think it is dangerous and misleading for anyone to claim that it will.
  15. Personally I find it hard to believe that the wind farm will bring in more money than Sullom Voe ever did. SVT paid a disturbance allowance to the community for two or three decades, and the SIC or CT also benefit from rent for the site, plus the money they make from the harbour tugs and services. Between the CT and the SIC there are funds of over £400M and that's what remains after having spent loads. So altogether they have probably taken in more than £600M over the oil period. I'm sure someone (other than the SIC) has access to the true figures. In addition to that, the Total project is going to bring in a whole lot more, although I don't have the figures for that. Perhaps someone is aware of the estimates. If the wind farm can bring in £37M clear profit pre annum for 25 years, then at a total of £925M it would probably come close to the overall income from the SVT projects. Maybe. But what is missing in this argument is the huge economic benefits that have been brought to Shetland in addition to the funds into the SIC/CT coffers. Think of all of the employment that has been created, both directly and indirectly. Think of the oil-related shipping and cargo movements in Lerwick, Scalloway and elsewhere. The activity and employment at the Greenhead over the years. The opportunities for local businesses and contractors. The increase in the population in Shetland and the general increase in the amount of money flowing through the local economy, more trade in the shops etc. The wind farm project won't create anything near this level of local economic activity, nor will it create the level of local employment that has been created by SVT and the oil industry in general. If SVT shut down tomorrow and the wind farm started, Shetland would be in a serious economical situation with high unemployment and a huge reduction in shipping, cargo movements, and general trade. Even if this project goes ahead, Shetland still needs to find some other industry to take the place of SVT and the oil industry whenever it comes to an end, because the wind farm project will not be the Great Saviour that some people are hoping for.
  16. It seems to me that even our Councillors are not allowed to know certain "sensitive" bits of information, not just about the VE project but other things as well, so what chance does the public have in asking the SIC/VE to divulge any data that they would rather keep to themselves?
  17. Problem is, we don't actually know how much of the claimed profit to the community is dependent upon the ROC subsidy, because VE haven't told us. They tell us that the benefit to the community is somewhere between £25M and £37M, but how much of that is subsidy? They should be pressurised to declare how much profit there would be excluding the ROC subsidy, and how much they are forecasting to earn from the subsidy, then the public would have a clearer idea of how viable the project might be.
  18. Perhaps we should just hibernate from October til April, then we wouldn't need to worry about the clock!
  19. ^^That's an excellent point Njugle. The so-called "subsidy" for windmill generated power is not in fact a subsidy paid by the government, but a subsidy that will be paid by all electricity consumers in the UK through increased electricity prices, and the wind farm operators benefit through the ROC system. Of course this means higher prices for the poor as well as for the middle or well-off, so you are quite right that in effect it increases the fuel poverty situation. As to how the SIC intend to pass the benefits of their new wealth from the windfarm on to those suffering from fuel poverty is a very good question. I'm quite sure that they (or the CT) cannot simply pay lump sums across to poor individuals (see what happened when they tried to make Christmas payments to the elderly) because of the EC, or the tax-man, or whatever. So I wonder if this was just a statement to soften up the public?
  20. As a matter of interest, how many pro-VE supporters turned out on the day?
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