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Oh my word!! There is a lot of 'assuming and maybes'. I did not say that someone was not doing their job. I also didn't say we should not be talking to the SIC. I was simply asking if all the North Isles Community Councils get together and discuss important issues that affect all three isles? If there was a meeting held by all three islands and then they, as a group, not as individual islands talk to the SIC (when required) it would be a better, a more united front. Apparently, I am now dividing people!! Geez, what a waste of time... I shall be writing to the councils, that was always my plan. Well, folks, now there really is nothing left to say on my behalf.

It's true. He doesn't! Can I just say that I get very disillusioned very quickly on this forum, with some folk it seems that there is a real 'nastiness' under the surface... I'm very glad I'm not standing face to face with them!! Scary people... Maybe that's why I run off! And it can be frustrating at times when people don't read! It beggers belief that with such a small popuation we have such a proliferation of different parts of a council but nonetheless I take it on board that it is the current situation. As long as the Development Company is not at logger heads wiith the council then that is a start. So my question - Is there a central committee for all the North Isles councils where they get together and talk about the coming problems in energy, ferries and schools? Or is it a just a case of every island speaks for itself in these matters? If there isn't then can I suggest that there should be? ( you'd better answer quick before I run off! )

You see this as a problem ? Maybe you were not around before the Development Company existed and there were less than 70 people ? A Community Council and Councilor that got you Broadband installed ? A Community Council and Development Company that worked together to get you a new pier ? I suggest you do a bit more research and fact gathering before you go much further down this path here. Both these projects were the result of decisions made before the current development company structure was in existence. Do your research. But... 'so long and thanks for all the fish'

I can see I'm just wasting my time here on this forum. No point in arguing anymore, the bigger picture is just not being seen. Thankyou.

Yell has three parts to the council - why is it not only one? North South and MiD Wards... Fetlar has a a community council AND a development company for 70 people! I'm asking these questions as to how unified we are, we have serious problems ahead and should be working together. Much of this is fact finding too, and folk have been helpful.

Yell has three parts to the council - why is it not only one? North South and MiD Wards... Fetlar has a a community council AND a development company for 70 people! I'm asking these questions as to how unified we are, we have serious problems ahead and should be working together. Much of this is fact finding too, and folk have been helpful.

Quote What examples do you have to suggest that the North Isles are 'divided' just now? As far as I can see, those who speak publicly about issues such as school closures or cuts to ferries (including all three of the north isles councillors and community councils) are very much coming from the same page across all of the North Isles. End Quote @Shetlander By Yell having 4 separate councils for a start! I don't know it's current population total but if I were to say about 1000 - that's 4 councils for a thousand people!! then that's an example of even ONE North Isle being divided!! Let alone Unst. And two on Fetlar!

@Ebob This is true, the whole of the Shetland Islands should all be working together - but Fetlar, Unst and Yell are divided. With so few people on these islands it is a crying shame that they don't work together. I can't talk about the Outer Skerries etc as I'm not sure of their situation in detail but I know for certain about Fetlar, Unst and Yell are not of one mind. I've had some good input from folk so far. Before we talk as the whole of Shetland we need, in the Northern Isles a representative of the Northern Isles to speak for the Northern Isles when dealing with SIC on these latest issues such as energy, school closures, ferries etc. I'm putting it to all the councils in the Northern Isles to start a group that involves all three islands to come together and discuss the recent issues that will affect those living in the Northern Isles. It can either be one counciller from each island that gets together and speaks for his/her island or a counciller representing each part of their island to come together as a group, so for example, in the case of Yell, it is split into four, so either four or one will represent Yell. It's a start. Will it happen? No idea! We'll see...

Thanks Hairyian Yes I am aware of my own community council. I also wanted to gauge other folks opinions in this area, Shetlink is not te BEST place to start but there we are. Cheers

Not too sure, although some initiatives such as the Telecroft in Unst continue. I was surprised to discover that it "lasted" until last year, but as stated in the notice, no accounts filed since 2000. However, there are other groups in the isles, The Unst Partnership, The North Yell Development Council, Initiative at the edge (Now Bluemull Development Company), Fetlar Developments etc - these groups are more focused on individual communities and maybe that is sensible? Hi crofter Thanks for the info Is the Initiative at the Edge North Isles still running? And can it be used to discuss the serious coming problems for the the three islands? There seems to be a proliferation of differentt groups (quangos)within each island, who has the authoratative voice om each island, the parish/community council? Once again, thanks for your help crofter, have a great day!

Hello Hairyian Community is lots of things and fortunately or unfortunately social media is here and you are using it yourself. Facebook isn't my greatest love but it must be an inexpensive and useful way for some folk living on Shetland to keep in touch with relatives and friends. I do understand that Shetlink is not liked but it was the only 'central' stepping stone to START with. I do intend to get off my donkey and that will start in my own community on Fetlar (Especially as I don't own a car) We'll see what happens.

This is true. Thankyou. It's a start but not an end. There is nowhere else central to take this, I've posted on Facebook and I hope to do other things. It's worth a try. Thanks for your input lonewolf.

Then how and why on earth do you expect (Or perhaps you don't?) constructive debate and ideas re pulling together/isles surviving, etc., if your story was just fictional? If all the commuter ferries are going then yes, people might lose their jobs (Unless they stay overnight on Shetland/wherever they work). If they aren't going, then why scaremonger? @unlinkedstudent We have some challenges ahead that are better faced united than not. The story was get the imagination going not to scaremonger, it was to show that we have, in reality, serious problems that need to be thought about and eventually debated and the outcome should be spoken with one united voice. Please, for starters, let's try and see who is interested in this notion, pass on the link, encourage others to vote, encourage others to voice their opinions.

Not at all, I'm not throwing the towel in, I just want to see where folk are, do they really care etc...you came back at me which is good. It will be R.I.P. Shetland if we don't work together but I've only just started with this first post. I have some ideas but need more info first. There are 90 days for this poll, I'm hoping more will vote, let's see what happens in the next few days etc. Let's get talking, pass this post around, send the link to others, it's a start...

Hello unlinkedstudent, Yes, cuts are happening all over the world, Peak Oil is an unsurmountable problem but at the moment I live on the Shetland Islands. I don't want Shetland to die out, it would be nice to at least stick together and see what we can accomplish and if we go out, we go out with a bang not a whimper... Surely, there's more we can achieve together than not together? As crofter said, there used be a community effort on the North Isles to do with agricultural feed and supplies, what happened? I'm not answering your question about the ferries because my story was fiction and I said as much earlier about not knowing exactely what cuts were coming.

Why did the community enterprise stop?

@ghostrider In that case it's R.I.P. Shetland.

Quoted...Ok It is fiction. What gets me, given the writing style, is whether or not the OP based it upon speaking to older Shetland residents who were born here or just waxed lyrically? End quote Yes this is currently fiction. This story was written to make a point about disunity in the North Isles, currently we have no idea how far these cuts will go and how much 'freedom' will be curtailed in the North Isles. The whole of the Shetland Islands is under a cloud of uncertainty, not just the North Isles but for goodness sake, let's face these troubling times together, let's at least be a united front FOR the North Isles, the North Isles must speak with one voice, so that we can then have a DIALOGUE with the Mainland of Shetland. How can we do this when Yell has its ideas, Unst has its ideas and Fetlar has its ideas? I appeal to all three islands to put any past differences aside and start working together for a change. We MAYBE have only one chance to do this in the current climate. I remember a Catholic priest friend of mine saying once, talking about Protestants... "We burned them, they persecuted us, let's just put this all all behind us and move on, only then can progress and dialogue be possible" I apologise for spelling mistakes or poor writing but please let's try and look at the bigger picture.

The sad tale of the Shetland islands in the North sea. "There is a small uninhabited, group of islands in the North Sea called The Shetland Islands, it was once a thriving community, it's occupants were spread far and wide across the land but in truth it was a small community compared to the large cities and towns on the mainland of the UK. It had several lifelines it relied on to keep going, a large connecting ferry to get to the mainland UK, several smaller ferries to reach the smaller Shetland islands, a power station to provide electricity and a sea nearby rich in oil supplies which gave jobs to the people and monetary wealth. It was good times for all. The striving was over. Money was aplenty and everyone was benefitting from its rich resources" Sandy switched off the TV. She didn't get many visitors these days, sure, folk would come but somehow it wasn't the same. Of course she grew up in a different age on these islands, that oil wealth wasn't there then, they used to do things together, live together, work the land and be glad of a house to come home to. She remembers when we didn't have electricity, and no running water. But now she is not wanting for anything, she knew that. She just missed that 'something' that life did not provide now. You might call it a sense of belonging, after all when you do things together it brings a feeling of having a place in society. She particularly loved anything to do with working the land whether it be sowing seed, or herding sheep. In her old photos she looked contented. She smiled back at her photo and she and a friend smiled back, the friend long gone from cancer some twenty years before. Her life was so different now. She missed the wind (she never thought she'd say it) and she missed the clean air, the wonderful views, the slow pace and the feeling of space that was never far from your front door. She sat back, put her feet up and remembered those final years. We had a mixed society of Shetlanders and incomers who felt as passionate about Shetland as we 'home grown' Shetlanders did. But I blame the money in many ways, it made folk lazy it did. Everything was available and money was flowing in the seventies and eighties, this carried through and changed folk in many ways. People were not quite so content with working so hard, why bother? We had grants coming out of our ears, we were fat cats and nothing could touch us. This went on on for decades. Where did it lead us? She got up to stretch her legs, pulled back the curtain to look at the street outside, she wasn't used to living in a flat, it was nice an all, but the upstairs flat was noisy and she missed the tirricks. She sighed and sat back down. Yes, we didn't see it coming. She lived on one of the outer islands of Shetland, part of the North Isles. She'd never knew any different, she was born two houses down from her house she got married in. She lived there all her life. The islands were divided and had been for quite a while, she always thought that was daft! She shook her head, we didn't stand together, even on an island of a 1000 people, it was divided. She still blamed the money. What else could it be? We had a shock you see, that year, when the Shetland Council told us that they had overspent and at the rate they were spending money, the Shetland Islands would be broke in a few years. We didn't believe them at first. We had many questions that needed answering. How would we be affected? Surely they couldn't close these islands? With a history of clearances on these lands she was sure it would not happen again. Like the Holocaust. It would never happen again. She sighed and considered putting the TV back on. Why upset yourself? This was the past now, you have to make the best of things. The biggest question she had was, why didn't we stand together, us folk on these outer islands? Many people tried to tell them that we could do much more together, us on Yell, Unst and Fetlar. After all, those on the mainland of Shetland didn't understand what us was like to live apart from the mainland, we had longer journeys, missed events, had fewer facilities and generally were almost not considered part of the Shetland Islands, that was what most of us felt. When they threatened us with the loss of the inter-island ferries we were still divided. Every island had its own way and its way was the only way. They cut the ferries heavily and many folk lost their jobs. It was awful. Some youngsters protested, they stood at the ferry terminals in the cold but folk just turned away. That didn't last long. She took a big intake of breath. It was awful, it got real nasty too. Everyone started blaming everyone else. I didn't know if the mainland Shetland was as divided as we were in the North Isles? When the Shetland Island council eventually rehoused us, we just couldn't believe it, most of us didn't say anything for months. I got rehoused near my family in Aberdeen. It was good to see my extended family more regularly and Doreen only lived 5 miles into town. I got on the local bus to see her twice a week, she's not that well though. Then we watched the great upheaval on the news. It was just heartbreaking. It was like watching a load of refugees not the people of Shetland. We were the first to go on the North Isles of course, but I somehow wondered if things could have been different if we had stuck together, you know, all pull in one direction. Maybe we could've thought of a way to start building our own energy resources, we could of told the Lerwick planning people to get stuffed, we all wanted to provide our own energy solutions TOGETHER, using the minds and resources of all the North Isles folk, let Lerwick stew in its own juices, they were cutting our resources so we have to now pull together and work this problem out for ourselves. But we didn't did we? Bang, bang, thump! The upstairs flat had visitors again, usually the young childrens friends, but they were so noisy, still, it could be worse, her friend has a horrible time at weekends as the young folk like their loud music. They were at least nice folk upstairs and they cared about her. She missed the other Shetlanders talking about the weather. She got up and put on the kettle, still, it'll be Christmas in two weeks. She put the TV back on, a familiar background noise at least and thought about a Shetland sunset at Simmerdim. The Shetland Islands have gone back to nature now. A few folk reside at Sullom Voe but not many. What with the oil and economics not flowing as freely as it once did, no-one could afford to live there anymore. The cuts continued to come and what with a double dip recession Shetland just couldn't keep its head above water. It was all a big mess and a shame. She sipped her tea, it was nearly time for her programme, she wouldn't miss it for the world but she would give it up tomorrow to walk the shores near her old house once more, pick up the odd stone and stare at the craggy shores of Shetland.

Right, ok! I guess I just have to ignore them... Thanks

Just had another non- notification on this thread about getting non- notifications!

From Peter If you think that playing around with monopoly money makes sense then look around you at the mess we're in. Try to get away from this addiction to this useless paper chase. Change the way money works and everything changes. Have an economy without an infinite growth paradigm and 'something' about human life on this planet may make some sense.

This is a long post but I feel important to say... From Peter... I have been involved in the so-called 'Peak Oil' movement for 11 years and also involved in how money works and why economic models for energy alternatives are fatally flawed. The reason is that energy useage is vastly under priced in terms of the commodity called 'fiat currency' or cash which in itself is one of the largest 'energy sinks' on the planet, in that it consumes vast quantities of energy to produce, print and circulate for something that in and of itself is worthless. We never price so-called renewables according to their energy chain overheads all we think about is cost (ie cash) effectiveness. So to the point of this post is that without the full equation of energy expended against energy gained this project is liable to make global energy depletion worse and to embark the Shetland Islands on a lifeboat that will sink. I can see that in the future Yell may be able to use it's peat store for said burners but the model as presented requires you to use sustainable forest in Scotland harvest it, transport it, import it, process it; have you costed that energy chain? Not in terms of cash but in kw/h; I have a suspicion that the energy required will equal or exceed the output and you are on a hiding to nothing! As a close I append my energy laws which have been drawn from such great workers in this field as The Post Carbon Institute, ISIS Institute for Science in Society, The Von Mises Institute in Austria, The late Matthew Simmons, Richard Heinberg, Mike Rupert and many other colleagues and pioneers. We do have an energy based economy, but we don't act as if we do! Vast consumption of energy on this planet is invisible and at the moment not part of economic transactions, which are based on production costs, plus interest plus profit. They never carry the full burden of production due to the same equation being perpetuated across the board. Also the cost of disposal is not connected to production in a meaningful way, nobody as far as i know is asked to pay in a direct way the cost of eventual disposal of an object they have created. The production cost is individual the disposal cost is global. The true cost of energy is hidden under a complicated and adjusted 'ability to pay' with never a thought to the finite nature of that source, and never asking its true owner for its price. Our economy is like a giant credit card never paying back what we really owe, ignoring the capital statement and only paying the minimum charge plus the interest of course. In my opinion this is untenable in the long term. After my energy laws I've posted the original story from the Shetland Times. My first law of energy economics; there is only one currency in this world of ours and that is energy and not the dollar! My second law of energy economics is that energy is never visible unless it moves. Meaning we never consider it until we have a surfeit or a deficit. My third law of energy economics is that a surfeit of energy is consumed immediately without thought and a deficit of energy is dealt with by printing more money. My fourth law is that technical, innovative solutions to energy depletion are in themselves energy consumers, it is very difficult to support a new user for energy when you have no surplus. My fifth law is that solution is proportional to time available, alas like hydrocarbon energy it is finite and diminishing. My sixth and perhaps most important law is that peak energy production destroys growth, and no amount of inflation of liquidity or creation of fiat currency has the power to contradict this law. My seventh law is thx , I believe to Socrates:- You cannot solve a problem with the same mindset that created it in the first place. My eighth law is ; If it costs a barrel of oil to get a barrel of oil out the ground you are losing no matter how much it costs in paper money. Peter Below is the original story from the Shetland Times Biomass plant for Yell leisure centre and school approved by councillors. Plans to install a biomass heating system in Yell to serve the isle’s leisure centre and school were given the go-ahead today despite fears it could scupper another energy scheme. The successful application to site the biomass heat cabin behind the Mid Yell Leisure Centre was made by Northfish (Shetland) Ltd. Biomass, which uses sustainably sourced fuel, is a new type of heating system for Shetland and the leisure centre and adjacent school are likely to be the first to have it. The application was granted in spite of an objection by Yell Community Council, which wrote to the planning department to express support for the Mid Yell Development Council. The MYDC has been working for several years on a project to install a district heating scheme in Mid Yell using alternative energy. As the community council supports community development, it felt it could not support the biomass proposal as it could jeopardise the ongoing project by the MYDC. However planning official Jonny Wiseman, speaking at a meeting of the council’s planning department, recommended approval. The cabin would be appropriately designed, being clad with larch wood to match the school, and sited almost unnoticed next to the leisure centre’s plant room, causing no environmental impact. The development would also comply with the council’s aims for energy produced from sustainable resources. Fuel for the heating process would be sourced from managed forests for processing locally, or from certified producers on the mainland. Northfish director Angus Grains said his company had been looking for customers for the biomass which will be produced at the company’s new energy plant at Gremista. Planning permission for this plant was granted before Christmas. Mr Grains said he had approached users of kerosene to see if they would be keen on switching to biomass, and the Yell project would be the first one. On questioning by North Isles councillor Laura Baisley, he said Yell was chosen at the instigation of Shetland Recreational Trust, which was interested in biomass and proposed the Yell site, in which the leisure centre supplies heat to the school. Northfish hopes to have other “large users†throughout the isles, he added. Mr Grains said biomass represented a 100 per cent reduction in carbon emissions and a much lower cost than kerosene. The technology had been around for at least 10 years and was widely used in Finland and Sweden. He said: “It’s not black magic. It’s tried and tested equipment.†The process was “very clean-burningâ€, he said, with one month of burning producing only one bucket of ash. He also said that he did not see that his proposed development would hinder other renewable enterprises in the Mid Yell area. Lerwick North councillor Caroline Miller called it an “excellent project†and moved recommendation, with Shetland South councillor Jim Budge seconding. Speaking after the meeting, Ms Baisley said although there was no material planning objection, she felt “sympathy†for the Mid Yell Development Council which had already put in years of work.

Well, it looks like this thread is winding up to finish. Thanks for everyone's input. Was hoping that more diverse areas than crafts would be mentioned but it's fairly obvious that there is an opening for a North Isles Craft Fair or a get together in the coming better weather. We've just started a Fetlar Makers Group which is well attended so we will see how that goes. I think it might be worth asking Shetlink about a 'Craft Corner' where folk can advertise their homemade wares...after all it would only be an extension of the existing Classified Section.it's a least worth an enquiry.

We could have a 'Crafty Corner' on Shetlink where folk post their wares. To swap or to sell. A donation to Shetlink if items are sold is a possibility and something I was prepared to do if I had sold some jewellery that I put on before Christmas. Unfortunately I didn't sell anything on Shetlink. I didn't know that Shetland Classifieds existed so that was useful for me... I'm sure it says in the Bible somewhere, a quote...'gather all ye craft workers in one specified place and henceforth they shall prevail in gathering the coin of the realm... Or something like that...