ariel

^ Na jewel, but du kens yun poor crofter at da Staney Hill canna afford ta fix his fences!

Harry Hays auction every couple of weeks - excellent institution. And the Shetlink small ads. Shetland's a great place for second hand, especially if you're willing to wait a bit and see what comes up.

No, I'm not talking about folk who need 'help' I'm talking about folk who need somewhere to stay. 'Just dumping' them in an unfurnished house is no better. I would be delighted with a hostel bed if I was homeless, and I have stayed in quite a few in my time.

Why? As far as I am aware we are not talking about treating some self-inflicted "disease" or punishing them for the affliction. Furthermore, I didn't suggest it as some kind of punishment or treatment and I didn't intend to imply that it was in any way 'special accommodation' but, it seems to me that having some kind of 'dormitory' arrangement of single rooms available for those in need of a little extra care is neither a treatment or punishment and that might actually be to their benefit in the long term. I was suggested as just a 'patch' to help fix a badly skewed housing system and might allow more 'deserving'(?) candidates to get somewhere to live at a price they can afford. The hostel at Staney Hill used to offer something like this, but fell foul of new govt rules (or so I heard) which said the homeless shouldn't be concentrated in a particular place as it created stigma. But you don't need the responsibility or expense of an unfurnished house to start you off, and hostels can be exactly what folk need, not least because you can make social contacts there. Yes, there was stigma attached to Staney Hill Hostel, but you can turn that around. The residents did at least get some support and supervision.

Hit the Submit button before I had finished.... Council house sales ARE discounted but, they are discounted according to the length of time you have paid rent. The fact that any monies received from these sales is not re-invested in new stock is government policy and is no fault of SIC or any other local authority.. People in Council Houses DO NOT get cheap rent.. They pay a realistic rent. It is the deliberate shortage of suitable housing that keeps Private rents so high. As for getting a "massive leg up the property ladder". This is nonsense. If the housing in this country were properly priced in the first place then, most working people who are able to pay council rent would be able to obtain a mortgage of their own. Furthermore, if you equate years of rent to a mortgage, where is the 'discount'? Profiteering? More nonsense. Those who have purchased their Council house after years of paying rent and have then used the proceeds of it's subsequent sale to build or buy a better property can hardly be accused of profiteering in so much as they are unlikely to get much more than the current market value for the little box that they used to live in and which, quite possibly, cost them more than that in total anyway. Additionally, their new home will probably be in a more expensive Council Tax bracket. You are right it is govt policy, and if I had the chance of a cheap house, if I was already lucky enough to have a secure tenancy, I'm sure I'd jump at the chance. I am arguing against this being govt policy and I also understand the SIC could halt sales, as some other authorities have done. Years of rent is not a mortgage, sorry - lots of us pay a lifetime of rent and our landlord is not obliged to hand over the house to us. As I say, you'd be mad not to take the chance if you have it. But it is a mad policy.

I beg to point out that they are not taking any burden away from the housing list if they are also taking a property away. To go back a few pages, the idea of making residential caravan sites available would be a good option for many people who neither want to clutter up the housing list, nor are able to buy a house.

It is ill-informed comments like this that make my blood boil... I live in a council house. I have lived in it for more than 30 years. If I bought it, it would make absolutely no difference to anybody other than myself. Unless of course, you are suggesting that I should be forced to buy 'somewhere' in order that some needy(?) person could get somewhere to live.. It would make a difference, as you will, in due course - I'm sorry to say - pass away, at which time the house should be available for someone else. The problem with council house sales is they are heavily discounted, and what little money comes in for them doesn't go back to invest in housing. Therefore folk in Council houses not only get cheap rent, they get a massive leg up the property ladder, at the expense of rate/taxpayers. If sales were at market value and receipts ploughed back into housing, it might be fair. There has been nothing but profiteering on council house sales.

Any chance we could all just ignore him? Yet another reasonably interesting thread has descended into boring repetitive drivel.

Bit of a shambles tonight. Too many changes or no good reason, staying closer to the books would've improved it. Hope they do get to make more, just hope they get a better script team. Actors not bad, but need better material. No they don't need to speak dialect. No dialect is better than fake, anytime, and we don't all speak it.

As far as I'm aware, they don't usually close/delete accounts. They might de-activate say the accounts of spammers but I think I remember reading about another Shetlinker who asked for his account to be closed/deleted and it wasn't. Got to keep the Google hits/income flowing somehow! I think they'll tell you just not to continue using the account. This poster is, I suspect the same one who previously made a fuss about getting his account closed and will be aware of that, which does not of course explain why he does not stop posting.

It is frustrating as it reveals such poor planning. We spent a fortune on the bus station and now all that investment will be wasted, as well as losing us a valuable service. Same with the camp site. If they had come with an idea to get value from the building, we might have been able to feel some respect. Put a Council service desk in it maybe - one-stop-shop info service to save folk trailing down round the North Ness monoliths.

OMG and ...whatever other expressions ... If you are really tedious enough to go through all this, get receipts, calculate your time/ travel, put in a claim...mind you I am equally tedious for even reading this thread. I am off to get help. X

I wonder if collection capacity has been reduced to take account of all the extra recycling and composting that the SIC has funded in recent years? Friends in Lerwick tell me they fill far fewer black bags these days. If that is the case, I'd hope we aren't doing the same volume of collection. A fortnightly collection in Lerwick would make sense, certainly more sense that the abolition of their bi- annual bulky collection.

It is, Mareel has put out news that police have closed the road.

The staff in the Co-op cafe were excellent this Sunday - really cheery, helpful and polite, especially the tall young man on he counter. Much appreciated.

Mareel is a major asset we've invested a lot in, so it's not 'their' problem only, and we need to find a responsible solution, given the value it can bring to our community. A few people might be glad to see it go bust, but that attitude doesn't demand much respect. I do hope our decision-makers don't think the sneering on here, or the spitting rants of Ian Tinkler are representative of 'general opinion'. Neither is this a toon v country issue (that attitude is just pure bigotry anyway) - we subsidise lightly-used leisure centres in rural areas, we can also support a massively popular family culture hub sited in the most accessible area of Shetland.

Thank you, Symbister, for some intelligent and well-expressed comment. Always a breath of fresh air on here.

There would be little point Mareel ending films by 11pm considering the 11pm buses haven't been introduced yet.

Highly impressed that Mareel has secured more funding without looking to the Council. And hasn't spent millions without producing a building to show for it, like the SIC has a tendency to do. Well done, Shetland Arts.

I didn't see anyone accusing 'country folk' of whingeing but it doesn't surprise me you decide to invent that as a device to allow another weird pop at the town. Grow up. Town folk are putting up with their share of issues and are getting a bit sick of this spite. If you live in an urban area, services are more economic, end of. I object to you claiming to speak for 'us country folk'. You are not a spokesperson for anyone but yourself.

Fine, but just have the decency to bring quiet stuff and not subject us to your big family rustling their sweetie papers. My friend used to put unwrapped sweeties in a Tupperware box. I thought she was a bit odd, but in my irritable old age I now think she was genius.

Not bringing in your own food is standard in any establishment that sells food and only fair. With luck it will keep down on the folk who used to come to the Garrison and share out - not kidding - a carrier bag of packets of crisps among them. The good thing about cinema food is it is designed to be non-noisy, and Mareel's isn't so oversized or expensive as most cinemas. That said, it shouldn't be hard to sneak in our own food as long as long as we are discreet, quiet and tidy, and I may well be tempted to on occasion.

A small shop will and should prioritise its customers, not those who ship in an appliance from Argos then run to them when it breaks down. We need to look at value in the round when we buy, and it is time we realised that if we don't use local shops, we lose them and all the extra value that goes with them. If GRs choose to fix appliances they haven't sold, that is fine, but I don't think they need be held to account by tedious chancers moaning about their consumer rights.

I think you'll find this thread is called 'excellent service' - I'm sure you will find numerous other ones for moaning and slagging off staff. Customer service in the Co-op can be an adventure, but it's more fun than the ruthless efficiency of Tesco.

The lovely boys at ITS (next to what was Smith and Harpers) eased my considerable frustration and prevented me committing violence, by giving my laptop a good seeing to. £60 well spent, highly recommended if you are suffering a chuggy computer.