RFR937

I'm not one for commenting on here much but anyone who thinks that not wearing a lifejacket is the better side of the coin from wearing one when it all goes wrong is a damn fool , there is without doubt (and proven fact) a much higher chance of survival if you are unfortunate enough to go over the side whilst wearing one! Even if the worst is to happen at least the loved ones get some form of closure (not to mention avoiding the 7 years of no insurance payout that it takes without a body) from the much higher chance of recovery (whether alive or dead) , it's a no brainer from a safety point of view,I'm not for compulsory rules on wearing them but there is no doubt it's the sensible option. The fishing industry is pretty near the last marine trade (in this country at least) that doesn't have to wear them as a matter of course when working on deck though thankfully it's becoming a much more common occurence for them to do so, no more so than in the single handed small boat sector, hopefully it will become the norm in the near future (especially with the free provision of lifejackets for fishermen from the industry body, the SFF).

I had one of the more comic salesman calls ever earlier today, normally I'm the one that would hang up on random cold calls from service providers but today was a new experience. Vodafone called to talk about renewing my soon to expire contract, I'd just started to explain to the salesman that as Vodafone couldn't even offer me a 3G connection as yet and that with EE promising 4G in the very near future I was minded to not renew my long standing association with Vodafone, I'd hardly uttered the words EE when he hung up on me , now that's gotta be a first? Just wondering how many times he'd heard that from a Shetland resident in the last few days, pure comedy! On a more serious note ,maybe it will make them stop taking us pain in the butt peripheral customers a bit more seriously?

Vodafone are lying bunch of ####wits. I know they have had reports as I made a complaint myself. It appears the fault is on the Bressay mast, lerwick is fine but most of the west and north cells are down,an engineer is supposedly on their way but I wouldn't hold my breath for them making it a priority!

Is it just me or has the mobile signal in Scalloway been down all day (again) , I can see EE and 3UK but no other networks seem to be available ?

Where? Apart from the space mentioned in my earlier posts is it any harder to build on a hill in Scalloway than it is in Lerwick?

Not to detract from your point, but surely these figures evidence something of a more fundamental change in Scalloway than just a lack of house building. Scalloway has no fewer houses now than in '81 does it? To a casual passer-by like me, it would appear there are actually a few more than in '81, for example most if not all of those along the East Voe and at Upper Scalloway have come during that period. Assuming there are no less residential properties in Scalloway now than in '81, surely a static school roll would be expected. If you're going to have to rely on an ever increasing number of residential properties just to maintain a static school roll, there's something else arguably more serious afoot as well. Has Scalloway's population evolved to have a far higher elderly population whose families have long since grown up than 35 years ago, are people in general choosing to have less children than previously, or are there a far higher childless population than previously? I'm not arguing that accommodation shortages making it difficult for folk already living there to continue doing so, or discouraging folk from moving there, can only make the situation worse, as there's no doubt it does, but if there's been a 30% decline in the school roll in 35 years, while accomodation and by extension assumedly population has remained reasonably static, there would seem to be some other underlying reason(s) for such a decline at work as well. Unfortunately Scalloway has a lot less opportunities for employment now than it did in '81, would building additional housing actually go very far towards helping folk become employed there and contribute to local prosperity, or would you just be creating a commuter community who will work and play elsewhere, and only sleep there, contributing little to the place. Does Scalloway want to become either in part or all, any more of a commuter community than it already has? Is there really that much less employment now in Scalloway ? Between all the aquaculture industry employment , the fish factories , net repairs , NAFC ,Scord quarry, garage, Haulage companies, shops , doctors , hotels etc etc there must be a sizeable employment role in Scalloway , a lot of local employment on the accommodation barge/ship as well. I remember the planning saga regarding Utnabrak but there's plenty of other land either up towards Berry farm , out past the present homes at Port Arthur or up behind the present health center.

Ah I see , that makes sense I suppose , shame as it's much flatter ground and I'd have thought a lot cheaper to build on because of this , you'd think it wouldn't be impossible to overcome the pollution issue for all that , the main road runs by the end of the loch now , would only take a crashed Gulley sucker to cause the same issues, anyway , thanks for explanation

There's plenty of space in Scalloway to build it's just getting ownership and permission to build on that land that's the problem . In reality I'd have thought a scheme half the size in LK would have been more appropriate and not on the site proposed but more along the track the runs beside the Sandy loch and the top of Staney hill , the developers could put a decent road in giving a North to South bypass at the same time. The other half of the planned 400 homes should be build in the other rural villages.

You could also speak to Dave Hammond of "Burnt Candle" productions , he is involved with film work as well , don't have his number but look up Burnt Candle online and you should find his details.

It seems deeply suspicious to me that Serco are making "weather" decisions at least 24hrs before the "weather" is due , as we all know the weather predictions in Shetland change by the hour so to make a call so early is unwise at best . Also find it strange that they would even have this service withdrawal as the forecast isn't even that bad , force 7 at worst with occasional stronger gusts , certainly shouldn't be too much for a "lifeline" service .

What makes you think for a second that Shetland would be granted a 200 mile limit/median ? At best 12 miles would be all that would be given , same as IoM and the Channel Isles , be ok for the inshore fishermen and no-one else , no oil within 12 miles and I don't suppose the white fish or pelagic fleet would think much of being restricted to fishing within 12 miles of the coast of Shetland !

Possibly dodgy modem or Filter, I've a spare homehub 4 you can try if your with BT , suspect it's just BT problem though , try speedtest and see what speed they give you? I think if there is a few of us all suffering then it's a network problem and not a individual issue . I f you want to my other modem just PM me .

Yup , in Scalloway it's been mediocre for weeks and terrible for the last ten days or so , have spoken with BT and they admit there is a problem , depends which operator I speak with to what the problem is though, one said there's a problem with my line and they'd fix it by the 2nd of April , they didn't of course so I called back and now they say they can see a problem but that they don't know what it is, they will put an engineer out to my house but if they find nothing wrong they will charge me £130 , now I'm sure it's not my system but at that charge I need to be sure !! If there is a lot of people struggling then I'm happy to call them in , could as many as possible say if they are suffering from slow speeds and I'll report tomorrow when they phone back ?

Getting real tired of this crappy service that BT provide , their resilience plans appear woefully inadequate , so much for the digital age !!!

What gives you the impression that oil boats keep working regardless of the weather? I've seen being at sea on a supply boat dodging weather for days until it settled down enough to work. Because I work in the industry and realise that while they may not work every day they ceratinly put in more effort than the so called "Lifeline" service does !!!