Three petitions to come before council

Peatland between the Lang Kames and North Nesting.

Peatlands, power stations and powers are all on the agenda for next week’s full council meeting.

Councillors will debate three petitions at the meeting, which is set to be an eventful one.

The first of these calls on the council to protect peatlands.

The petition, which was signed by 23 residents, wants the SIC to consider a motion to: “Cease immediately and in future to support any entity in the destruction of peatlands with regards to its value as a carbon sink”.

The petition claims that “current evidence on the intrinsic value of Peatlands as a carbon sink has not been taken into account or acted on by the Council with their formal recognition of a global climate emergency”.

It also highlights work taking place at Upper Kergord to build a converter station linked to the Viking Energy windfarm.

The second petition, also signed by 23 residents, calls for the council to support replacing the Lerwick Power Station with a gas plant.

This option would provide “energy security and continuity of supply to the islands at a reasonable cost”, the petition claims.

Residents called the proposed LGN Plant “a far more environmentally friendly option than the heavy diesel engines currently used by the Lerwick station”.

A perceived lack of “open government” is the subject of the last petition on governance arrangements, which queries where power lies at the council.

The petition asks if councillors are being kept in the dark and claims that disenfranchisement is occurring on a regular basis due to delegated authority.

It states: “The SIC Governance documentation refers to Councillors being in charge when it appears very much that it is Council Officers and others who are in charge but Councillors appear to be being kept very much in the dark and are not in charge.”