Allotment plans to go before council

Councillors will next week be asked to approve in principle the leasing of sites in Mossbank and Sandwick to the Shetland Allotment Association for a “peppercorn rent” following “considerable” public interest in the scheme.

In a report due to go before the SIC’s infrastructure committee on Tuesday, head of environmental services Stephen Cooper said that “finding suitable sites owned by the council has been problematic given suitability of land and current use” but he is now recommending that the sites in Mossbank and Sandwick be leased out for an initial 20-year period, with the potential for further years to be added depending on the level of uptake and success.

Sites in Lerwick and Scalloway are still under investigation and discussions are ongoing.