Council looks to hire ’empty homes’ officer to help tackle housing crisis

Shetland Islands Council is searching for a full-time officer to analyse how many homes are currently left empty across the isles, and develop a strategy for how they might be coaxed back into use.

A graduate officer is currently preparing a report on empty homes in Shetland, which is expected before councillors by September.

That role could soon be bolstered by a dedicated empty homes officer, director of development Neil Grant told a meeting of the council’s development committee this morning (Wednesday).

Shetland has three times the number of long-term empty homes compared to the mainland average, according to 2023 figures published by the national records of Scotland.

The majority of these — roughly 150 — are in Lerwick, though the northern and eastern isles have the highest proportion of empty homes.

Shetland is one of only four Scottish councils which has neither an empty homes officer nor empty homes service — along with Moray, Midlothian and Clackmannanshire.

In other council areas, empty homes officer have worked by surveying owners to understand why their homes are empty. In severe cases some councils have enforced compulsory purchase orders to put long-standing empty homes back on the market.

Calls for weekly Bergen sailing to be included in new NorthLink contract

Calls have been raised to reinstate a weekly ferry service to Bergen as part of the next NorthLink contract.

An ‘all-wheelie bin’ service is being considered 

An “all-wheelie bin” service could be introduced to the isles – with one councillor expressing concern over the impact this could have on those living in areas exposed to the wind. 

A report placed before the SIC’s environment and transport committee on Monday stated the primary reason for this move would be to reduce the risk of injury for collection staff.

“Wheelie bins are designed with wheels, making it easy to move them to the kerb for collection, even when they are full,” the report read.

“This reduces manual handling, which in turn will reduce manual handling injuries to our bin collection staff.”

It also said wheelie bins help keep waste contained, reducing the risk of pests and unpleasant odours – which would be “especially important” for households who generate a significant amount of organic waste.

The report added wheelie bins can have a number of environmental benefits.

However, concerns were raised during the committee meeting over the impact introducing an all-wheelie bin service would have on certain households.

North Isles councillor Robert Thomson expressed worry over introducing an all-wheelie bin in areas exposed to high levels of wind – including his own home in Yell where one of his bin lids vanished.

“We live quite near the top of the hill and it’s quite exposed. We never leave our bins out all the time because they wouldn’t be there at the end of the year,” he said.

“We’ve found if we leave wheelie bins outside they are subject to damage. Not too long ago, one of the lids disappeared never to be seen again despite being anchored down with bungee chords.

“This often means we have to leave these things inside, and extra wheelie bins are taking up extra space inside which isn’t ideal.”

He questioned whether more “robust” and “strong” wheelie bins could be deployed to exposed areas.

Environment and estate operations’ executive manager Carl Symons said he was “aware” of wheelie bins made out of steel, but felt this could create its own set of challenges. 

“There will be a significant cost attached to steel wheelie bins, and there will also be a significant weight attached to those, which may offset any advantages we had.”

However, Mr Symons stressed this would be part of the consultation process of the household survey.

He added: “We realise not everyone will have or be able to accommodate a wheelie bin too easily.

“There will need to be a range of solutions looked at. I’m not for a moment suggesting wheelie bins are the magic bullet that solves everyone’s problems. We need to ask people what the problems are and how to overcome them.”

Power cut in South Mainland

A power outage has today affected homes and businesses in the South Mainland.

Engineers are working to restore the supply to over 1,900 customers.

The disruption to supply is due to a fault in the overhead network.

It is hoped power will be restored by 5pm.

The disruption to supply has forced the closure today of the Sumburgh Head Lighthouse and Visitor Centre.

POLL: Do party politics have a place in the council chamber?

Five members of Shetland Islands Council are now publicly affiliated with a political party, after Stephen Leask (Lerwick North and Bressay) was appointed local Labour chairman last month, and both Moraig Lyall (Shetland Central) and Emma Macdonald (Shetland North) threw in their hats to be the Lib Dem’s next candidate for Holyrood.

They join longstanding partisans in the Shetland South ward Alex Armitage (Greens) and Robbie McGregor (SNP).

What does that mean for a council which has for years prided itself on standing above party politics?

“It’s not been easy to be a member of the Labour party,” Mr Leask told reporter Kevin Craigens this week, while insisting that party politics and his council work can go hand in hand.

Some pundits on social media were not convinced.

Balancing the two “creates a credibility problem, is disingenuous and arguably unethical”, one constituent wrote.

What do you think — do party politics have a place in the council chamber?

Super Survey

Foodbank demand is a ‘concern’, says manager

More than 1,000 food parcels were handed out to islanders in the last year — which has caused concern for the Shetland Foodbank manager David Grieve.

In new figures published today (Wednesday), it was revealed almost 1,600 people had received help from the isles foodbank. Of that, nearly 300 were children.

Mr Grieve said he was “very concerned” about the figures, although there was a steady increase on the previous year — in 2023/24 1,088 parcels were delivered. This was up to 1,098 in the 12 months to March this year.

“Hunger is not a food problem – it is an income problem,” Mr Grieve said.

That was a slogan for a campaign poster used by The Trussell Trust.

Foodbanks in other parts of the country were struggling to keep up with demand, Mr Grieve said. He used Glasgow and the west of Scotland as an example.

A rising number of people are looking for help from foodbanks and some of those foodbanks don’t have sufficient stocks of food to meet the needs of their local community.

The demand was easier to satisfy in Shetland, however, because of the “very generous” donations made by islanders who could afford to give.

But there is still an issue when around 18 per cent of the population are in need of essentials, Mr Grieve said.

To read more on this story, pick up a copy of Friday’s Shetland Times or subscribe for a digital edition.

Businesses received ‘no warning’ over cruise ship illness 

Anger has been expressed over thousands of cruise passengers coming ashore following an outbreak of gastroenteritis.

Thousands of passengers from cruise ship  Costa Favolosa has been spotted exploring the isles this week.

However, concerns were raised over a viral sickness bug breakout on the vessel – with reports of one passenger being “violently sick” during a bus tour.

Blyde Welcome’s Celia Smith said she had served many of the cruise ship’s passengers yesterday, but had “absolutely no warning” about the breakout and only learned of the situation through an off-duty tour guide.

“We could’ve been better prepared, we could’ve had more sanitiser and some businesses had face masks.

“The front part of our shop is really quite small and it was really busy and quite cramped. We were all in close proximity so we’re worried somebody might catch it – then you’ll see the ripple effect through the community.” 

NHS Shetland said the Health Protection and Environmental Health Teams had not been advised of any public health issues relating to the visiting cruise ship prior to its arrival.

However, it later became aware that a “small number” of passengers had symptoms of gastroenteritis which was being “appropriately managed” by the medical team on the vessel. 

U-turn made over closure of Yell post office

There has been a U-turn over plans to close the post office in Burravoe.

Earlier this week, Post Office Ltd said it was not looking to replace the branch once Burravoe’s postmistress steps down from the role.

However, the company confirmed this afternoon it was reversing this decision.

“With the retirement of the long-serving postmistress in Burravoe in July, we have now agreed to advertise the vacancy to try to maintain Post Office services in this remote community.

“We are aware that there is a new shop opening in Burravoe and we would welcome the opportunity to discuss the business opportunity with them or anyone else.”

The Post Office added the vacancy in Burravoe would soon be advertised here.

POLL: Should there be less mowing of grass verges? 

A letter in today’s newspaper has called for people to mow grass verges less often in order to protect biodiversity.