Bar and Waiting Staff

Send CV to:

info@kgqhotels.co.uk

or pick up an application from Queens Hotel.

Shalimar, Bridge End

Lovely family home. Built in 2009. Livingroom, kitchen/ diningroom, 3 double bedrooms, master with en-suite, bathroom, utility room, garage with electric door, large front & back garden.

Also plot of land next to house which can be sold with house or separately.

Tel. 01595 859529

Home Report available from Neil Risk.

Practice Education Facilitator
(Ref: D24/ST)
Band 6 – Salary Range £25,783- £34,530 per annum (pro rata)
Part Time – 18.75 hours per week

District Nurse (Band 6) or
Community Staff Nurse (Band 5) with development opportunity to undertake BN (Hons)
Community Health – District Nursing (DN) programme
(Ref: D24/ST)
Part of the North Team and based on Unst
Part Time – 22.5 hours per week
Band 6 – Salary Range £25,783-£34,530 per annum (pro rata)
Or Band 5 – Salary Range £21,388-£27,901 per annum (pro rata)

If you don’t have access to the internet or would prefer to receive a job pack by post, please contact:

Human Resources Department,
Brevik House,
South Road,
Lerwick,
Shetland.
Tel. (01595) 743067 (24 hour answerphone),
quoting the appropriate reference number.

All applications must be on our standard application form – CVs will not be accepted.

In promoting equal opportunities, we welcome applications from all sections of the community.

www.shb.scot.nhs.uk

2005, 68,000 miles, new MoT/tax, towbar, roof bars, wood lined, good condition.

£2,100 o.n.o.

Tel. 01595 810606 or
07880 950221.…

Manual station wagon, diesel, 93,000 miles, blade silver, tax until 31st May, 2013, MoT until 10th April, 2014. F.S.H., sat nav., ABS, PAS, A/C, alloys (inc. spare), cruise control, electric panoramic roof. Front and rear arm rests, folding rear seats giving large cargo area, lumbar support, immobiliser/alarm, driver and passenger air bags. Radio/CD, five headrests, 3×3 point rear seat belts,
body coloured bumpers, cloth seat trim, electric door mirrors adjustment/folding. Front and rear electric windows, rear wiper, remote central locking, steering wheel rake adjustment, front fog lamps. Witter towbar fitted. Insurance Group 10.

Offers.

Tel. 07887 618219
01595 694335.…

Artist’s impression of the new Rova Head power station.

People in Shetland had a chance this week to view Scottish and Southern Energy’s plans for a new £150 million power station in Lerwick, the construction of which could begin in less than a year.

The plans were on display in the museum and archives auditorium on Tuesday, along with outlined results of the company’s environ­mental impact assessment.

The new power station will be located at Rova Head, close to the incinerator, and will occupy a space of around 12 hectares. The accom­pany­­ing image shows how the plant will be built into the side of the hill.

The station will be a duel fuel plant, able to run on both light fuel oil and natural gas. But whether it burns the former or the latter depends largely on whether the Viking Energy windfarm is built, and specifically whether the inter­connector cable to the mainland goes ahead.

Project development manager Jim Lawrie explained that “if Shet­land isn’t connected to the main­land, the cheapest fuel to operate the plant on a 24/7 basis would be gas”. In that case, a pipeline from the Shetland gas plant would be required.

Mr Lawrie said: “However, if we are connected to the mainland, the station would only run in the event of the cable being out for planned maintenance or a failure.

“It wouldn’t be cost effective under that scenario to install a gas pipeline, [which would cost] any­thing up to £50-60 million. We would run it then on light fuel oil.”

SSE’s application for the power station will be put to the Scottish government in the summer, and the company hopes to get planning consent by early next year.

If the building contract is awarded by the spring of 2014 the station could be up and running by the end of 2016 or early 2017. At the height of construction, as many as 400 workers may be required.

Scottish and Southern is now hop­ing for local people to get involved before the application is submitted.

Mr Lawrie added: “We en­cour­age people to comment as much as they can. All the comments collated will go along with our application to the Scottish government in a few weeks time. If people feel strongly either way, we’d encourage them to let us know.”

More details on the new power station can be found at www.sse.com/lerwick.

SENIOR FOOTBALL LEAGUES

(All kick-offs 6.45pm unless stated otherwise)

Friday 31st – Madrid Cup (semi-finals):
Spurs v Delting at Gilbertson Park;
Whitedale v Celtic at Strom Park. Officials to be confirmed.

Saturday 1st June – Mind Your Head Reserve League:
Whalsay B v Thistle B at Harbison Park (3pm).

Sunday 2nd – Mind Your Head Reserve League:
Celtic B v Yell at Seafield.

Monday 3rd – Manson Cup (quarter-finals, second leg):
Delting v Thistle at Brae (Steven Goodlad);
Spurs v Whalsay at Seafield (Derick Bradley);
Whitedale v Scalloway at Strom Park (Robbie Summers).

Wednesday 5th – Mind Your Head Reserve League:
Ness United v Scalloway B at Cunningsburgh;
Thistle B v Delting B at Clickimin South);
Whalsay B v Spurs B at Harbison Park).

Bill Hall Cup (joint reserve/works knockout, sponsored by Colin Campbell Sports) – first round:
Yell v Whitedale B at Mid Yell (Kevin Valente).

WORKS LEAGUE

Tomorrow 1st – DITT Cup:
Emer­gency Services v Dynamo Cherno­byl at Seafield (6pm);
Ness United C v Banks at Boddam (6.30pm);    
Wast Linga Ramblers v Wastside Rebels at Harbison Park (6.30pm);
Baroc v Wrultizers at Lerwick (venue to be confirmed, 6pm).

HOCKEY (at Midway Pitch, Brae)

Monday 3rd–
Grutness Trophy: Burra v Delting at 6.30pm (umpires Simon Skinner, Sarah Couper and Zetland rep).
Shearer Shield: Scalloway v Zetland at 7.50pm (Skinner, Couper and Delting rep).

Thursday 6th –
Grutness Trophy: Delting v Whalsay at 6.30pm (Skinner, Couper and Juniors rep).
Shearer Shield: Zetland v Juniors at 7.50pm (Skinner, Couper and Whalsay rep).

Tensions are rising in Brae over the impact the growing number of oil and gas workers are having on the area’s social fabric.

Many believe rowdy and intimidating behaviour in recent weeks has come predom­inantly from incoming workers at the new gas plant near Sullom Voe.

Police say much of the activity taking place falls short of amounting to criminal behaviour, but they have urged anyone with concerns to get in touch.

The issue was due to be discussed by members of the Delting Community Council last night.

Prior to the meeting the chairman, SIC councillor Alastair Cooper, said: “The industry has a role in actually recognising that a degree of intimidation is going on in the community. It’s maybe not manifesting itself in criminal action, but there are folk feeling uncomfortable as a result.”

The developing situation has prompted two women to form a business venture aimed at helping people manage their stress, conflict and general pressures.

Shona Manson and Diane Taylor plan to target the oil and gas industry in the isles to help resolve the growing difficulties.
The emerging work is being carried out through their venture, Personal and Executive Coaching (PECS).

Miss Manson, who is best known for her role as the lead­­ing light in mental health charity Mind Your Head, is a specialist in family mediation, mental wellbeing and suicide prevention.

She said: “We can also see that a sudden influx of pre­dominantly male workers to a small community is challenging for local residents and tensions can arise.

“We believe that helping individual workers manage stress and conflict will improve their well-being, their performance at work and also have benefits for the wider community.”

Many of the discussions over the troubles have largely been aired on the internet, with a Facebook page – “Brae gasplant” – even being set up to highlight the problem.

Brae resident Sean Fillingham said the workers were “totally ruining” Brae. Posting on the social network site, he said there were fights over the weekend, with people getting barred and refused drink in the Northern Lights bar.

Mr Fillingham stated: “Someone will get hurt badly. Okay, the money for the community is good but why should we put up with this every weekend? I don’t go out every weekend but see and hear it the whole time. Now barges [are] coming to Lerwick and Scalloway. Why don’t they make it [an] off shore site?”

Not everyone is upset about the changes, however.

One woman – who did not wish to be named – said she had experienced no trouble while out drinking in the Mid Brae Inn with two of her friends recently. But the licensing trade needed to take its share of the responsibility.

She said: “It was very busy and there were not very many women there. But the majority of the men were fine. We didn’t have any trouble with them, apart from a couple who had had far too much to drink, and were falling over.

“It’s difficult to tell if it’s really their fault or if somebody should have stopped serving them a while before.”

That was a view shared by isles MSP Tavish Scott who has spoken to the police and Petrofac about the issue.

“My take is that the companies involved and our local police force and, particularly, the pubs in Brae have to work together to make sure they clamp down on disruption,” Mr Scott said.

“There’s a big onus on the pubs who, after all, have to operate under the licensing laws to operate within those laws. That means appropriate stewarding and not serving people with too much drink.”

Shetland’s area commander, Chief Inspector Angus MacInnes, advised people to contact the police if they had concerns.

He said: “All the business and development is really good for the community, because it’s vibrant.

“If there are some things that aren’t as people would like them, you need to tell the appropriate authority – in this case the police – in the appropriate manner.

“Phone us up and report an incident. Social media is a really good tool but we need to use it properly.

“We are aware of some local concerns. People … have reported other crimes to us in Brae, and we’ve dealt with them – in many cases they’ve been detected, most recently the vandalism in the cemetery.

“If there are other issues in Brae people need to report them to us. If there’s behaviour taking place when we’re not there, they need to tell us.”

Mr MacInnes highlighted figures which showed there were seven calls for help to the police relating to Brae over the weekend, out of 68 incidents throughout the isles.

“Brae is becoming a priority because there is this perception that terrible things are happening,” he added.

A grieving widower was so desperate to get away from Shetland that he staged a bizarre raid on his local bookie’s shop.

John Millarkie donned balaclava and fake beard and spoke in a mock Irish accent when he burst into Shetland Turf Accountants in Lerwick and demanded cash.

“Stop mucking about John,” replied acting manager Magnus Burgess. Staff thought it was a stunt linked to Up Helly Aa.
But things turned nasty when Millarkie, 55, threatened part-time cashier Tracey Forrester and gashed Mr Burgess’ finger with a swipe of his long knife.

At the High Court in Edinburgh yesterday a judge praised Mr Burgess for fighting back and disarming the would-be robber. “He was a very brave man to do that,” said Lord Uist.

Millarkie – whose wish to leave Shetland was granted when he was taken to Aberdeen Prison to await his case coming to court – was further remanded in custody. He is due back in court to be sentenced in July after background reports have been prepared.

Millarkie pleaded guilty to assaulting the bookies’ shop staff and attempting to rob them of £3090.40 on February 17.
Advocate depute Adrian Cottam said Millarkie was a regular customer at the shop in Merran Moads Steps and known to both Mr Burgess and Ms Forrester.

The day before the robbery attempt Millarkie had asked them what time the shop opened on a Sunday and said he would be along to show them his dog.

The following morning, they were getting the shop ready for opening to punters when there was a knock at the door.
Ms Forrester unbolted the door and began to open it. “At this point the door was pulled from her grip and the accused rushed past her, waving a knife at her,” said Mr Cottam.

She was not so much frightened as taken aback, said the prosecutor.

“Mr Burgess thought it was a joke as he immediately recognised the accused from the way he carried himself and because of a distinctive stoop which he has.”

Millarkie began swearing and demanding money.

“Mr Burgess reached towards the accused with his right hand, at which time the accused swiped at him with the knife, cutting the little finger on his right hand and causing it to bleed.

“He also jabbed at Mr Burgess with the knife, causing a superficial laceration and a small red mark to his abdomen,” said Mr Cottam.

Millarkie was distracted when Mr Burgess pointed towards a first aid kit and asked for something for his bleeding finger. Mr Burgess grabbed Millarkie’s knife hand and pushed it towards his face, causing him to stumble. He then used his full weight to push Millarkie against a filing cabinet, pulling off his balaclava and beard.

Millarkie then apologised and police found him sitting in the office smoking a cigarette.

A passing motorist had called for help, describing Ms Forrester as “panicking, in a state of shock and trying to hold back tears.”

Mr Cottam said Millarkie told questioning police officers he was desperate to get away from Shetland and saw the bookie’s as an easy target. He said he had suffered depression since the death of his wife in September 2011 and wanted to get back to Scotland’s Central Belt where he originally came from.

Brian Horne

Councillor Gary Cleaver.

Wages have been “stagnant” despite Shetland’s billion-pound economy enjoying robust growth in the past decade, council figures have shown.

An SIC-commissioned piece of research, carried out by the Hutton Institute and published last week, estimated that the islands enjoyed “robust” above-inflation growth of 27 per cent from 2003 to 2011.

However, the development dep­art­ment this week provided this newspaper with statistics demonstrating how wages rose by only two per cent more than inflation during that time.

Shetland’s gross regional dom­estic product (GRDP), a combin­ation of profits and wages, jumped in size from £407 million to £485 million over the eight-year period. But wages only rose from £274.8 million to £279.4 million. That means pay packets, as a proportion of GRDP, slumped from 67.6 per cent to 57.6 per cent.

Councillors broadly welcomed the rosy overall picture painted by the report, which highlighted that the economy grew to nearly £1.1 billion by 2011. But North Isles member Gary Cleaver said he was intrigued to know how much of that activity was actually benefiting people living locally.

Some industries – most notably seafood – have witnessed a shift from local to foreign ownership. Oil and gas prices also rocketed in that time – likely to have led to rising profits without necessarily inflating workers’ pay.

Meanwhile the retail trade’s value swelled from £46 million to nearly £58 million. A huge propor­tion of that – many sources estimate well over half – is accounted for by supermarket giant Tesco, which took over Somerfield’s Lerwick store in 2008. Other local retailers point out that, aside of staff wages, much of Tesco’s profits flows out of the South Mouth and into shareholders’ pockets.

SIC official Tommy Coutts said it was difficult to pinpoint precisely what was causing wages to remain flat.

“Wage stagnation is a serious issue despite the otherwise healthy economic picture painted by the output figures,” Mr Coutts admitted, “which is demonstrated by the minimal growth of wage values in real terms and the decreasing prop­ortion of GRDP attributable to wages.”

Mr Cleaver said it was only possible to “speculate” as to the cause. But it seemed likely that much of the wealth being created would go shareholders and companies “whose tax affairs may have little to do with the UK”, let alone these islands.

“My concern is that the picture we might be presenting outside of Shetland … is that we’re really cook­ing on gas as far as the econ­omy is going,” Mr Cleaver said. “But it gives a slightly skewed vision of what we actually have in the way of available wealth in Shetland to do things like develop new business, new sectors of the economy.

“It’s a generalisation, because there are some locally-owned operations, but there aren’t many. Some of [the proceeds of growth] won’t even go to the UK Exchequer, so we won’t even get a secondary benefit from that.”

Development committee chair­man Alastair Cooper agreed that pay may well be lagging so far behind because large profits are being generated by multinationals which “do not reside in Shetland”.

The up-side of that, he noted, was that when an industry such as salmon farming – now largely owned by Norwegian seafood giants – encounters problems such as disease, “multinationals can ride the short-term effects”.

During Wednesday’s meeting councillors broadly welcomed the “good news” figures, showing average growth exceeding three per cent over a time span including the global economic downturn from 2008 onwards.

Councillor Billy Fox said the report highlighted just how impor­tant the marine industry was. At £317 million its total value repre­sents almost a third of the islands’ productivity.

See this week’s Shetland Times for more.

Bristow Helicopters officially took over search and rescue (SAR) helicopter operations from Sumburgh airport from CHC today on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

Bristows previously ran the service from Sumburgh from 1983 until 2007, and will now do so again both here and in Stornoway. Operations based at Stornoway airport will start on 1st July.

Two new state-of-the-art Sikorsky S-92 helicopters will be stationed at the coastguard SAR helicopter unit at Sumburgh, equipped with the latest search and rescue kit, including night vision goggle technology, forward-looking infrared and sophisticated communications equipment.

Mike Imlach, managing director of Bristow Helicopters said: “We are honoured to once again be delivering the search and rescue helicopter service from Sumburgh. Our thorough preparation and training will ensure a smooth transition.  We look forward to beginning operations in Stornoway next month.

“Several of our SAR crew members have been delivering search and rescue helicopter services in the north of Scotland for many years and will continue to do so with Bristow.”

Bristow Helicopters was recently awarded the full UK SAR contract by the Department for Transport. This will begin in Sumburgh in April 2017 and will see Bristow delivering SAR helicopter services here until 2026.

Shetland’s ‘Summer of Sport’ begins today, with a wide variety of events running right through until the end of August.

The Scottish government and Event Scotland have launched this year’s Games for Scotland programme across the country in the countdown to the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, and as part of that programme the SIC’s sport and leisure service has secured £10,000 worth of funding to host a ‘Shetland Summer of Sport’. 

There will be school sports events, a midsummer cycle and sportive, summer holiday programme working with sports clubs and associations, community sports hub open days, a schools dance programme. Significant local sport fixtures and events over the summer months will also be promoted. 

A key highlight will take place on 23rd July to mark one year to go until the start of the Commonwealth Games, when Shetland’s event organisers are planning a family picnic in Gilbertson Park with activities such as mountain biking and mini-athletics, crafts and flag painting, music and an opportunity to meet some of Shetland’s sport representative squads. The organising team are also inviting two high profile athletes to visit Shetland to inspire young people to take part in more sport.

SIC’s active schools manager and project leader James Johnston said: “We are delighted to announce the launch of Shetland Summer of Sport 2013, and we are looking forward to working with sports clubs and associations over the summer to give everyone an opportunity to support local sports events and participate in a range of activities across the isles. 

“We are particularly looking forward to 23rd July when we are inviting everyone to pack a picnic and come and socialise in the Gilbertson Park, marking the occasion of ‘one year to go’ until the start of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. We are busy putting the events together and you can view the diary of events on the sport and leisure pages of the council website at www.shetland.gov.uk/sport_and_leisure and follow our progress on Facebook and through the council’s twitter feed.”

Co-ordinating the programme around the rural leisure centres, health and fitness manager with Shetland Recreational Trust Diane Legget said: “Shetland Summer of Sport is a chance to throw open our leisure centre doors to everyone and provide opportunities for clubs and organisations to attract new members through a variety of taster sessions. There will be community sports hub open days as well as activities for all ages to encourage people to adopt a healthier lifestyle.”

St Ninian’s beach was bathed in sunshine on Saturday as the Bigton Regatta opened the 2013 yoal rowing season.

The conditions made for a spectacular scene as scores of spectators and participants milled around on the beach making the most of the weather.

Photographer Kevin Jones was at the regatta and a selection of his photographs can be seen in our gallery.

Racing started at 3pm and went on into the early evening as festivities continued on the shore. There were games of beach volleyball and organisers had planned a sand castle competition and tug o’ war while the beer tent drew a big crowd.

With the racing over the evening festivities got underway with music and a beach bonfire.

I welcome and support the Shetland Times campaign which is vital in ensuring the public of Shetland are aware how this debt came about and the negative effect it will still have both on our rents and ability as a council to build much needed new homes. The time for government action is now well overdue.

In the 1970s, as oil was discovered around Shetland, a national drive began to ensure that the infrastructure was in place to exploit potential oil revenues as quickly as possible. These were very dark days indeed: the three day week, oil crises, power cuts and so on. The government saw North Sea oil as one solution. Shetland, strategically positioned to assist, was courted by government ministers. We answered that call; we pulled out all the stops; our islands were transformed forever.

Due to the building of Sullom Voe oil terminal our population grew by 31 per cent between 1971 and 1981 – a massive increase in a small, remote and rural area.

In order to accommodate the influx, the council undertook a massive house building programme, borrowing approximately £50 million to do so. A thousand properties were added to the council’s housing stock in that decade (1971-1981). Two hundred houses were built between 1976 and 1980 in the North Mainland alone specifically to house workers close to Sullom Voe.

Our councillor predecessors felt able to make this unprecedented investment because they were promised (by government after all) that the debt would be taken care of. Reports from the time confirm those decisions were taken safe in the knowledge that the government would “see us all right” – provided we did our bit in the national interest and built the new homes, and quickly.

Successive governments, in both Westminster and latterly Edinburgh have pledged to clear that debt. We were not found wanting in our country’s hour of need but alas, even as we enter a second energy boom, we still wait. In recent years we have been the ball in a game of “political table tennis” passed back and forth between Westminster and Holyrood. The time is now long overdue to find a fair solution.

Last December I led a delegation of councillors and officials to meet Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander. He pledged to do everything he could to help us find a solution along with the Scottish government. As a result I expect to hear of arrangements, shortly, for the first meeting between the council, Westminster and Holyrood.

Shetland continues to shoulder the financial burden from its outlay which enabled the last oil boom to happen. The whole of the UK has benefited, many times over, from the sacrifice we made to allow construction to take place in Shetland all those years ago.

It is vital, as we enter another construction boom 40 years on, that the governments work with us to find a permanent solution. It is simply not fair for this small community, and in particular our 1,800 tenants, to be left shouldering that burden.

Lord Polwarth, a former minister of state, visited Shetland in 1973 as part of the government’s efforts to proceed with North Sea oil. During a meeting with the county council he said: “The time for action is getting near.”

Now, some 40 years later, I would refer that statement back to the Scottish and UK governments.

• You can support the campaign by signing our petition.

This year’s Mind Your Head fun run and walk is to be held in a new location at Cunningsburgh.

The eighth annual event, on Sunday 25th August, is moving from Spiggie where it has been held for the past seven years.

Project worker Jenny Teale said: “As the event grew each year the safety of our participants is of utmost importance to us and we took the decision to move so we could provide better parking, safer off-road routes and a new look refreshed fun run and walk.”

A sea of blue t-shirts as walkers make their way towards the Spiggie Hotel in last year’s fund-raising event. Photo: Kevin Jones

Participants will still be able to choose from the 5k and 10k routes and online registration is now available.The registration process has also had a revamp and the Mind Your Head team hopes this will make it even easier for participants to be part of the event.

Earlier this year a T-shirt designing competition was launched within the local primary schools and the team was overwhelmed by the hundreds of entries received.

Mrs Teale said: “The standard of entries was extremely high and it was so encouraging to see that the understanding of what Mind Your Head does and the importance of looking after your mental wellbeing was being so well absorbed by the children.”

The winning T-shirt was designed by Tingwall pupil Jack Sharp and will be worn by everyone who pre-registers for the event.

The Cunningsburgh hall will showcase many more of the T-shirt designs on the walk/run day, and participants will be able to view them while enjoying the tea and cakes that will be on offer in the hall. This year’s T-shirts are sponsored by Westside Pine.

Clikc the links to see the new 5k and 10k routes. Paper copies of the routes and registration forms are available from the Mind Your Head team at Market House in Lerwick.

Spurs and Whitedale will meet in the Madrid Cup final after two hard-fought semi-finals on Friday evening. Spurs overcame Delting after extra time while Whitedale saw off the challenge of Celtic at Strom.

Tonight sees three Manson Cup quarter-final ties with Delting at home to Thistle in Brae, Spurs taking on Whalsay at Seafield and Whitedale hosting Scalloway at Strom.The winners will join Celtic in the last four.

Striker Jamie Wilson got two goals as Whitedale saw off Celtic to reach the Madrid Cup final.

Madrid Cup (semi-finals)

Spurs 3, Delting 1
Connel Gresham had given Spurs the lead only for Merv Jamieson to equalise
for the Delts. Josie Kay scored twice in extra time to get the Milkbags to the
final.

Whitedale 4, Celtic 2
Jamie Wilson scored twice and goals from Greg Tulloch and Piotr Drozdowski
secured a chance of silverware for the West Siders. Roy Wood and James Aitken
replied for Celtic.

Shetland Islands Council is moving steadily towards financial sustainability, having dramatically cut its draw on reserves.

But the authority is still in a “perilous position” as its efforts to balance the books continue.

A report by head of finance James Gray showed the council had exceeded its £15.3 million savings target for 2012/13 by almost £4.9 million.

Figures tabled before today’s executive committee showed the draft draw on reserves for the year is £21.445 million, against a target of £26.331 million.

The figure represents an impressive reduction from £35.6 million which was taken from the reserves fund during the previous financial year.

But members were told not to be complacent. Director of corporate services, Christine Ferguson warned: “That doesn’t mean to say job’s done. There is still a long way to go.”

Chairman Gary Robinson said the council had gone from spending £100,000 a day to £59,000 a day from reserves but he warned there was still work to be done. And Alastair Cooper was worried what impact cuts to capital investment would have on the building trade locally.

Mr Gray’s report shows the value of the externally-invested reserves stood close to £206 million by the end of March, compared with £193 million 12 months ago.

But the strong return has been driven by an impressive 14.6 per cent return on the council’s investments in the money markets.

It is unlikely that a similar figure will be recorded in successive years.

“We do not anticipate that level of growth is sustainable in the longer term,” the report stated.

Another fly in the ointment has been that community care costs have “leaped” by £1 million. The overspend has been blamed on delays in decisions over the future of the Freefield Centre and day care services.

Jonathan Wills pointed towards the programme of possible school closures and said the increase in community care spending underlined the necessity of “combining” schools as soon as possible.

Mr Cooper was anxious to know where the shortfall would be made up. Mrs Ferguson said the department was working on a “contingency”.

Dr Wills was also concerned by an overspend on fund managers’ fees by 18.7 per cent. “I think we’re paying too much,” he insisted.

Another concern for Mr Cooper was the impact the moves to cut spending could have on the future of the building trade. He said the “substantial inroads” made were down to “slicing to the capital programme”.

“That’s done more to reduce that call than actual savings. The building industry is going to suffer for this.”

Chairman Gary Robinson put the figures into context for members when he said the council had gone from spending £100,000 a day to £59,000 a day from reserves.

He said council staff had worked hard to keep spending down.

“There are still challenges, particularly in social care, and I don’t think by any means we can be complacent.

“It’s important to recognise the effort all of our staff have put in to getting our spending down.”

He added the once-recognised tendency for departments to spend the last of their budgets before the end of the financial year had now come to an end.

Mr Robinson added seeing the results at the beginning of June was “a real achievement” and paid tribute to finance staff members.

NorthLink’s ferry Hrossey left Lerwick three-and-a-half hours late last night due to engine problems.

The vessel had been due to leave at 5.30pm to sail to Aberdeen via Kirkwall, but eventually left at 9pm.

The Hrossey was delayed due to engine troubles.

This morning Hrossey was due to arrive in Aberdeen at 7am but arrived just over two hours later at 9.10am.

A spokesman for NorthLink said the engine problem had been “nothing major”. It was fixed locally and will not require further attention.

He added that passengers on board were offered complementary tea and coffee during the delay.

There was a celebratory feel in Mareel on Saturday night …

No, there wasn’t free whisky testing in the bar – it was, in fact, the launch of Wind-Up Projectiles’ debut EP, An Explosion of Dirty Rhythm.

The local hip-hop rock quartet created the CD as part of a HNC music course project, recorded partly in the venue’s studio hideaway upstairs.

Celebratory yes, but slightly odd too, with cabaret-style seating fil­ling out the auditorium but in­itially dampening the atmosphere, while proud-as-punch parents lingered between pogo-ing teens at the front and bar lurkers at the back.

For opener Chloe Robertson, how­ever, all bums were parked on seats as the young singer and her trusty acoustic guitar ploughed through an absorbing set of self-penned ditties, with a couple of covers chucked in for extra pad­ding.

Her at-times throaty vocals were a welcome deviation from some of the saccharine singer-songwriters that often do the rounds, and tracks like Vitamin D Deficiency hinted at a cunning knack for sharp-as-a-tack lyricism.

There was a completely different aura pervading the venue only minutes later, however, as instru­mental jazz-funk quintet Troppo Funk rolled out on the stage.

The level of musicianship ef­fused by these five teens is rarely seen in such bombastic form in Shetland, with the players weaving through complex passages of off-the-wall virtuosity and saxophone-led melody with discomforting ease.

Seventeen-year-old drummer Lewis Murray showed himself to be one of the most proficient sticksmen around, and with years ahead of him, it’s mind-boggling to think how much more accomplished he may become with age.

But the whole band was on top form, and songs like The Brecker Brothers’ Some Skunk Funk – a jamboree of salacious up-tempo rhythms and progressive twists and turns – was captivating stuff.

Most of the crowd, meanwhile, were snakecharmed out of their seats and on to the dance floor by the gods of groove and chucked their limbs around in the air like they just didn’t care. Never seen Troppo Funk live? Do it now while you have the chance.

Hard cheese then to headliners Wind-Up Projectiles, who had to nip on stage after such an emphatic performance; it’s not quite so bad, however, seeing as three of the band – Murray, Joe Watt and Hayden Hook – also feature in the Funk.

The Wind up Projectiles line-up of (from left) Joe Watt, Lewis Murray, Chris Thomson and Hayden Hook. Photo: Dave Donaldson

These tracks were more big-rock-show than the night’s previous offerings, with vocalist Watt cutting a grunge-icon figure on the grand stage and the sound system spewing out bowel-churning, fuzzy riffola.

Naturally, Wind-Up Projectiles ran through their excellent An Explosion of Dirty Rhythm EP in full, with Robynn’s Place lifting spirits and Don’t Bother giving some time out from all the helter-skelter rock.

Watt periodically spat out rhymes like verbal gunfire, evoking spiky US hip-hop; indeed, there is a trans­atlantic feel to this group, who sound as disconnected from Shet­land’s musical heritage as just about any tunesmiths ever heard in these isles. But it’s fresh, often achingly catchy and it deserves attention from critics and punters alike outwith this archipelago.

But the winners on the night weren’t really Wind-Up Projectiles; it was Shetland’s young talent as a whole, and the music students who organised and promoted the event.

Should this current crop leave for university or other mainland endeavours in the next couple of years – and some of them inevitably will – then it seems the isles’ music scene will be left with a gaping void. But for now, let’s just enjoy the music while we can.

Chris Cope

Concerns have been raised relating to the growing number of incoming workforce in the Brae area so this is maybe a good opportunity to highlight an alarming increase in traffic as an associated consequence of the issue.

I’m witnessing this increase along with a deterioration in driving standards from the perspective of a commuting cyclist. The behaviour of many road users is appalling especially at peak times.

Journeys to and from work at Sella Ness can be very intimidating and I find myself not just an observer of this fast and aggressive trend but often a victim forced to take evasive action to avoid close calls … Yes there are many of these.

I reckon I have at least one “near death experience” per week. Probably the most common scenario is oncoming overtaking traffic where my only option is to make a split second manoeuvre to leave the road.

I’m left feeling shaken and very vulnerable and then angry. It’s not as if I’m not visible; I use lights night and day and wear reflective clothing. Many drivers just don’t “Think Bike”.

“Report it,” folk say. But I’m dubious what that will achieve. After all it happens so quickly that self-preservation is priority not taking numbers and other details.

A while ago I contacted my employer to inquire why they didn’t support the government bike to work scheme. The immediate retort was that the roads around Lerwick are too dangerous for that.

Well it’s only going to get worse especially if attitudes like that are prevalent in our community. So maybe it’s about time something was done by those who can.

Christine McLean

Kinnoull,

Levenwick.