Over a hundred people attended five events, and Shetland Islands Council and consultants Stantec, COWI and Mott MacDonald would like to thank everyone who attended for their continued interest and support.  The material which was shared at these sessions is now available online.

The next stage of the project is to set transport planning objectives and a long list of options for each individual island, focussed around the problems which have been identified by the community.

Options for ferry, harbour and, where appropriate, fixed links will be set out. Fixed link proposals for Bressay, Fetlar, Unst, Whalsay and Yell will be included at this stage.

A Strategic Business Case (SBC) will be presented to Shetland Islands Council this summer, and elected members will be asked to make decisions on which of the options from this long list should go forward for more detailed appraisal in an Outline Business Case (OBC). Further engagement with communities will take place during the development of the OBC.

Moraig Lyall, chair of Shetland Isles Council’s Environment and Transport Committee, said: “I’d like to thank everyone who came along to the drop-in events, and those who participated in our earlier survey.  We have now received an enormous amount of valuable information which will be vital in making progress in our work to improve our transport links in the future. 

“The feedback which we’ve received, and the further questions which people brought to the events, are very helpful in contributing to the ‘case for change’, which is part of the business case we’ll put to the UK and Scottish governments for future investment.

“I’m really grateful to our island communities for engaging with and contributing to this project, and look forward to that continuing in the next phase of this work.”