Shetland and Orkney got off rather lightly this week when the Scottish government demanded slower running of the NorthLink ferries to save on fuel costs.

When under attack, hit back. This ancient tactic was on display in spades this week following the barrage of criticism the council and Cosla received after the decision to give SIC chief executive David Clark a £250,000 payoff. And, predictably enough, The Shetland Times was in the firing line for having had the temerity to suggest that an alternative course of action could have been pursued.

Politics in Shetland reached a nadir this week. As now ex-chief executive David Clark celebrated his lottery-sized bung from the council with champagne, members of the public were left feeling betrayed by those whom they had elected as custodians of the resources they work hard to hand over to the local authority every month for the benefit of the wider community.

Councillors proved themselves capable this week of taking tough decisions for the future welfare of Shetland.

The planning department seems to be in the firing line once again, this time for the perceived failure to make a decision within a given time limit for the proposed large housing estate north of Scalloway, or south of Asta.

Stories about the high cost of fuel in Shetland and other island communties are legion. The one about the petrol retailer who told MP Alistair Carmichael’s staff this week that it would be cheaper to buy fuel (with VAT and duty included) at a petrol station in Aberdeen than from wholesaler GB Oils, is a variation on a seemingly eternal theme.

Seafarers especially will know that if the eye of the master on the bridge is diverted, and a firm grip on the wheel is not maintained, the ship will have a tendency to lurch around.

Councillors seem finally to have recognised the need to start explaining to the elec­torate why they agreed to waive more than £400,000 owed to the SIC by knitwear firm Judane.

With vast sums of reserve money at its disposal, it is right and proper that Shet­land Islands Council should in­vest in local enterprises.

The scale of heroin abuse in Shetland, as highlighted this week by Sheriff Graeme Napier as he sent a local man to prison for being a link in one of the supply chains for this awful drug, is deeply worrying.

It was a special day in the South Mainland on Friday with its first-ever Up-Helly-A’ festival proving a roaring success.

WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR SHETLAND

Friday, 12 March 2010 at 10:42

HEADLINES

TODAY: SCATTERED SHOWERS, COOL NW’LY WIND
TONIGHT: LITTLE CHANGE
TOMORROW: SCATTERED SHOWERS, BREEZY
DAYS 2-5: SOME RAIN OR SHOWERS, LIGHTER WINDS
DAYS 6-10: RAIN OR SHOWERS

Firms in Shetland are facing huge rate rises – some by as much as two-thirds – under the Scottish government’s revaluation of business property which will come into force at the beginning of next month.