Three petitions to come before council

Peatlands, power stations and powers are all on the agenda for next week’s full council meeting.

Councillors will debate three petitions at the meeting, which is set to be an eventful one.

The first of these calls on the council to protect peatlands.

The petition, which was signed by 23 residents, wants the SIC to consider a motion to: “Cease immediately and in future to support any entity in the destruction of peatlands with regards to its value as a carbon sink”.

The petition claims that “current evidence on the intrinsic value of Peatlands as a carbon sink has not been taken into account or acted on by the Council with their formal recognition of a global climate emergency”.

It also highlights work taking place at Upper Kergord to build a converter station linked to the Viking Energy windfarm.

The second petition, also signed by 23 residents, calls for the council to support replacing the Lerwick Power Station with a gas plant.

This option would provide “energy security and continuity of supply to the islands at a reasonable cost”, the petition claims.

Residents called the proposed LGN Plant “a far more environmentally friendly option than the heavy diesel engines currently used by the Lerwick station”.

A perceived lack of “open government” is the subject of the last petition on governance arrangements, which queries where power lies at the council.

The petition asks if councillors are being kept in the dark and claims that disenfranchisement is occurring on a regular basis due to delegated authority.

It states: “The SIC Governance documentation refers to Councillors being in charge when it appears very much that it is Council Officers and others who are in charge but Councillors appear to be being kept very much in the dark and are not in charge.”

ONE COMMENT

Add Your Comment
  • ian Tinkler

    • September 4th, 2020 20:34

    You do not need to be a rocket scientist! A few hundred thousand tones of concrete on Shetland peet! CO2 footprint! only the green boys and asored idiots are too stupid to see the obvious.

    REPLY

Add Your Comment

Please note, it is the policy of The Shetland Times to publish comments and letters from named individuals only. Both forename and surname are required.

Comments are moderated. Contributors must observe normal standards of decency and tolerance for the opinions of others.

The views expressed are those of contributors and not of The Shetland Times.

The Shetland Times reserves the right to decline or remove any contribution without notice or stating reason.

Comments are limited to 200 words but please email longer articles or letters to editorial@shetlandtimes.co.uk for consideration and include a daytime telephone number and your address. If emailing information in confidence please put "Not for publication" in both the subject line and at the top of the main message.

200 words left

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

logo

Get Latest News in Your Inbox

Join the The Shetland Times mailing list to get one daily email update at midday on what's happening in Shetland.