'Tunnels are part of Shetland's future' - islands' new SNP MSP Hannah Mary Goodlad
First of new links could be built to Yell in eight years and cost £402 million
Linking islands in Shetland with tunnels is now “more tangible” following a “sea change” in their prospects over the last two years, according to its new MSP and public finance minister Hannah Mary Goodlad.
The SNP politician, who was speaking as a constituency MSP, said “tunnels are part of Shetland’s future” and were the “missing piece” that would enable its industries such as fishing and energy to expand.
Her comments came as Shetland Islands Council prepares to decide whether to progress the scheme, which could see a £402 million tunnel between Mainland and Yell to the north.
The most detailed study of tunnels in Shetland to replace its ageing ferries has said a four-mile subsea link to the island, which has a population of 960, would take eight years to complete.
The report also looked at three other potential tunnels - between Yell and Unst at a cost of £345m, to Bressay, east of Lerwick for £255m and to Whalsay, further up the east coast of mainland, for £486.5m.
Andy Sloan, executive vice president of engineering firm Cowi, which produced the report, said the most affordable funding method was from a combination of government grants and council borrowing, or private finance.
However, tolls at the same level of ferry fares would be required to cover maintenance costs, with possible lower rates for frequent users. Drivers pay £16.50 return on the four routes that could be replaced by tunnels .
Bridges have been ruled out because of the distances between the islands.
Ms Goodlad told a briefing on the project at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh: “It feels more tangible now - there's a sea change happened in the last two years.
“Tunnels are part of Shetland’s future. Island communities need people to survive, people require business and industry for jobs, which require infrastructure - and that is tunnels.
“The industry we have in Shetland - space, aquaculture, fishing, energy - all of these are quite substantial, but at the same time untapped, and tunnels are a missing piece to unlock that.
“We need to be creative and ambitious with the finance, and not just accept the way that things have been before.”
Willie Rennie, Holyrood’s new transport committee convener, speaking as a Scottish Liberal Democrat Fife MSP, told the briefing that the scheme had moved from being “fantastical” to a “genuine proposition that people treat with credibility and could deliver significant economic benefit”.
Shetland Islands Council leader Emma Macdonald said it would decide on the how best to link its islands on June 30, which she was “pretty sure” would be with tunnels, which would be “transformational”. A decision on which tunnel to build first is due to be made in September.
The council told the Scottish affairs committee at Westminster last month that tunnels could cost less in the long run than ferries as the latter needed to be replaced every 30 years.
Tunnels in Shetland were not included in the Scottish Government’s latest transport blueprint, the Strategic Transport Projects Review 2, which recommended bridges or tunnels to Mull, and to Barra and Harris from the Uists in the Western Isles.
However, the Government said as part of its new National Islands Plan, it was “committed to working with local authorities to explore financing models and promote investment opportunities in fixed links projects”.
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