Councillors in Shetland have backed initial plans to connect some of the UK's most northerly islands with a network of undersea tunnels, a project estimated to cost £1.5bn and which could be in place within eight years.
At a meeting in Lerwick on Tuesday, councillors approved exploring funding options for the scheme, which would replace ageing ferries with tunnels from Shetland's mainland to Yell and from Yell to Unst. Two more tunnels, to the islands of Whalsay and Bressay, could follow under the plans.
“Shetland councillors approved exploring funding for £1.5bn undersea tunnels to replace ageing ferries within eight years.”
The council currently runs ferry services to nine islands, carrying around 750,000 passengers each year on 12 vessels at a cost of £23m per year. Costs have risen sharply in the past decade, with some routes struggling to meet demand for vehicle places.
"The system we have that has served us well for decades is now no longer able to do that," said Moraig Lyall, the council's transport chairperson. "It doesn't have the capacity and we're struggling with other things, like the ability to crew the system adequately. These barriers to giving the islands a really good service are not going to be easily overcome by replacing ferries with other ferries. The tunnel is the answer that we believe will help us solve these problems."
A feasibility study described the tunnels as "economically transformative" and said they would be cheaper than building new ferries and replacing harbours. Lyall said the report showed there were no technical barriers to building tunnels, which would be "cheaper in the long run" than ferries.
Council chief executive Maggie Sandison said the project was not going to be easy, but she thought pursuing a funding solution was the "right thing to do". The funding could come from a mixture of private investment, public subsidy and borrowing, alongside tolls to cover maintenance costs.
Unst is the UK's most northerly island and home to the UK's only spaceport, at Saxavord, as well as a sizeable aquaculture industry. The feasibility study says tunnels could boost direct economic activity related to the spaceport as well as spin-off benefits such as other aerospace industrial development and tourism. It says tunnels would improve the rocket facility's "competitiveness, efficiency and scope for growth" as well as improving access to labour for island businesses.
Boatbuilder Brydon Barclay of Fluggaboats on Unst predicted a tunnel would transform his company's prospects. "It's absolutely essential," he said.