The Faroese prime minister says Shetland could boost growth and revitalise island life by following his country in replacing ageing ferries with undersea tunnels. Shetland Islands Council says it is pushing ahead with plans to build tunnels to four outlying isles in the archipelago including Unst, the most northerly place in the UK.
The 18 islands which make up the Faroes are connected by 23 tunnels, four of which run below the sea. The Faroese tunnels were constructed using a technique known as drill and blast – where holes are drilled in rock, explosives are dropped in, and the rubble is then cleared away.
Tunnel builder Andy Sloan says the islands have led the world “in connecting an archipelago in the middle of the North Atlantic through blood, sweat and tears – and focus. They have delivered a remarkable piece of infrastructure,” says Mr Sloan.
Prof Erika Anne Hayfield, dean of the Faculty of History and Social Sciences at the University of the Faroe Islands, says the tunnels have delivered significant benefits. “People can live and thrive in smaller settlements,” while still participating fully in island life and commuting to “the central labour market” in Tórshavn.
Shetland’s main town, Lerwick, may be closer to Tórshavn than it is to Edinburgh – and closer to Copenhagen than London – but advocates of tunnels insist the islands are not a remote backwater but an advanced economy constrained by poor infrastructure. The archipelago of 100 islands at the confluence of the North Sea and Atlantic Ocean boasts the UK’s only spaceport and a thriving fishing industry.
Shetland’s council has authorised a £990,000 feasibility study into building tunnels to four islands – Unst, Yell, Bressay and Whalsay. The council has not yet published an estimated cost for construction. Mr Sloan says tunnels could provide more robust transport links for the west coast as well as the Northern Isles.
Tolls were abolished on the Skye Bridge in 2004 after a long-running campaign of non payment, and were scrapped on the Forth and Tay road bridges in 2008. But Ms Johnson, of the Saxavord Spaceport, reckons Shetlanders would be happy to pay their way.
Although there is no organised opposition to tunnels in Shetland some locals do express concern about whether they would change what it means to be an island. Pat Burns runs the northernmost shop in the British Isles, The Final Checkout on Unst. She was not convinced about tunnels at first, fearing that they would alter the nature of island life.
However after years of worrying about bad weather interrupting supplies for her shop and seeing tourists turned away because ferries are full, she has changed her mind. “I was a wee bit iffy-iffy about it before,” she says, “but now I realise that if Unst doesn’t get a tunnel, the challenge is going to be too big.”
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