Shetland Isles

Summary Information

Shetland Islands Council

The Shetlands Islands, located at 60 degrees North, are an archipelago of more than 100 islands, 15 of which are inhabited.  There is a total population of approximately 22,000, with approximately one-third resident in Lerwick, the County town.  Shetland is situated off the North East of Scotland with the North Sea to the East and the Atlantic to the West.  With the exception of two, (Foula and Fair Isle) the inhabited islands are connected to the mainland by Ro-Ro ferries and some smaller islands have a regular inter-island air service.  Lifeline services to Mainland Scotland are either a twelve-hour sea crossing, (fourteen if via Orkney) or one hour by air, both to Aberdeen.

The Shetland Community

Shetland has a vibrant community based on a number of industries, including Oil Production, Sea Transportation, Fishing, Fish Processing, Aquaculture, Tourism and Argiculture.  The geographical position of Shetland in relation to other Scandinavian countries has lead to an increase in business / industry and tourism.

Living on an Island

As well as many advantages there are drawbacks to living in an island community.  The two main ones to consider are firstly, remoteness in terms of distance and availability of external resources, and secondly the weather, lives and industy revolve around it.  In a given situation, air or sea links can be severed, sometimes for a number of days.  When the oil tanker "Braer" came ashore there were 3days without planes or boats.  Out of 18 days in January 1993, 3days recorded hurricane force winds >64 knots and 15 were storm to violent storm force 48 - 63 knots.  This can be crucial at a time when normal resources are exhausted and assistance from outside the community is required.

The Planning Groups

Emergency Planning in Shetland evolved around a background of a number of major incidents between the 1970's and 1990's.  These included a number of aircraft crashes and several marine incidents.  As a result of the experience gained from these incidents an EPO was appointed in 1988.  The appointee brought together a number of agencies to devlop resilience plans both for the Local Authority, the Health Board but predominantly for the Community.  The Shetland Emergency Planning Forum was created from the Emergency Services, Local Authority and Health Board and first met in 1989.

In common with the Orkney Islands, Shetland Islands Council, Emergency Planning staff is responsible for both Local Authority and Health Board Emergency Planning matters.


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