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1 April, 2008
IT’S ALWAYS entertaining to watch a creative genius at work:
in his latest effort Stuart Dobson does not
disappoint.
To his first charge I’m proud to plead “guilty”. At a series of
public meetings last year about the Viking Energy windfarm proposal
I was indeed asked by the council (not by Viking Energy) to act as
an independent chairman. In that capacity I repeatedly had to ask Mr
Dobson to stop making angry, insinuating remarks about the motives
and character of Viking Energy staff and to confine himself to
factual questions about what was actually proposed. He appeared
determined to see the public consultation as a conspiracy to deceive
the public and to silence him, whereas my brief was to ensure that
residents of the areas where the meetings were held had priority in
asking questions and making contributions to the debate.
Mr Dobson will recall that when at last we reached his home island
of Yell I immediately offered him the floor and as much time as he
wished to make his criticisms. As I recall, all he did was repeat
unfounded allegations he’d made at earlier meetings. I’m sorry Mr
Dobson thinks I wasn’t independent enough but I’m sure Viking
Energy’s staff don’t feel I “orchestrated their case” by insisting
that questioners received detailed replies. In fact I believe I made
life quite difficult for them for the best part of a month.
As for the second charge (or, rather, sneer), that I was, in effect,
the evil genius who concocted this entire conspiracy, I fear Mr
Dobson’s grip on reality has deserted him: I was only the editor of
the 'Windylights' publication last year. There were several authors.
My job, for which I was paid a fee (check my SIC declaration of
interests, Mr Dobson), was to collate the various contributions,
condense a very long text into plain language and a consistent style
and, most importantly, to check the authors' facts. This led to some
fairly heated exchanges with Viking Energy and Scottish and Southern
Energy. I like to think the result was worth it because, after this
fairly rigorous procedure, the first edition of ‘Windylights’,
although not perfect, was as accurate as I could make it at that
time.
The idea, which is clearly anathema to some people, was that the
public would be able to base their opinions on facts rather than
rumour, suspicion and fearful fantasy: nothing like as entertaining
as Mr Dobson’s lurid scenarios, but a damn sight more use if we’re
to make informed judgments about the biggest project in Shetland
since the building of Sullom Voe.
Mr Dobson’s detailed notes should tell him that at all the public
meetings I chaired, I declared my personal point of view: while I
was in favour of earning money for the Shetland community by
exporting wind-powered electricity to the UK mainland, I thought the
initial proposal was too big. I still think that and I await with
interest the revised edition of ‘Windylights’, which will detail the
changes Viking Energy Ltd has made in response to the criticisms
received last year. I don’t know exactly what the changes are yet
because in February this year I declined Viking Energy’s offer of a
contract to edit the second ‘Windylights’. The reason I turned down
this work (and did myself out of a modest fee) was that by then I
was a candidate in a council by-election and thought there might be
a conflict of interest, were I to be elected. I’m not sure how Mr
Dobson will work this damning piece of evidence into his plot but
I’m sure he’ll have a go. After all, having a go is what he does
best.
He says I’m sympathetic to Viking Energy. Well, I do sympathise with
them in that, having tried their best to carry out an honest and
open public consultation, they still find their motives impugned in
Mr Dobson’s disgraceful personal attacks.
When Mr Dobson has been in Shetland a little longer he may come to
understand that most people in these islands like to listen
carefully to both sides of a story before reaching a considered
opinion. They generally do not approve of character assassination as
an analytical tool.
Yours sincerely,
Jonathan Wills
Independent councillor for Lerwick South
jonathan.wills@shetland.gov.uk
Sundside
Bressay |
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