Tunnels between our islands will help us thrive and not just survive

When we look to the future of Scotland’s island communities, are we aiming just to survive – or to thrive?

In an island community, if you get transport right then everything else falls into place. Whether it is public services, tourism or myriad other social and economic issues, a practical and reliable transport system is essential to our future.

It is fair to say that for some time we have not been getting island transport right in Scotland. Letting things drift with a patch-and-pray approach is not going to cut it any longer. One way or another something has got to give – and now is the time to give islanders what they need to thrive in the future.

The situation faced by people on the west coast due to SNP neglect should be a sign of what can happen to communities when the government does not get transport right. Last summe,r the west coast ferry network appeared to be in a perpetual state of crisis. New ferries are expected to come online in the coming months – I must admit part of me simply assumes the delivery of new CalMac vessels will always be “just one more month” away – but even this will only be enough to slow decline if there is not some deeper change.

If we were happy to see island communities gradually turn into open air museums, fit for tourism and retirement and not much else, then perhaps this “minimalist” approach would suffice. If we want our communities not just to survive but to thrive, however, then we need to put power back into the hands of local communities to debate and determine what it is that they need to succeed.

That is the lesson that we have been putting into practice in Shetland in recent years. Between myself and local MSP Beatrice Wishart, we initiated and encouraged a campaign for fixed links in our islands – with the next round of campaign events coming next week. We did so not because we had a particular axe to grind for tunnels – but because we knew that a proper renewal of transport in Shetland had to be driven by islanders themselves.

With very little encouragement needed on our part, Shetlanders have taken matters into their ownhands. They formed local groups in each island to lobby for action both at the council and national level, raised funds, and made it clear that they want to have a stake in their future transport.

It is not hard to see why. Our cousins to the north in Faroe have proven that tunnels can be transformative for island communities. Where many Scottish islands have seen their numbers stagnate or fall in recent years, the Faroese population has seen a double-digit percentage increase since its first tunnel was laid down in 2002. They have shown that by empowering communities to make these decisions, we make it easier to attract and keep people in the isles, improving our economy and our services for generations to come.

This is about more than just reducing our reliance on ferries or indeed any other short-term considerations. It is about seeing how we can create a long-term vision of thriving island communities – built right here in the isles.

Alistair Carmichael is the Scottish Liberal Democrat MP for Orkney and Shetland.