Shetland Councillors this week turned down a three-year funding request towards work on the Old Scatness Broch (Shetland, Scotland), instead approving funds of just under £150,000 for this year only. Shetland Amenity Trust requested £381,481 over a three-year period up to 2011 towards the cost of completing the inter­pretation of archaeological finds, to enable the site to continue operating as a visitor attraction and to develop detailed plans for making it into a year-round visitor attraction.
     Following a heated debate during the first meeting of the council's revived development committee, members approved funding of £148,340 for the current financial year but backed Betty Fullerton's call for the amenity trust and the economic development unit to produce a detailed plan of all the projects the trust has in the pipeline. Ms Fullerton said she supported the Old Scatness Broch project but it was vital that the council got a full picture of what the trust was up to.
     
Source: The Shetland Times (25 April 2008)