HIAL’s ICIA Too Little Too Late

HIALS’s so called Islands Community Impact Assessment is ‘too little too late’ and at the very least doesn’t meet the spirit of Islands Proofing Legislation, says the Chair of CNES Transportation Committee.

HIAL announced this week that consultants would be appointed to carry out a study into the impact of Air Traffic Control centralisation on Island communities.

CNES have highlighted that there will be a significant loss of jobs in the Islands and that the proposals demonstrate a lack of commitment to Island communities.

Cllr Uisdean Robertson said: “This looks like a paper exercise. The point is that this will have a major adverse economic impact – we don’t need consultants to tell us that. Surely any meaningful study should have been carried out before the decision was taken in order to inform the strategy rather than pay lip service in a desperate attempt to show that HIAL has concern for Island communities. It is too little, too late. The legislation on Islands Proofing was designed to prevent exactly this kind of disregard for Island communities. Whilst we are still waiting for guidance on Island Proofing I believe this centralisation process is certainly against the spirit of the legislation.”