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| Practical but wrong |
The BBC tells us of a fascinating problem which has apparently irked the inhabitants of Shetland for decades – the map box.
New rules barring public bodies from putting Shetland in a box on official documents have come into force.
Islands MSP Tavish Scott had sought to change the law to ban the "geographical mistake" which "irks" locals, by amending the Islands (Scotland) Bill.
The final rule written into the bill requires the islands to be "displayed in a manner that accurately and proportionately represents their geographical location in relation to the rest of Scotland" in any documents published by Scottish public authorities.
Of course the Ordnance Survey came up with some pettifogging practical implications which do nothing to resolve the irk..
Only the Scottish Conservatives spoke out against the move at Holyrood, with MSP Peter Chapman calling it "impractical" and warning it would reduce the amount of detail in maps due to changing scales.
This was backed by the Ordnance Survey mapping agency, which said inset boxes avoid "publishing maps which are mostly sea".
A spokesman for the company said: "The Shetland Islands are approximately 245km (152 miles) from the Scottish mainland, from the most northerly part of the Shetland Islands to John O' Groats, and 690km (428 miles) from the most southerly point of the Scottish and English border.
"It would be virtually impossible to print a paper map, with any usable detail, of this vast geography.
Only the Scottish Conservatives spoke out against the move at Holyrood, with MSP Peter Chapman calling it "impractical" and warning it would reduce the amount of detail in maps due to changing scales.
This was backed by the Ordnance Survey mapping agency, which said inset boxes avoid "publishing maps which are mostly sea".
A spokesman for the company said: "The Shetland Islands are approximately 245km (152 miles) from the Scottish mainland, from the most northerly part of the Shetland Islands to John O' Groats, and 690km (428 miles) from the most southerly point of the Scottish and English border.
"It would be virtually impossible to print a paper map, with any usable detail, of this vast geography.
It suggests to me that Shetland life is idyllic if
this was high on the list of irks. What next though – now the irk seems to be resolved? It isn't easy to think of anything less irksome than this but Shetland folk need to find something to replace their major irk.
6 comments:
"Now, I'm your elected representative and we all know that since the subsidies got a wee bit tighter, there's not a lot I can do to improve your lives. To stop some of you wondering why you pay me, I've just come up with a good idea that involves passing a law which makes other people's jobs and lives harder. I did think of making it illegal to refer to our noble Islands without referring to them as "The Shetland Islands, over a hundred miles off the mainland and a 12-hour ferry journey away". This proved to be unpopular with hoteliers and they couldn't fit it on the wee ferry. So I've just come up with this idea..."
My GCE English Lit set book was 'The Shetland Bus', by David Howarth.
If they'd had a 'box' back then, why not just build a bridge, and be done with it - it'd be only a couple of miles from Aberdeen, and the bus could easily have managed that!
You can probably see why I failed English Lit...
Beyond parody as is most of the utterly pointless guff that comes out of this comic book parliament. Still it saves actually having to address the real problems Scotland faces .
If these clowns actually believe this matters ,they are taking money under false pretenses, and it's money Scotland can ill afford.
Sam - that's probably not so far away from how this was dredged up.
Scrobs - I enjoyed English Lit but as so often that was probably down to my teachers. Geography on the other hand...
Geebeetwo - yes they are clowns but what amazes me is how little effect it seems to have on the loyalty of voters.
Rockall.
Anon - maybe that's next on Mr Scott's list.
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