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The winners of a letter writing competition to hear the views of young Shetlanders on the proposal to build a wind farm on the island have been announced.

The competition, organised by Viking Energy, invited young people to write about their thoughts on the project in the form of a letter to an imaginary penpal. It was open to all young people on the island from the age of 5 to 25 regardless of whether they were in favour, completely against or still on the fence.

The winner of the post school age category was James Stewart from Lerwick and runner up Emma Houston, who has family connections in Shetland but is now living in Glasgow.

James said: "I'm delighted to have won first prize in this competition, and I'd like to thank Viking Energy for allowing me the opportunity to express my opinion on the matter. Although I do not take a specific side on the wind farm debate, the future of energy in Shetland is hugely important. I felt that the pro- and anti-wind farm proponents had lost the interest of the general public, and this is to the benefit of no-one. I just want what is best for the future of Shetland, be it through the wind farm or otherwise."

David Hughson, a primary 6 pupil from Lunnasting Primary School was awarded first place in the primary school category. Second place went to Ria Gray, primary 7, from Bells Brae Primary School and in joint third place were Kelvin Williamson, primary 6, Lunnasting Primary School and Andrew Bain, primary 7, Bells Brae Primary School.

In the secondary school age category first place was awarded to Rory Goodlad from Sandwick Junior High, second place to Jacklyn Smith from Sandwick Junior High and third place to Connall Thomason also from Sandwick Junior High.

Lisa Ward, Communications Officer for Viking Energy, said, "We had a great response to the competition and were extremely pleased to hear the views of so many young people across Shetland. This has been a really valuable exercise for us. As well as proving that young people in Shetland are excellent at expressing their opinions in writing we have even received some handy tips on how we could improve our own communications.

"More seriously, this gives us an insight into the concerns of young people which we hope to address in our revised planning application. It also helps us to pinpoint any misconceptions which we can work harder to reassure people about. We received a good balance in terms of viewpoints but the letters were judged solely on how well they were written. All of the prize winning entries will be available to read on our website and our social media."

The judging panel was made up of Paul Riddell of the Shetland Times and Donald Murray from Sandwick High School.

The winners will receive, amongst other things, a calligraphy kit to encourage them to keep writing letters.

All of the entries are now uploaded on our website. You can download the post-school, secondary school and primary school entries.

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