Fair Isle: Rebuild of fire-hit bird observatory halted

Work has stopped on rebuilding the £7.4m Fair Isle Bird Observatory after the contractors announced they were considering going into administration.

Builders Lighthouse/IDMH have lodged a notice to appoint an administrator and have stopped working at the site.

The Fair Isle Bird Observatory Trust said the internationally-renowned research centre in Shetland would not now reopen later this year, as planned.

The previous building was destroyed by fire in March 2019.

The new facility was being constructed on the same site, after an initial £2.35m funding package from the Scottish government and Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE).

Douglas Barr, chairman of the trust, said the latest setback was "particularly frustrating" because the building is now "wind and watertight".

Work was under way to complete the internal works, which were scheduled to be finished this autumn.

Mr Barr said the contractors are not yet in administration but "are considering their options on how they go forward as a company".

"Before we able to continue, there are a number of legal, financial and practical issues that will have to be attended to," he added.

"This means that unfortunately we will not be reopening this year."

The project has suffered weather-related delays when transporting the building's modular units to the island.

The bird observatory is a major contributor to tourism on Fair Isle, which lies half way between Shetland and Orkney.

The island is three miles long, one-and-a-half miles wide, and has a population of about 50.

It is regarded as being one of the best places in Europe to see rare birds, which stop off to rest and feed along their migration routes.