Sheffield City Council won ‘Council of the Year’ at last night’s LGC (Local Government Chronicle) Awards, but do you think they deserve it?

I put it down to the new intake of councillors this year, particularly from a certain party. Top bunch, they'd get my vote. :thumbsup:

are these (http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?s=&threadid=32500) related or is it a different subject :confused:

Originally posted by max
I put it down to the new intake of councillors this year, particularly from a certain party. Top bunch, they'd get my vote. :thumbsup:

There are some very interesting 'new' councillors - from last year actually Max.

There's this new Tory, Mike Waters, respresenting Dore & Totley. He appears to be an asset to Anne Smith, the Tory leader. Always has something to say in the council meetings I've been to.

Jillian Creasy for the Green Party won a seat in Central, who's pretty astute, and a fluent speaker - not one for being put off her stride when the Lib-Dems barrack her.

Not so sure about the Lib-Dems, though maybe Clive Skelton (Beauchief & Greenhill) is one to keep an eye on, as he's been a councillor in Suffolk or Somerset (or somewhere else anyway).

But top marks to some of the Labour Group. I heard Leigh Bramall (Southey ward) (who is one of the youngest councillors) make his maiden speech, and he was impressive. In the same council meeting, I also heard Rosemary Telfer (Gleadless Valley ward) make a barn-storming maiden speech. These are two to
watch, I feel sure.

Is this why Labour councillors felt they could award themselves a 24% pay rise?:confused:

Fat Cat councillors... Meh, nothing new.

Originally posted by goose
Sheffield City Council won ‘Council of the Year’ at last night’s LGC (Local Government Chronicle) Awards, but do you think they deserve it?

Ha Ha Ha !

What the hell for !
Potholes !

Sheffield is moving forward quite quickly. If you can't see it oopen your mind a bit - the council are doing a sterling job - but only if they refuse planning permission for that heart of the city tower!

I say yes because Sheffield Council payed for all the Hip Hop acts to play at the Forum last night :D

It would seem the NO voters are in the majority at the moment.

Got to admit that although I am not unhappy with them, there's nothing outstanding that I can think of achievment wise from them.

The roads and transport system is appaling, but I know this is only part of their issues for Sheffield.

Originally posted by redrobbo


But top marks to some of the Labour Group. I heard Leigh Bramall (Southey ward) (who is one of the youngest councillors) make his maiden speech, and he was impressive. In the same council meeting, I also heard Rosemary Telfer (Gleadless Valley ward) make a barn-storming maiden speech. These are two to
watch, I feel sure.

Blah....fancy rhetoric won't cure the chaos that passes for traffic management in Sheffield, or mend the millions of potholes. Some of the roads in this parish are actually crumbling into dust, in a couple of years we'll need an off-road vehicle to get anywhere from here.

If all these wobble-gobs put into practice some of the policies they spout when they're touting for votes, they might have something to crow about :rant:

They certainly do deserve the title 'Council of the Year' if it's preceeded by the word 'Crappest'!

This thread is starting to turn into politics, is that allowed?

Originally posted by alchresearch
They certainly do deserve the title 'Council of the Year' if it's preceeded by the word 'Crappest'!
...and living in manchester you'd know. :rolleyes:

Is this the same Council whose leader came out in the Star and blamed everyone but the Council for congestion?

Some of the 'improvements' to our road network are a joke and just make things worse.

Originally posted by goose
Some of the 'improvements' to our road network are a joke and just make things worse. You must be kidding, them flower pots do great to improve traffic jams.
And those alternate curbs: yummy, more please more, so i get to zig zag even more and kill myself.

Originally posted by Captain_Scarlet
You must be kidding, them flower pots do great to improve traffic jams.
And those alternate curbs: yummy, more please more, so i get to zig zag even more and kill myself. And let's not forget those excellent 2 lanes now 1 lane excercises to make sure that traffic squezes through bottle necks more often and the closing of smaller roads or making them one way to stop rat runners and make sure they stick to main busy roads and increase congestion.

All these things are excellent, thanks council.....:loopy:

Anybody know of a major British city without traffic management problems?

Sheffield City Council do deserve something ---but---I could think of more apt things to give them than a "Council Of The Year " award.
The problem is they wont let you print words like that on the Forum.

No they dont....but Rotherham's do. :hihi:

Originally posted by Longcol
Anybody know of a major British city without traffic management problems? No, but this council seems to go out of its way to make them worse.

Originally posted by algy
No, but this council seems to go out of its way to make them worse. Definately agree with you there.

It sounds daft, but I almost feel like our council is trying to make travelling by car in Sheffield so arkward and uneasy that you are forced to take public transport.

Considering the state of our public transport I think it's a bad move.

Maybe I'm just being paranoid here, but that's certainly how it feels.

Originally posted by lalaland
Definately agree with you there.

It sounds daft, but I almost feel like our council is trying to make travelling by car in Sheffield so arkward and uneasy that you are forced to take public transport.

Considering the state of our public transport I think it's a bad move.

Maybe I'm just being paranoid here, but that's certainly how it feels. I don't think it sounds daft at all. Numerous times the traffic planners (now there's a laugh!) explain that narrowing roads improves traffic flow. They must think the public are as stupid as they appear to be. I'm sure it 's to make life so difficult that people will take to the buses. The experience of the 70's shows that if you provide good, cheap and efficient public transport people will use it. But now we elect people to the council who make life difficult for us so that we will use privatised transport that has no interest in providing a public service, only making the maximum profit for the least effort. The sooner public transport is regulated again the sooner things will improve. Why has all public transport been deregulated in this country except for in London? Is it a co-incidence that use of public transport is declining rapidly everywhere but London?
I'll get me coat...:rant:

Good question.

the answer to those that dont know it yet is do they f+++

they got that for doing this gov dirty work of coming up with workable ideas to try and get rid of social housing through the back door.
just go to any of these council feeler group meeting where they are there to improve and invest in the local area. you just know this involves you getting booted out of your neighbour hood , the place being left like a waistland a few years and then johnny southerner building a load of 100 grad up luxary flats and 1 or 2 rentable or right to buy properties.

improved it know end , and at a tidy profit. not bad , give your self a star and a drink for christmas .

So Council of the Year are we?
Has anyone checked how this award was made?
It was organized by a magazine which circulates among council staff nationally.But seems reluctant to publish who the judges were -and how the voting worked.
Just a minor point but ...well ..what's a bit of spin these days..

I called them to find out who the judges were, but was told the information would appear on the website by Thursday (just gone). There is nothing available yet.

However, I have found some information identifying judges for various categories in past years. It would appear to be two or three made up of senior Council Officers from different towns plus a representative of the sponsors.

For example, I think Sir Bob was a judge in Council Of the Year in 2004.

Please don't forget that councils enter themselves for this competition. So it does not necessarily assess all the best councils in the UK (although I would assume that any that are worthy of being considered do enter)

The thing about this question is :- Do we support the present council who, at last. are pulling their finger out and TRYING to do good for the city (NOT the mororist I hasten to add)
One has to remember what the Liberals did when in power. It is difficult because the answer is precisely NOTHING. Except ot give us the highest increase in Council Tax and the Highest rent increases ever know, despite promises to freeze and even lower both council taxt & rents. Tories ----- No comment

Originally posted by SCENIC
The thing about this question is :- Do we support the present council who, at last. are pulling their finger out and TRYING to do good for the city (NOT the mororist I hasten to add)
One has to remember what the Liberals did when in power. It is difficult because the answer is precisely NOTHING. Except ot give us the highest increase in Council Tax and the Highest rent increases ever know, despite promises to freeze and even lower both council taxt & rents. Tories ----- No comment
When Blair & Co got in in 1997 they asked people to be patient as they had 18years of Tory mess to clear up. When the Lib Dems took Sheffield Council they had 2 years to clear up 70 years of Labour. Labour and Tories talk disparagingly about the Liberals not playing the game because they focus on local issues! I'll agree with one thing, the present Council are TRYING, very very Trying.:rant:

Originally posted by SCENIC
The thing about this question is :- Do we support the present council who, at last. are pulling their finger out and TRYING to do good for the city (NOT the mororist I hasten to add)
One has to remember what the Liberals did when in power. It is difficult because the answer is precisely NOTHING. Except ot give us the highest increase in Council Tax and the Highest rent increases ever know, despite promises to freeze and even lower both council taxt & rents. Tories ----- No comment

I see algy is quick off the mark to start knocking Labour (council and government!). Wonder why the voters turfed out the Lib-Dems from the Town Hall after only 2 years? The question posed is whether the council deserves Best Council of the Year Award? Well, for my money, with all the other awards they've been winning of late, they appear to deserve it. Pity there are some folk who can't give credit where credit is due - yes, I do mean you algy.

I think the Lib Dems got as far as having yellow rings painted round pot holes.

Just a couple of observations

1) most people on this site, in terms of local services, tend to focus on roads & bins which account for a small percentage of SCC expenditure.

2) all friends coming to Sheffield are always envious of our city. Like mates from Leeds who said that if our road was in Leeds it would still be cobbled - tarmac with a couple of small potholes would be absolute luxury for them. And being able to walk into the city centre without trying to negotiate an urban motorway.

No, SCC ain't perfect but appears to be doing a better job than most.

Originally posted by Longcol
I think the Lib Dems got as far as having yellow rings painted round pot holes.I was tempted to put yellow circles around the speedbumps to see if they removed those too.

Originally posted by Longcol
1) most people on this site, in terms of local services, tend to focus on roads & bins which account for a small percentage of SCC expenditure.It's obviously a topic we feel strongly about and one we all agree requires much improvement.

Originally posted by Longcol
2) all friends coming to Sheffield are always envious of our city. Like mates from Leeds who said that if our road was in Leeds it would still be cobbled - tarmac with a couple of small potholes would be absolute luxury for them. And being able to walk into the city centre without trying to negotiate an urban motorway.I have been to Leeds and the roads over there seem no worse than ours, if anything they seem better, but I guess it's down to what part of Leeds you visit.
But take a look at other places like Lytham near Blackpool and you will see what a nice set of roads is like. I wondered what was wrong with my car while over there becaue it was a smooth ride and quiet, then I realised it's not normal to feel like you're driving down something that feels like a prop from an Indiana Jones film.

Originally posted by redrobbo
I see algy is quick off the mark to start knocking Labour (council and government!). Wonder why the voters turfed out the Lib-Dems from the Town Hall after only 2 years? The question posed is whether the council deserves Best Council of the Year Award? Well, for my money, with all the other awards they've been winning of late, they appear to deserve it. Pity there are some folk who can't give credit where credit is due - yes, I do mean you algy. Yep, lightning reactions, 22nd post on the thread only 5 days after it started! So where was I knocking the government? If you can show me some examples of what the council have done that is so great, rather than official pats on the backs from their colleagues I'd be interested. Why is it that if you criticise the council, someone immediately starts to make it personal? I can't see anything I've said that most of the posts on this thread don't agree with. With the possible exception of a mild comment in favour of the Lib-Dems. Could it be the name Lib-Dem is like a red rag to a redrobbo?:thumbsup:

This is how Sheffield SHOULD be judged:-
Councils always traditionally tried to make sure that the basics in a city were running and organised well ; things that affected the majority of people for most of the time. After all , it is the public who in the beginning finance local as well as national government. Neither has their own money !It ALL comes from us. Therefore , in the not too distant past councils made sure that things like parks , roads , libraries , transport and the police were all catered for and then if any money was left over , it could be spent on whatever ---or even saved !
Does Sheffield City council qualify as a good council on these criteria ?
Let's imagine one of our senior citizens , for example.{S}he has just had their elevenses and as it's a nice day they fancy a stroll in the park. They manage to avoid getting mugged and by sheer good luck a bus appears and takes them to within half a mile of their destination.They wend their way , carefully {!}to the park.
Suddenly , however , they must use the loo [those elevenses !]. The one in the park closed ages ago and got to be a bit dangerous anyhow. There are some children playing about a 100 yards away , so , nipping in the bushes is a bit dodgy. No park keeper in sight---oh well , hold it back and try and grab a taxi home---that's if there's a phone box around.
Multiply that a thousand times ; similarly with kids wanting to play safely and it's easy to see why the streets in Sheffield always seem half -empty and the kids and pensioners tend to stay at home and watch telly or go en masse [for safety ] to the shops to buy things they don't really need.
Incredibly . in the past , Councillers didn't get paid either !They just got expenses and their conferences were generally in somewhere like Bolton---not Benidorm.

My my, Fareast, you arrived in a blaze of glory, berating everyone to stop whinging about "small issues", and here you are, on merely your 17th post, already in the flow with the "normal" SF train of thought.

;)

Well , Foo Fighter , what I think's essential is to separate the important problems from the pseudo-problems.
I think if something affects the majority of people for most of the time , then it IS important. That is very different from a minor flood or similar that is more or less a one-off problem but to which people react hysterically to----as if the world had caved in.
Also the police , for example , could clamp down severely on the yobs and deadheads who make everyone's life a misery and then leave the vast majority more free to do as they wished , without all the endless , petty restrictions in life.
Classic examples---people scared to go out because of yobs hanging around ready to rob or rape as the mood takes them .If the police could deal with them effectively , then that would give more freedom to thousands of people. What sane person would take their wife and kids down town on a Friday or Saturday evening for a drink ? Yet , they should be able to do so. They do in most other countries.
Whenever deadheads wreck something like a lavatory or a park , they never seem to end up paying for it or having to repair it. Instead the facility is shut for ages or for ever and the same deadheads are probably using somebody's garden as a loo !
I simply think that a lot of people in the U.K. have got their priorities completely wrong----and that goes for official bodies as well as the everyday Drama Queens.

I agree m8. one thing leads to another. I once stuck a pin in a kids arse at school and before long half of our street was up in arms wanting beat the other halve to a pulp, just over a little pin prick.
The problem with councils now a days is the councilers are looking for glory from the wrong people. they are now steered towards buisness and investment instead of doing what they are elected to do . they would sell there own mothers for a photo shoot and a framed certificate saying how well they did.
GET BACK ON THE BALL COUNCILOURS get back to basics instead of trying to get us to a state of devolution to get yourselves cushy numbers on some european parliment board well away from the sad state of repair you have left back here.
BUCK UP OR **** OFF thx.

i live on a council estate where friends struggle to get a council house because to many people want one ,seems strange that this council and lib dems before them demolished hundreds of houses that could have been modernised instead,best council? most idiotic if you ask me

Was this at the Annual Pot Hole Awards?

Was this at the Annual Pot Hole Awards?

Yeah . . five years ago :hihi:

Yes why not. it's easy to have a pop but as councils go they must be OK they have just won an award that says so!!

Was this at the Annual Pot Hole Awards?

Glad to see that you are on the ball as usual.

Yes why not. it's easy to have a pop but as councils go they must be OK they have just won an award that says so!!

Regarding the preformance of any local authority, I'd take the views of local residents who actually have to suffer them over some awards panel of bigwigs any day.