Am I alone in thinking this?

It seems the council, or whoever is resposible, is being a bit keen to knock down a piece of our history in favor of another new set of tacky apartment blocks.

Sheffield wins awards for its green spaces and yet our cemeteries are being neglected and are parks are being encroached upon. Another case of "don't look behind the curtain".

Sheffield is just being treated as a means to make money without any concern for the people who call it home.

I apologise for my lack of eloquence, but some things just have to be said.


- Yeah but what can you do?

Welcome to the forum, SheffieldSon. Great name and you have great eloquance.

It always makes me wonder, when I read about planning decisions, who is gaining from it. I am all for progress, especially for a new skyscraper in the town centre,
And the redevelopment of old, derelict works land like the Laycocks plant down the sheaf valley, which had been long overdue but now underway.

What stake do the councillors have in the schemes. Are they directors in property companies? Are these intrests declared at each planning meeting?

And finally - I constantly wonder how many new apartments can the city stand.
How many thousands more? :o

Muddycoffee

All Councillors have to declare an interest to any planning application if they have an interest in, or if they are affected by the application in any way. The Councillor cannot take part in that decision.
All declarations of interest by councillors are on public record at the Town Hall and can be viewed.

12bore is spot on. No Councillor is allowed to participate in the deliberation of any application that they could have even the slightest of interests in. They are not even allowed to be in the room if such a situation arises.
It's all too easy to make these sort of sweeping statements without substantiation.

It's a well-known fact that there is not, and never has been, any corruption, vested interests or "jobs for the boys"-type goings-on in local government.

I think the council are on a if theres anything green in the city centre we have to build on it. Just look at the triangular transport executive thats appeared on that triangular piece of grass on Arundel Gate. Thats 4 transport executives in town now.

Originally posted by Bambeano
I think the council are on a if theres anything green in the city centre we have to build on it. Just look at the triangular transport executive thats appeared on that triangular piece of grass on Arundel Gate. Thats 4 transport executives in town now.

Pah, that will be a Starbucks before you know it :hihi:

Originally posted by muddycoffee
And finally - I constantly wonder how many new apartments can the city stand.
How many thousands more? :o


Until supply outstrips demand- which- unfortunatly- is going to be a long time due to the high house prices, please are renting for longer and longer and those that do- what to be in the middle of town!!!

Most of the big developments are run by qangos and not the council. These qangos consist of a few councilors but mostly people from industry including bankers. The whole idea of such organisations is that they are involved in the industries and companies that will benefit. For example, the company that are redeveloping the "Retail Quarter" have had 50/50 joint ventures on similar projects with Barclays. The previous charirman of Barclays is now chairman of Sheffield One who are behind the Retail Quarter. Another member of the Sheffield One is the MD of John Lewis.

I am not suggesting that there is anything funny going on, rather that there are different standards applied. If it is a non-elected qango running things then it is supposed to be a good thing that they retain links with industry. If it is an elected body involved in the process then they are supposed to excuse themselves.

Originally posted by KenH
Most of the big developments are run by qangos and not the council. These qangos consist of a few councilors but mostly people from industry including bankers. The whole idea of such organisations is that they are involved in the industries and companies that will benefit. For example, the company that are redeveloping the "Retail Quarter" have had 50/50 joint ventures on similar projects with Barclays. The previous charirman of Barclays is now chairman of Sheffield One who are behind the Retail Quarter. Another member of the Sheffield One is the MD of John Lewis.

I am not suggesting that there is anything funny going on, rather that there are different standards applied. If it is a non-elected qango running things then it is supposed to be a good thing that they retain links with industry. If it is an elected body involved in the process then they are supposed to excuse themselves.

Not sure if it was you who kept mentioning this in another thread, but its QUANGO, not qango for future reference.

:)

I think a lot of town-planning is down to investment opportunities encouraged by the govt and in the same vein open to the European community. I know a lot of businesses and land plots have been secured by overseas companies and investors.

It's all business orientated now and that's all that matters.

Originally posted by dinp
Not sure if it was you who kept mentioning this in another thread, but its QUANGO, not qango for future reference.

:)

No it isn't. I looked it up and either spelling is used. I choose one without the U because there isn't a word in the acronym that begins with U.

Is anyone else here really disgusted by the fact that they knocked ecclesall old library building down (beautiful building) to build ski chalets!!! AND yet those awful flats near town are listed?

Originally posted by Dear_Ladies
It's a well-known fact that there is not, and never has been, any corruption, vested interests or "jobs for the boys"-type goings-on in local government.

If you had attended the Power Inquiry Sheffield Event on Sunday 18th September, I very much doubt you would have written the foregoing with such equanimity. There was very deep concern raised on the issues you raise including widespread falsification of documents, destruction of files and other areas of mal-feasance.

Should you care to review Power Inquiry website (www.powerinquiry.org) notably, the late Robin Cook's evidence at a witness session in February 2005 you will see that he would not have sympathised with your opinion. He argued that so much corruption existed in local government, ie councils, because of the low turnout at elections and thence the same old faces. It is disappointing he disregarded the similar problems at a national level.

And I therefore think it would be somewhat irrelevant Whether our councillors attend planning application meetings because it is all sorted out behind the scenes.

I will also be very interested to see the outcome of City Centre planning applications after 2 senior managers in an Architects Firm and a construction company assure me there will NOT be any skyscrapers in Sheffield's City Centre.

Of course, if you are truly concerned about corruption, simply make a Freedom of Information Act request for documents which might give you some proof.

I, for one, don't think our councillors are corrupt. I think they're just thick people with chips on their shoulders who can't hold down a proper job, and don't have the wit to challenge developers and regeneration consultants.

Originally posted by hounsfieldjr
I, for one, don't think our councillors are corrupt. I think they're just thick people with chips on their shoulders who can't hold down a proper job, and don't have the wit to challenge developers and regeneration consultants.

Wow, sweeping-statement-tastic! :loopy:
Answer me this, do you know any??

Have you even been to any city council meetings and sat in the public gallery perhaps?

Originally posted by hounsfieldjr
I, for one, don't think our councillors are corrupt. I think they're just thick people with chips on their shoulders who can't hold down a proper job, and don't have the wit to challenge developers and regeneration consultants.

Did you vote in the last election?

Originally posted by SupraSteve
Wow, sweeping-statement-tastic! :loopy:
Answer me this, do you know any??

Have you even been to any city council meetings and sat in the public gallery perhaps?
Well there are a lot of them who seem to be there as cannon fodder and vote monkeys :) Not all, but enough.

Let's be under no illusions - Bob Kerslake runs Sheffield on behalf of New Labour in London, probably as a step up to greater things in Whitehall.

Thankfully :)

Originally posted by Tony
Well there are a lot of them who seem to be there as cannon fodder and vote monkeys :) Not all, but enough.

Let's be under no illusions - Bob Kerslake runs Sheffield on behalf of New Labour in London, probably as a step up to greater things in Whitehall.

Thankfully :)

Who's definitely A BIG JOBSWORTH extremely good at his job: SWEEPING IT ALL UNDER THE CARPET.