stanleeder

Several very large trees on Dunkeld Road are to be removed and replaced with smaller trees more suitable to the environment. Residents were advised that a small number of trees (eight? I don't recall exactly how many) were to go and all 65 houses on the road (including mine) were invited to comment. Of which only 29 responded (including me) and only 9 gave adverse comments (also including me, though my concern was for only one of the condemned trees). So, a large majority of residents may be presumed to be content with the proposals. This meant the tree panel did not need to be consulted and the Council/Amey could go ahead and remove the trees, following which the much needed repairs to pavements, kerbs and the road surface could proceed. Amey sent a contractor yesterday to remove the first tree. Within minutes some protesters arrived and stopped the work. More protesters arrived during the day and at one time there were around 20 present. Few, if any, of these protesters were residents of Dunkeld Road. The police were called but were too busy elsewhere dealing with more important matters and so nothing could be done and the contractors left, having removed just a couple of branches. This was repeated today, only this time the police were able to attend and clear a working area for the contractors. Most of the tree was felled, reduced to a trunk of maybe 8 feet high. So the protesters' actions have proved to be pointless and resulted only in making the project more costly than it need have been, wasted police time, delayed the necessary street works and inconvenienced the residents. My plea to the protesters: you have made your point; you have lost the argument; now please go away and let the work on the remaining trees go ahead without your unnecessary and ultimately pointless delaying tactics and save the residents further inconvenience. I would add that several large trees (probably London Planes) were removed from Dunkeld Road the last time the pavements were resurfaced maybe 10 or 12 years ago. These were replaced with smaller varieties which are now a beautiful part of the street scene. I look forward to seeing the replacement trees thriving in years to come.

I'm not able to run on Sunday so can transfer my place if there's anyone out there who wants it. Call me on 0773 694 7735

Go to the experts for advice! http://www.travelsouthyorkshire.com/journeyplanning/

You can make it really complicated by looking at getting single tickets for 2 legs of the journey. eg. Sheffield to Leicester then Leicester to London. Try this website: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/split-cheap-train-tickets/

Unlike cars which of course are almost full all the time.

A post that is surely from a motorist who is never a pedestrian !

I cycled(*) the route in Sheffield yesterday and saw yellow bikes at these locations: The Potters' Well, Midhopestones The Old Horns Inn, High Bradfield (one above the door and one on the beacon in the garden) The Blue Ball, Worrall Greenhead Fields, Oughtibridge I've also seen yellow bikes on Pinstone Street, Fargate and at Ecclesall Woods. Are there any others in the city? In Langsett the Waggon & Horses has been renamed the Pedalers Inn and the Bank View Cafe has been painted in the 'King of the Mountains' red spots for the occasion. (*) actually I was driving on the nice new tarmac that's been laid over most of the route. Some pictures here http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/4022981 http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/4015691 http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/4023001 http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/4022970

Any charities in town that want plastic bags? I get at least 10 a week through my letter box

Would one of the 'Sheffield City Council Hates Motorists' brigade care to tell us of a similar sized city that loves them?

Having driven and reversed numerous cars and vans for over 40 years without hitting anything (well, maybe a couple of nudges in very tight spots!) I now have a car with parking sensors. All my future cars will have parking sensors, it makes it so much easier. And, in tight spots, you learn that you still have a few inches spare when the alarm sounds so you can still use the techniques you learned before technology advanced.

Thought somebody might bite on that comment. But let's not re-open that old argument shall we? Shefield is 4th, 5th or 6th largest depending on your definitions of city and country. I'll stick with 5th largest.

Ignore it. The list is just total ********. Just a couple of examples: Woodstock - it's a rural village in Oxfordshire. Population about 3,000. Next to the awesome Blenheim Palace. A beautiful place. Not even a town and certainly not a crap one. Sheffield - 5th largest city in the country so hardly a town is it? And it's where I live so can't possibly be crap Calais - that's in France isn't it? So is this a worldwide crap town list? Chipping Norton. Is that the Chipping Norton where the Prime Minister lives? I could go on but I'm bored with this. Now, if there were to be a list of 50 crap websites .....

The same thing happened to my totally flippant and, I thought, quite amusing post too!

I thought the bigger divide was blue and red?

National Trust organise short walks from Longshaw every Sunday and Wednesday. Meet at the cafe/visitor centre at 11am. Walks are around 4 miles and take around 2 hours. Sounds ideal for you.

If you have the time and really want to know the answer have a read of this analysis of 2001 census data by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. I've only skimmed it but I think it shows: - a drift of population to the south-east with most large cities, including Sheffield, losing population (section 2) - Sheffield has a lower inflow/outflow rate of migration (within UK) than many large cities with about 7 people coming to Sheffield for every 10 who moved elsewhere. (section 3) - Sheffield is ranked 'moderate' in terms of migration, along with Manchester, Nottingham, Plymouth, Bradford, Newcastle and Southampton. So my conclusion, for what it's worth, is that Sheffield is not particularly reclusive. Of course, this report is based on data from 10 years ago but I always think a few facts as well as opinions help a discussion. Maybe someone would like to read all the report and give an opinion?

I may be in a minority but I really like the Cheesegrater car park (although I prefer to call it the Door Chimes). It makes what could be an ugly multi-storey car park interesting. I think it sits well on Arundel Gate with its variety of modern, architecturally interesting buildings (eg. University library, Novotel, Millennium Galleries).

Agree, a total rip off. Always use cash at the Arena box office - there's a cash machine in Centretainment. At some time (hopefully fairly soon) there is to be a law restricting what can be charged for using a card to what it actually costs - in the case of debit cards this is less than 10p per transaction.

I have just used a Groupon offer to get a 50 page photobook from Photobox. Cost £15 plus postage for a photobook that would have cost several times that amount at full price. I was very pleased with the outcome and will certainly consider using Groupon offers in the future.

I need to know how much the parking charges will be before I form an opinion on this. If it's around 50p per visit I wouldn't really object. If it's city centre rates then I certainly would.

Have a look around the DfT website - they collect reams of transport statistics, although not in enough detail to separate Sheffield or even South Yorkshire. Here is a table showing how bus fares have changed since 1995 by area type. English metropolitan areas is the closest to Sheffield. http://www.dft.gov.uk/statistics/tables/bus0405/ There should be more detail available if you dig deep enough into this website.

Probably now taking pride of place in some unspeakable person's back garden. Check out your neighbours, especially if they are selfish, arrogant and drive a 4x4.

Buses - Sunday service Tram - Saturday service Train - weekday service More details here: http://www.travelsouthyorkshire.com/search.aspx?searchtext=sheffield+christmas&f=0

Why should we expect a permit parking zone to have a higher level of enforcement than double yellow lines? After all, the yellow lines are there primarily for road safety which is surely more important?

With a trailer for your suitcase?