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Planner1

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Everything posted by Planner1

  1. What is it you think that has to do with an SCC Spatial Planning document that has reached inquiry in public stage? ( which is what this thread is about)
  2. It’s well and good giving your opinions, but the time to do that was during the extensive consultations on the Local Plan. Also you should perhaps think about what you are wanting and firstly identify who is responsible for it and whether it’s included in the plan you are talking about. You clearly don’t understand the difference between Sheffield Council and the MCA, although it’s been explained numerous times. Sheffield council is not responsible for printing bus timetables, or transport interchanges and bus stops. Sheffield council do not have the powers to enforce on pavement parking, like myself and others have told you numerous times. You say stop this active travel “nonsense” then ask for more controlled crossings, which is of course part of that “nonsense”. Having events in parks is not part of a strategic spatial plan. Neither is private sector organisations giving careers advice.
  3. Enforcement against cycling on the footway has to be done by the Police
  4. The government have to put legislation in place to enable those powers for local authorities outside London. The local authorities have been lobbying for this for many years. The government have talked about it, but have shown no inclination to actually do it. The local authorities can’t go to the high court and force them to. Local authorities didn’t seek CAZ powers, the government put the legislation in place and forced local authorities to implement CAZ’s.
  5. How many more times do you need to be told that they can’t, because they don’t have the powers to do it.
  6. Bikes have gears you know. Anyone with a moderate level of fitness can get around with little problem. With an electric bike even the steepest hill is no problem. It won't be for everyone, but many trips made in cars are very short and could easily be done on foot or by bike.
  7. I’d agree with that. Some in here appear overly dramatic. I used to walk into and out of the city centre every day when I worked at SCC. I’d pass people sleeping in the subway and begging. They asked me for money, I’d say no. After a few times they got the message and just said good morning. I never, ever encountered “aggressive” begging. Charity collectors / chuggers do not bother me in the slightest, just say no thanks. Quite how some people can contend that they don’t come into town because of them rather beggars belief in my view. In some places, like in the subways at roundabouts, the design of the infrastructure is a problem for mixed cycle and pedestrian use. The subways were built decades ago ( I worked on some) when no one really considered cycling. The current layout is making the best of a bad job and it can’t be improved without spending huge amounts. The new cycling routes do look big and wide compared to what we’ve seen before, but that is due to the national design standards changing. Change is always difficult for some.
  8. I walk around quite a bit too. I agree with what others are saying about the illegal electric bikes, there’s quite a lot of them and they are used inconsiderately. When I’m out on my bike, often on off road trails, I’ve had walkers moan at me for not using a bell. Others seem aggravated if you use one. Can’t win really. I’ve also seen examples of overly aggressive cycling, often from very experienced cyclists who it seems just want to go fast in what I’d consider unsafe circumstances.
  9. Do you similarly object to anti social and selfish drivers? I see a lot more instances of poor driver behaviour than I do from cyclists ( probably because there are more motorists) I just think it’s people being people and some are selfish and inconsiderate. By the way I do agree about the illegal electric bikes and poor behaviour from delivery riders. The police could deal with it but will say they don’t have the resources and it isn’t a priority.
  10. The local plan is the overall spatial planning policy for the city. Essentially it’s what tells developers what they can build and where. Planning applications will be judged on their fit with the policies it contains. It is necessarily pitched at “high level” and deals with broader principles rather than specifics, so it is understandably difficult to get the average person to engage with it. It’s generally of more relevance to developers and interest groups, but it is a very important piece of policy which affects how the city will develop in the next 15 to 20 years, so it’s worth the effort to see what’s being proposed. They do make every effort to consult people and every response received in the consultations is responded to in the documentation. It has been through public consultation and will now be examined by a planning inspector in public sessions.
  11. Yes, including “wheeling” seems to be the latest version.
  12. A lot of cyclists use an old bike for coming into town that wouldn’t be too attractive to thieves. Some effective police action against the thieves might be useful.
  13. Active travel refers to walking and cycling. The term has been around for quite a while.
  14. As others have said, bus gates are for giving priority to public transport. Disabled drivers are not exempt, but the bus gates do not prevent them from accessing anywhere, they just need to use a different route. In practical terms, disabled drivers could not be exempted from bus gate restrictions. It can only be categories of vehicle which are exempted, like bus, taxi etc. Some vehicles are classed as “Authorised Vehicles” within the legal orders and are also exempt, but these are vehicles which are normally liveried ( ie have badges / stickers on them which can be easily identified on the recorded images) like NHS patient transport etc. A few have permits and the registrations vehicles using them are stored in the database of the automatic enforcement systems. People with blue badges do not always travel in the same vehicles, so in practical terms, the authorised vehicle category wouldn't work fir them. There are also quite a lot of blue badge holders, so exempting them from restrictions might compromise the reason for the restriction ie to speed up public transport. The legislative framework for bus gates / lanes is set up by the government. I don’t know of anywhere that exempts blue badge holders. The council have in the past been asked to exempt quite a few different types of vehicle / road user, but most times it is impractical. There have also been cases such as in York, where the council exempted too many types of vehicle from restrictions which has led to the restriction being classed as unenforceable by the independent adjudicators who decide on appeals against fines issued. That is a significant risk that councils have to bear in mind.
  15. Seems to work perfectly well in many places. Why not here. The city centre isn’t just about shopping. Thousands of people live in the city centre, work there and visit for education, business etc. There are studies which indicate that people who arrive on foot or by cycle actually spend more over a period than those who arrive by car.
  16. Try shopmobility on Eldon Street. They hire out electric scooters
  17. So pushing the refreshments trolley on a train gives you a better insight into planning highway works than those who do it for a living? Do give it a rest with your ill informed twaddle. It’s not a vanity project at all. It’s utilising specific government funding to regenerate a city centre area that wasn’t doing too well. The paving and public realm is just one part of it and it is important to businesses and investors who are looking for somewhere to locate.
  18. For as long as I can remember, areas of public realm in the city centre have been refreshed/refurbished on a fairly regular basis. The Moor is one example. 30+ years isn’t too bad a lifetime for public realm when you look at how frequently things get changed around. Nowadays people expect public areas to look good. It attracts investment. Fargate is being regenerated to bring it up to date and attract more footfall, new businesses and investment. The paving and public realm is just one part of it. I think most would agree Fargate hasn’t been doing too well in recent years. The council are using government funds specifically for regenerating high street areas. Would you rather they didn’t bid for this type of investment? I’d think they would be criticised if they didn’t, bearing in mind that other towns and cities nearby are regenerating their town and city centres utilising this funding.
  19. Moan. Moan. Moan. Never heard the one about omelettes and eggs? Go try to build something in the middle of a main city centre route while maintaining access at all times and you might understand why it looks like it does and it takes along time. If you remember, people moaned about the cobbles when they were put in. Didn’t like the uneven surface. Didn’t like that they had to bring in foreign workers to do it. The 90’s were well over 30 years ago, so it was probably overdue for a refurbishment anyway. Whatever they do, people will moan.
  20. Send in a complaint and let us know how you get on. No, concrete isn’t just for temporary use. There are circumstances in which it’s considered more appropriate than tarmac and has a lower whole life cost. The downside is that the surface is noisier and more difficult to maintain.
  21. I don’t think it is defensive, just pointing out operational practicalities. From personal observations I’d agree that pavement parking is a growing issue. The government need to provide the tools for councils to tackle it. Regarding “hefty” fines. The fine levels are set by government and it can be argued they aren’t a huge deterrent, but again, the government don’t seem inclined to allow councils outside London to charge more.
  22. The moving traffic offences will be enforced by automatic cameras. The council have many years experience in operating these.
  23. Numerous complaints by whom to who? Bus lane / gate cameras are generally located at places where public transport operators have complained that drivers contravening the restrictions are causing them problems / delays ( and there is evidence to support the contention). There are regular meetings with operators at which these issues are discussed. I would not expect them to introduce box junction / banned turn enforcement at every single location where there’s been a complaint. Certainly the bus lane cameras can be moved and I’d guess the moving traffic ones are the same. Therefore once compliance is improved at a site, the camera can be moved to another one. Sites considered for enforcement are checked and any necessary work carried out to ensure ( as much as possible, because the independent adjudicators are the final arbiters of enforceability and they only rule on actual fines issued) that fines issued are actually enforceable. Bus gate/lane enforcement by camera is not as easy as you might think and some of the locations may not be suitable for camera enforcement for a variety of reasons.
  24. In this case, the monitoring of air quality is actually done by the council for the government. Buses are running around all day every day, as are trucks, taxis and vans. Their mileage is generally a lot higher than the average car. The CAZ is about nitrogen dioxide levels. It isn’t a greenhouse gas, so it’s not about climate change. It’s a dangerous pollutant that impacts on people’s health. There are legal limits for it and the government has been required by the courts to ensure compliance. Modern vehicles don’t emit much nitrogen dioxide compared to older ones.
  25. If you took the trouble to ask parking services, they could tell you exactly how many tickets are issued on Abbeydale Rd. It’s a primary transport route and they were certainly enforced on a daily basis, particularly at peak times when I was there. Send them an FOI request if you are really interested.
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