Buble Fan

NO - that's not what I'm saying. Students obviously make a signifcant contribution to the City's economy. I was merely making an observation that they bring cars to the city, park them near their flats or whatever, and then hardly use them until the end of term. So essentially these are cars taking up spaces that could be better used by those who need to come and go more frequently.

The problem with areas which have a high proportion of students' flats is that when they bring a car to Uni, they rarely use it as the colleges are usually within easy walking distance and of course the sensible ones don't drive when they are going out for a drink. The only time they use the car is to go back home at the end of term. Instead the cars are left parked for the whole term, taking up valuable kerb space. In any event those in shared houses will not all get a permit because of the allocation criteria. Crookesmoor Road is a nightmare to drive up and down at present. There is simply not enough room for two lanes of traffic whilst cars are parked on both sides of the road. And let's be fair - roads are primarily for driving on - not for parking on, so to let the traffic flow (including buses), some of the parking needs to be reduced.

It sounds likely that the pub are employing a private sector parking enforcement company to enforce the "customers only" parking in their car park. It's likely that the company is Vehicle Control Services who are a subsidiary of Excel Parking Ltd - they are based at Omega Court, off Cemetery Road. What they do is perfectly legal and the Parking Penalty Charges can be enforced through the courts. The Penalty Charge rises if you do not pay within a certain timescale. The lesson to learn here is ALWAYS to check for signs when you park. This is a valid principle also when parking in any other car park or on the roads. Why do people park on double yellow lines when they know full well the lines mean "no parking"? A bit off subject but many people don't have a clue what a single yellow line means and think they can park for short periods. The difference between single yellow lines and double yellow lines is only the times that the "no parking" applies. There's usually a sign on a post alongside a single yellow line to state when the "no parking" applies. Except when the single yellow line is within a "Controlled or Restricted Zone" when the "no parking" times are as stated on the Zone Entry signs. Double yellow lines mean "no parking at any time".

It's likely that you will receive a written reply in due course, confirming that the penalty has to be paid. Out of city direction is regarded as northbound and towards city is regarded as southbound. They might offer you the chance to pay the discounted amount, if your letter was received within 14 days of the penalty being issued to you, but its unlikely they will cancel it.

I understand the intention was to do all the repairs in the school summer holidays whilst roads are less busy, but the extent of the damage now discovered by the necessary survey work after the floods etc means that there is much more work to do than initially thought. I don't know what the expected time scale is but I don't think the road will be fully open just yet.:(

The term you are trying to remember is Decriminalised Parking Enforcement. It's where the Council takes over the responsibility for enforcing most of the parking restrictions. Previously the enforcement was done by Traffic Wardens, who were actually employed by South Yorks Police Authority. The parking regulations didn't change - its just that the way they are enforced has changed. It is now a civil process rather than a criminal process. The Council could have tendered out the enforcement contract and employed a private company such as NCP to provide Parking Attendants. Some local authorities have done this, but the down side is that they tend to pay lower wages (as they need to make a profit), which in turn means that the quality of people recruited tends not to be so good. The quality of enforcement then suffers. It seems that Sheffield decided to employ the Parking Attendants themselves, so they can pay a better salary than private sector companies. This should mean a better standard of enforcement (i.e. fewer errors).

The Parking Attendants (they are not Traffic Wardens, - they used to work for the police), are not privatised, they are employed directly by the Council. And before anyone starts on the "commission / incentives" tack, they are paid a basic salary and do not earn any bonus for issuing Penalty Charge Notices.

The Council is currently looking at the possibility of a "Trader Permit" for people who have to visit various properties across several Residents Parking Schemes to carry out work (e.g. repairs and maintenance). The details aren't yet finalised but it will probably work along the lines of the visitor permits with a charge of around £1per permit - sold in books of 25. The permits are likely to be valid for all of the RPZs so the trader could park in more than one area in a day, using the same single use permit. This sounds like the Council listening to people and trying to design something to address their concerns and requirements.

How about "Tha wants ter get thi eeroils wesht aht" or (translation) "It's high time that you gave your ears a good wash"

We went last Monday evening - first time we had been there. We had an excellent 3 course meal. Can recommend the Rib Eye steak.

Anyone know of any pubs in Sheffield where there is a keyboard player (or similar) where people can get up to sing (i.e. like an "open mic" night)? I know of one in Chesterfield which used to be good on Saturdays but not sure if its still going. Many years ago my old man was in the pub trade and had these sort of nights. Older members may remember The Royal Lancers (Penistone Road), the Shoulder of Mutton (Bradwell) or The Frecheville Hotel.

That seems to be a very simplistic calculation - i.e. 450 X £30 = £13500. That's surely only a theoretical figure. Around 15 - 20% of vehicles are not properly registered, so they won't all get collected. Pure speculation on the Star's part.

There seems to some considerable opposition to the bus lanes / gates. But lets look at the logic behind them for a moment. If we all continue to use our own cars for all our travel (especially commuting to and from work), the congestion will increase until there is total gridlock - if you are in any doubt try driving through London in the morning or early evening. "Give us some real alternative" say the cynics. Well actually the aim of the bus & tram lanes / gates is to reduce the use of these routes by ordinary cars, in order to make bus and tram services more efficient and able to stick to their timetable. The tram services in particular are every 10 minutes (sometimes even more frequent) at peak times so there are alterntaives. Ok if you need to get to somewhere which is not on a bus or tram route you probably need to use your car. But if we all made an effort to use public transport say for 2 days a week, there would be a massive reduction in traffic congestion - making it better for everyone - and benefiting the environment. To be honest I used to be selfish and thought I would alwys stick to using my car every day - but being objective there is a better way! As far as the signs go - they are clear if you can be bothered to be observant - but we all know that there are significant numbers of drivers who just won't obey the restrictions - probably a lot of them are the same people who don't bother insuring their car or even registering it properly with DVLA.