moke

For those fretting over the loss of the 10k - you are a bit off the mark. It's not been poached by Harrogate, it's a new race organiser. I'd imagine that the 'great' series of runs were asking for more cash for the run - they are extraordinarily expensive for their entry costs for the 10k runs they organise - as a regular race runner, i cant countenance weighing out £30 for the sake of a 40 minute run. http://www.sheffieldtelegraph.co.uk/news/starting-gun-is-fired-on-sheffield-10k-run-shake-up-1-7803125 run-for-all are the new organisers. Not sure of the route, if it will alter completely or stay the same. Either way, roads will still close, much to the horror of fruity feeders across the steel city. In the last year i've run marathons and halfs and 10k races on the roads in Worksop, Ackworth, Clowne, Brighton, Sheffield, Stockport, Hampton Court, the Isle of Wight, Dewsbury & Eyam amongst others. I've run one round the racing track at Donngington Park. The track race was dismal, boring after the first lap, and utterly lacking in atmosphere with no passers by, support or even just something to look at. I wonder if residents of these much smaller towns were as miserable as the outliers on this thread? As far as i am aware, no incidents of note were reported, but i suppose that these races may have created swathes of lost contracts, unemployment, economic destitution and fruit rage across large swathes of the UK. Usually the towns seem to be delighted - local businesses for some reason seem keen to welcome a few thousand extra people in a captive environment on a quiet Sunday morning. Can't imagine why. There are plenty of off road and trail races which i have also run, that don't cause any closures. However, these days the majority of my running is done as a guide to my blind friend. It is not usually appropriate to try and run a blind man up a jagged path up a fell - meaning that closed road races are the only practical way for him to race. The same will apply for fun runners to whom an off road course would be daunting. I'm massively looking forward to Sunday. We've intentionally planned to run the Liverpool marathon rather than Manchester just to make sure we could run in this years Sheffield half. As the only road half marathon in my 'home' town, it's a big deal for me, so it's a real shame (but no surprise on here) to read so much one-eyed whinging. Litterally tens of thousands of races are held across the UK every year - it's really not that unusual. There's already been the Dronfield 10k this year, and i believe it passed without the government having to call an emergency meeting of the Cobra committee. If you fear you may have problems on the day, you could mitigate your issues with a very small amount of planning then for the sake of 1% of the effort being put in by those competing.

oh deffinately - not going near it! just hoping to get an idea of what i might be looking at before the pros come round - pre warned is pre armed!

Hello... two double sockets in our living room have stopped working - either side of the bay window. I was charging a phone, heard a crackling noise (sounded like it was coming from the charger / the socket, then the socket being used went dead. subsequently realised the socket on the other side of the room was also now dead. all other electrical outlets are working, and the fuse board wasn't triggered. I'm unsure about the age / state of our wiring, though we have a modern RCD fuse box, and the wires leading to sockets on skirting boards is plastic, not old rubber or lead. i hope this is a simple fault and not a full on electrical rewire style upheaval, as we simply don't have the cash right now! :S any ideas or advice from any sparkys?

hope it's a success, and i'll be tempted to go and watch some, and maybe even volunteer - but not too desperately disappointed it's not starting / finishing in sheffield at any point - i suspect it will fringe the city for a few scenic climbs on the middle stage. It's clearly not the TDF, and won't be likely to have anything like the impact or draw - the teams involved will be category b, with a sprinkling of well-ish known names being bunged to compete with threadbare support - a second string team sky led by geraint thomas or similar. it takes years of hard work and profile building to get an event recognised - unless you can chuck tens of millions at it like Dubai. TDY might build into something really good, but it will be pretty much relying on novelty and a goodwill hangover this time round, and as such Sheff is probably better of not risking it.

my mind boggles at how ready so many people are to swallow the 'cut to reduce the deficit line'. Central Govt. (and local govt.) roll everything up into one set of headline figures and ignore the nuances. A huge chunk of our national collective borrowing is involved in long term investment - road building, house building, transport infrastructure, power stations, flood defenses, investments in local and overseas projects with good long term returns, research and development that yields long term financial returns, oil exploration etc, and a whole host of prudent ventures. It would be absurd to cut these projects, as they ultimately drive the country forward, and increase the net value of the UK. the bizarre thing is rolling up that kind of spending in one great big ball and mixing it up with the costs of education, social care etc, and then wagging the finger at unattractive and expensive necessities. since the govt. and the media have encouraged people to view national spending as somehow similar to domestic household spending, how about looking at it like this: You have a good job, with a high income. as such you have a big but very affordable mortgage on a house that is worth much much more than you owe on it. during the course of the year, you decide that you need to re glaze the windows, tarmac the drive, have a new roof and a new boiler and maybe an extension, all of which increases the value of the house. to pay for this, do you: a) borrow the money at very affordable rates, and lump it in to your mortgage, knowing that your income is 100% secure b) sack the nurse who looks after your disabled child, as she isn't adding to the value of the house that's the crap we are swallowing right now. Yes, it would be better if we had a budget surplus, and could invest directly from our income, but that's not been the economic reality for the UK, or indeed much of the western world for a long time. I dont disagree that making actual efficiency savings would be a good thing, but we have accepted a pile of really unpleasant cuts that damage the lives of the most vulnerable based on a dishonest set of figures promoted by people who only have ideological self interest at heart. what can a local council, stripped of its power to control its own budget in any meaningful way do apart from having to keep smashing the services that it has left, knowing that it will largely be it, not the national govt. that takes the blame. what should Sheffield do? keep investing where it can - the city is improving - buildings are going up, the city is looking in better shape than it did 10 years ago. What can it cut? Who knows - but without doubt, a whole bunch of people are going to end up suffering, and you can guarantee it will disproportionately be those who have it worse that get it worse.

if you've got a strong enough idea for a business, have you looked at using these? https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/business-economy/development/first-point-business.html if not direct funding, at least the right advice, direction and help for you to access what you need. and if you are entrepreneurial enough, you could try crowdfunding to raise the capital you need. If your IT skills are up to scratch, a web presence, some social media and then use something like kickstarter to try and raise what you need to get started.

crappy situation - and you have my empathy. Ironically, when i was in a similar boat, and unable to get to where i wanted to be, i worked for ladbrokes on a casual contract for 18 months - wasn't good pay, or what i wanted to do, be kept me going. Appreciate even those jobs aren't as common as they once were - though you might be surprised. however, not sure how SCC can carry the can for your lack of work. Minimum wage, apprenticeships and zero hour contracts are all central govt. related - SCC can't make companies take people on - all they can do is try to encourage jobs to the area by making the environment suitable - and it does look like something they are trying to do. outside of your current skills, is there a tottaly different type of career you'd like to be in? maybe look into training and apprenticeships in something completely new that really interests you....? the money would still be crap, but at least it might be more fun, and could lead to more.

thing is, i have empathy - from a lot of perspectives, it must look like the council is behind a great many of the ills that are effecting people - i'm utterly convinced that this was the central govt plan - hamstring councils by first reducing their powers year on year, and then drop their budgets so massively that they have little choice but to shaft people, making it look like it's a local 'choice'. i think sheffield have taken some really positive decisions to finally get things moving - and from my fortunate position of not having to rely on that many council run services, i've been largely unaffected by the bad stuff. it's just maddening to see the two things getting mixed up though - they bad things the council has been forced into doing (reducing services in the areas they are needed most) confused with things they don't do (national planning laws). To be utterly clear over bookmakers - in the majority of cases, bookmakers dont even need to apply for permission, due to their retail classification - ergo the council cant prevent them. all they can do is apply to the govt to intervene, which they almost certainly wont, and will subsequently fine the local council! its only certain circumstances where the council can refuse them using the existing laws. but as pointed out by sgtkate - what i really should just say is; yes, it's all SCC fault. all of it. hell in a handbasket, health and safety gone mad, political correctness has let poundland mosque cyclists benefit scrounger single mums from poland take over.

They can not, by law, turn down an application from a bookmaker. they are not treated in law as any different to a variety of other types of shop. if the coucil said no, they would be sued, and they would lose. the only people who can change that are private landlords, who could chose to leave their shop empty, or the national govt. who could change the law. do you understand yet? the council is not an omnipotent power - it only controls a handful of the things, and even then, has a lot of constrains on what it can do.

you didn't notice the multi-million pound regeneration of the cathedral, with workmen (being paid to do a job) and hoarding surrounding it for the best part of a year?? Like you cant see the construction work on arundel gate, the peace gardens, the light cinema on the moor, the huge sheff uni building at univerity tram stop, the new roads, the new sainsburys, asda, aldi along the penistone road, the redevelopment of the old GPO at fitzallen square, the new market, the new houses on infirmary road, the redevelopment of the park hill complex, the UTC on matilda street, countless of new builds from public to private, housing to retail, business to education, pubs, restraunts, entertainment venues, a constant stream of redevelopment beyond anything i've seen anywhere i've lived - and i've lived in the south east, south west, midlands, london - in a mixture of areas. What is happening now is genuine investment from a lot of directions, and it has undeniably created new jobs and new environment in the city. at this point i question your powers of observation, which probably calls most of your opinions into questionable territory....

http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/councils-are-almost-powerless-to-prevent-the-spread-of-betting-shops-on-local-high-streets/ the council has virtually no powers to stop them - unless you want them to get sued again..... the conservative govt would need to change the law to let them - but that would likely be anti business from a Tory perspective - who doubtlessly also have plenty of donors and personal interest in the highly profitable ventures in the gambling industry.... You really do have an odd view of how powerful the collection of local councilors are, working like grandmasters of the universe for their mighty salary of £11,750 a year.....

in hillsborough, they've completed the trick and turned ladbrokes back into an empty shop! turns out the free market will decide when things will succeed or fail after all! Retail is a national issue, and shops closing is an issue in every town and city - we have it better than many places - with new developments, a new market and independent & pop up traders filling spaces left by failing chains. Our compact city centre might actually be helping us out, condensing passing trade, and keeping sheff a good bet for certain types of retail. compared to some places i've visited recently, our retail looks pretty vibrant. bear in mind the council have 0% control over business rates, and 0% control over private shop rent levels.

like i said, all depends on what blinkers you look through. Significant road works all over penistone road / wadsley, alongside the newly built sainsburys, that have also bought new jobs to the area. roads are being done area by area, on a schedule. my road is miles off, but its still coming. unless you never leave your own small patch, i refuse to believe you haven't seen them working?! From my computer i can hear four separate sets of builders working on sites in the city centre - 2 for the Hallam Uni, building new departments, bringing more funding, international and national students and jobs to the city. The others are private sector developments, doing similar for business. in terms of youth employment and prospects - not sure what you expect of the local council - especially when they have less money than ever. However, if they cant employ directly, they do seem to be encouraging investment - hence all the building work in the city. The unemployment rate has dropped in the city according to the stats, with youth unemployment dropping faster than the national trends. New UTC in the city seems to be doing a good job too, helping youth prospect, and education in general. Also newly built, bringing new jobs..... i thing people are conflating national problems with local ones. Everyone has taken a kicking in the recession, except the top couple of %, why would sheffield be any different?

yes, and while oxford and norwich are languishing under oppressive socialist regimes..... just pointing out that you were completely wrong in your claim that sheffield is unique. if you want to change the argument to 'all working class problems are labour's fault', then go for it. you'll be wrong twice in one thread..... another thread that relies on mud tinted spectacles - 6 years in, and despite the relentless cuts that all councils have had pushed onto them, from my perspective, the council seem to be doing pretty well in encouraging development in the city centre - cranes everywhere atm, at least a dozen major contstruction and regeneration projects across the city centre, roads being resurfaced and re-lit across the whole city, all kinds of things happening. can't say i noticed the lib dems doing as much during their chance. This city has taken a 30 year hammering for all kinds of reasons - many of them political, some of them just bad luck, but genuinely seems to be doing a lot to finally make the most of what it has - but i suppose people will only ever see things through their own bias filters. ---------- Post added 04-12-2014 at 10:53 ---------- and just to be clear, the others in the first section are defined as metropolitan councils - and as such will have similar populations within their wards as Sheffield city council, and similar remits, budgets and responsibilities. Your opinion of their size and importance is irrelevant.

okay, i'll take the bait. amongst major city councils: liverpool, manchester, gateshead, newcastle, all tory free. then many more district councils; chesterfield, bolsover, ashfield, nuneaton, redditch, oxford and norwich are all tory free. big chunks of london have no tory coverage - though obviously the london assembly is lead by one of the worst. still, don't let the diverse reality distract you from your narrow imagination.