ricm

I have found many links for recycling green waste through Sheffield Council/Veolia but I can't find a link for the sale of the finished compost. Does anyone know where Sheffield Council sells its compost/soil improver/soil conditioner? Thanks, Ric

I recall it's going to pass straight through the Wheeltappers Arms. He's really not pleased.

As a Sheffield resident I would never use HS2 at Meadowhall. Why travel out there, wait, change trains or tram only to spend possibly more time doing that then get on a slower direct train from Sheffield Midland? And how does either option serve all the people of South Yorkshire? Someone, somewhere is going to have a difficult journey to connect with HS2. And how does shaving minutes of the journey miraculously bring prosperity, more jobs, inward investment to the region? I find the case overstated. I think all most people want is a commitment to a rail network that continues to be improved everywhere over time. A single HS line can only ever benefit a few alongside or near to the direct route. I'd rather see a long-term solution that benefits "the many" by upgrading the existing network for all the major towns together with improved connecting links. Now if HS2 were the beginning of that wider network that would be different...

Hi, I just wanted to add my latest experience to this thread. I have no idea about the work that Remar undertakes both in this country and abroad. I chose Remar for the reason that my mother's house needed to be cleared for sale. We wanted all of the furniture to go to charity. We knew that Remar took large electrical items so they were an obvious choice for the fridge, freezer and washing machine. We also had a double bed (without the fire safety label) and a settee, footstool and chair (with a fire safety label) plus a few other small items. I was told when I made the arrangements for collection over the phone that without a fire safety label the items could be taken but only for disposal and that there would be a charge. I had no problem with that. On arrival the various items were checked over. The bed with no label incurred a £30 disposal fee. The settee with full safety labels, was said to be "saggy" but to be honest it was in great condition. The driver said he didn't want it but would take it away for a fee. Another £30 was added to the disposal fee. £60 in total. There was no official documentation by way of receipt, just cash in hand. The driver said that he and his mate were volunteers and that it would cost them to dispose of the items. I have no disagreement with the fact that disposal does cost. But how much is realistic? And why no book of receipts? Why even no paper, pen or anything else for the driver to sign? What records are kept of income and expenditure or declared to Inland Revenue? Surely there needs to be some record, especially if a proportion of all clearances result in some items for disposal? If so, then the cash in hand per day for such volunteers would not be insignificant. Personally I felt I was over a barrel given the impending completion date for the sale of the property. It's not so much the money but the correctness of the procedure, the lack of any audit trail. However, I was told that if I popped into Remar I could obtain a receipt. But for how many people is this convenient? And how often does this happen? I wish Remar well. It has obvious successes and that is a good thing. Many of the items we gave will be sold and there ought to be a corresponding benefit to those in need. However I personally would never use them again. I was left feeling extremely uncomfortable with the "disposal" arrangement. I am not saying that there was anything untowards but in future I would want to donate to a charity with full transparency and accountability with appropriate record keeping at the point of transfer - especially if it involves a payment.

Yes, I know it isn't Christmas, but I have an 8' container tree that didn't survive the winter and I'd like to replace it as soon as possible. Anyone know local suppliers where I can view before buying? Thanks, Ric

Thank you - another good idea. I think Tuesday I have lots of potential venues to call. Thanks everyone for your suggestions. Ric

Quite a wide area: Hillsborough and on into town or from town up towards Shirecliffe or from town up towards Crookes. ---------- Post added 26-05-2014 at 09:28 ---------- I had wondered about that - not sure if they would object or not but I can always phone up and ask. The fact that you have seen this at the library is encouraging. Thanks.

Hi, Does anyone know of a venue where I can give an adult learner a couple of hours tuition a week? Somewhere fairly quiet? Alternatively anyone know where I can hire a desk for an hour or two a week? I have an adult learner who wants to return to studying and needs a neutral, quiet space away from distractions at home. Thanks.

We have received our final prices too. Must say I am very disappointed in the savings quoted - and the terminal bonus in over a year's time seems a long, long way off. All of this prompted me to do some checks with MoneySupermarket, Uswitch and Which? all of whom came up with exactly the same results. The best potential bargains are from Spark Energy. But then I checked the internet to see if there were problems with this new company. The number of complaints and poor ratings said it all. Although the potential savings are less with other suppliers their customer satisfaction ratings are much better. For us, nPower seems OK (they are our current supplier). Which? also provides ratings for value for money, customer satisfaction, etc - information that I regard as highly valuable given the number of sharks out there. SSE has good customer satisfaction rating and relativeley good potential savings. I note also that the Co-Op has a very good rating and 100% renewable energy supplies - not the greatest savings but certainly, despite their relativley low position in the price wars, one that is better than the Sainsbury deal provided via iChoosr (the company working on behalf of the Shefield City Council). I expected better from this collective deal/auction and wonder how much money has been spent (wasted?) by the Council on the leaflets, web site, etc. etc, especially when there are perfectly good comparison websites out there where you can (potentially) get much better savings depending on the tarrif you currently enjoy. Ric

On the news the poor turnout was quoted as "voter apathy" and that next time people would vote because of the obvious benefits. To me it is nothing to do with apathy. It is a shambolic pretense that electing a commissioner is a democratic initiative and that because of this we can all have a say. £100,000,000 is quoted as the cost. This amount of money is an utter disgrace. I, and perhaps many others, did not vote becaue it is a farce. I think the spin doctors need to admit they got it wrong and have wasted a shed-load of money. Weren't the police always accountable? Didn't we always have a say? Or are we being conned that now our "say" means more?

Thank you both. UglyBob: In fact the link to installers proved to be quite prolific in coming up with a number of contacts. I've e-mailed most and now awaiting replies. Corgigas: I shall look up 'Mr.Peacock' and see if he is interested. Regards all, Ric

I'm finding it really hard to find a fully-accredited Viessmann engineer to service a boiler. Has anyone else had the same problem? Who did you eventually manage to find?

You know... I was told I should have got a dog!

I make no apologies for this long post. You don’t have to read it, so move on... I quote: "All those people who are worried about meeting a dog on the Commons should consider what it will be like to meet a two ton highland cow face to face. It won’t be on a lead and there will be no owner to call it away. It’s faeces will also be a much larger problem in every sense of the word, especially as they can transmit E-coli." I think we need to elevate the level of debate here. I've worked with cows and horses and have learnt to show respect to both. I have owned and looked after dogs and no dog ever, that I did not feel I could recall or control, was ever allowed off the lead in public spaces. Cruel? No. The dogs for which I was responsible learned control, accordingly were happy and I, benefitting from this arrangement, knew I could trust them implicitly. So they were let of the lead. Often. But is it so for the dozens of wayward dogs I see on the Common whose owners shout and scream after their dogs and wonder why the dog ignores them? Well... their shouting and screaming was ignored long ago when they lost (or never gained) control. And how often do I hear owners scolding their dogs not to leap up, or not to do this or do that as if suddenly, by evolution of unparalleled speed, their dog has acquired the gift of language or reason. We are not taken in. We know these people have absolutely no control and the pretence is transparent. I do, however, feel sorry for the vast majority of dog owners who enjoy our Common alongside the most perfectly controlled and happy dogs who end up being “tarred with the same brush”. Well done all those who are responsible owners! People want to enjoy the Common as a quiet place, a time to get away from the rush, panic and deadlines of contemporary living. People want to enjoy it for the exercise it gives, for the fresh air. They do not deserve other people’s uncontrolled dogs inflicted on them. If you don’t like this view then maybe you are in denial? It is utterly vacuous to bring into comparison the notion that cows will not be on a lead or have no owner to call it away. By the same argument do we close off thousands of public footpaths passing through farmland where cows, bullocks and bulls roam freely? Are you not being just a tad alarmist? Now to transmissible diseases. Tell my why you think the E. Coli in cow faeces is worse than the E. Coli in dog faeces. Which strain of E. Coli do you have in mind? Presumably, since you do not mention it, you have no objection at all to the other transmissible diseases in dog faeces such as Parvo Virus (one of the deadliest diseases in the dog population, particularly among puppies). Or how about whipworms (blood suckers, tunnelling into the wall of the intestine with vomiting, diarrhoea and weight loss as common symptoms). Or how about hookworms, roundworms, Giardia and Cocciia? Not convinced? Then let’s throw in Campylobacter or how about Salmonella? Bah! Mere nothings! Or how about cryptosporidium or Toxocariasis? Hmmm..... Or do I try to defeat by assumption? If so, my apologies. Does it not for one moment cross your mind that there is a thing called diversity? That different habitats each support and sustain a whole range of different species? Perhaps as a tree lover you don’t care about diversity and care only about trees – or do I read too much into your name? Please, this is NOT an argument about dogs, it is about our environment, the quality and diversity of our environment and our duty of care to a wider range of species and not just those that like woodland. You might not like the view that the bracken and the trees threaten other species but the facts are there for all to see. How much of the view across our landscape is now hidden by trees where formerly as youngsters we were able to enjoy those views? How much of our countryside is gradually being swamped particularly by birch and by bracken? And do these species know when to stop? They do not. They advance because they have the built-in advantage over more delicate species. Eventually, without management, our Common will become woodland populated dominantly by birch, bramble and bracken. The distant views for us to enjoy will be lost. The grass and heath land habitats needed by many species will be lost. We will all be losers unless we intervene. The debate is and ought to be about how we intervene. Or do we do nothing as the “Wadsley self-willed land” dreamers believe we should? Google it if you need to. You might be led to believe that I do not believe in nature taking its course or that I dislike trees intensely. Actually I don’t. We really do need land left to its own devices; we really do need more trees and more carbon-sinking species than at any other recent time. But has anyone ever stopped to consider what is appropriate for the scale of wilderness, what is appropriate for genuine woodland might not be appropriate for our tiny little 0.4 sq km of Common? We enjoy a legacy and diversity that will change, that has changed. It was not so long ago there were hardly any trees on the Common. Photos taken just after the turn of the last century prove this. Fact. The Ordnance Survey placed the trig point on Loxley Edge because it could be seen for miles around. There were then no trees to obscure it. Fact. The mining for ganister and coal on the Common, the use of the Common as a resource for fuel left the Common denuded of trees. Succession led to grass and heather and bilberry. Hot on the heels of those has been bracken, bramble and birch. Left unchecked they will strangulate and dominate the landscape. It’s a decision to make isn’t it? Restore the Common to a pre-industrialised, pre-enclosure era and let it be covered by whatever will grow. Or restore it to the bleak, scraped soil of the early 1900’s when the soil became acidic, having lost the nutrients from leaf fall. Or restore it to the grassland and heath land it became during the 20th century. Or do we... and this is the new thing, this is the exciting thing, manage it? Accept that humans can work with nature and not always exploit it. Accept that we are part of nature and can manage a tiny area of a legacy for the enjoyment of all the people of Sheffield. Now I vote in favour of balance and diversity. I think the slopes and flanks can and should enjoy the natural succession of birch. If bracken comes with this then... OK, I will have to accept that too even though it harbours the ticks that transmit Lyme disease. Equally I think the upper reaches of the Common can be maintained as a different habitat; open, grass, heather and bilberry and the flowers also that thrive in that environment. After all those flowers just might help our declining bee population. If cleared of tree and bracken the upper reaches will also yield the most wonderful views to the distant hills, towards Sheffield and beyond. Won’t then we have the very best of both worlds? Won’t we have diversity? Won’t then we be able to look back and think we managed a good balance? The question is then: How do we do this? The tree huggers will bleat and complain and, if they win, we will end up with a monoculture of birch. So if not cattle, just how should we achieve the very best diversity? That is where the debate should be. The next question is: how many of us will get up there and volunteer to help clear the bracken and the birch consistently year-on-year? Will the cattle do this for us? I honestly don’t know, but please don’t let this important debate descend to measuring the relative sizes of the droppings of herbivores v. carnivores.

Clearly it only had eyes for ewe.

Have you by any chance been watching "The invasion of the body snatchers"? Because these people sound universally dreadful. Nasy, nasty people. Nastier than the nastiest nasty things, even. Not a single decent thought or feeling in their entire miserable bodies, I bet. Do you think we should ship them off the planet with all the telephone sanitizers and other moral derelicts? Would that help you feel better?

Well... glad to see your paws only get muddy. I'm fed up of cleaning off dog poo. As a responsible dog career does it not depress you equally? And does it not depress you that we are about to lose a valuable and endangered habitat? If not cattle then what solution do you propose?

Could not agree more. The Common has become just one big dog toilet and if stepping in it is not enough we now have artistically arranged bags of the stuff hanging from trees for the rest of us to look at. It's about preserving lowland heath. Responsible dog owners have nothing to fear because, with their well-trained dogs under control, their dogs will be safe. It's only the irresponsible owners with poo-fouling-out-of-control dogs that seem to be bleating...

I want one! A reverse acting dog whistle. Brilliant!

Good grief... Cows don't poo do they??? How awful. This plan will definitely flop.

That is definitely the start of another thread!

Who gives a flying f***? Bus shelters are in the open air. What can i say....? They are in the open air!; even with one side open just how many ppm are you really going to breathe in and what is the risk compared to all the total **** we eat in processed food? Parks are in the open air; the entire outside is, er, in the open air. Stop arguing about the principle and get a grip on what the real risks are. Or do you just delight in raising uinnecessarily the level of fear?

Your neighbours are worse than retards. Either: a) move away or b) stick it out and get the council to help After two years and the Council have proved totally ineffective, go for option a). Or go for option a) now and save two years.

I'm not sure nobody has complained.... See http://tvnz.co.nz/q-and-a-news/foilc-acid-debate-reignited-2839756 and a great many other sites Sure there are proven benefits to folic acid supplements but the real issue is mass medication. Teeth dropping out? educate people to clean teeth properly and get a balanced diet or medicate everyone en-masse? Feelin a bit depressed? Solve the monetary problems or add a bit of diazepam to the water. Disillusioned with politics on the grounds that politicians seem to be hell bent on claiming any expense they feel thay can justify short of going to prison? Fortunatley there is yet no drug to support the wiling suspension of disbelief. Yet. Ric

Years ago ("when I were a lad...") I remember bin men having to carry tubs down the path, upturn the contents of the bin into the tub and then, with great style, swing the tub up and onto the shoulder so the tub could be carried along the path to the dust cart to be emptied. Manuualy intensive and very heavy work. Some years later there was a revolution in emptying bins: bin men appeared with trolleys that hooked under the handles and enabled the collector to trundle the bin down the path to the refuse cart where a device would grab the bin, lift and invert the contents into the cart and return the bin to the collector where once again the trolley could be hooked under the handle so the bin could be wheeled back to its proper place. No more lifting! Progress! Many years later there was another revolution: the wheelie bin. Why not get each householder to do all ther wheeeling about and combine the bin and trolley into one? Massive savings in time and effort and although a few people were resistant at first, most people eventually accepted it was a very good system indeed. I accept not all people thionk so, but definitely most people do. Many years later the principle was extended to recycling. My mother has a green wheelie bin and it works very well indeed. Sheffield City Council have not adopted green wheelie bins for garden waste recycling but I live in the hope they will extend it to my side of the City (but see below). They too rely on residents to wheel the bin out and from then on the cart lifts and emties the contents with ease. I am amazed at the speed with which wheelie bins are emptied. And since wages cost ratepayer's money, then making the system more efficient has my vote. Around the same time we had blue wheelie bins for paper. We could fill up the bin with paper waste and wheel the bin out when full and the paper inside would stay dry nomatter whether or not we skipped a collection date or not. Waiting until the blue bin was nearly full is a very efficient way of collecting waste. If you were a householder who had lots of papers and magazines you could even request an additional blue bin. Brilliant! Top marks to SCC. For the vast majority of people blue wheelie bins and green wheelie bins worked very well. But for some people the wheelie bin was awkward or impossible - either there was no storage space or no easy acecss or interfered with disabled access or there might be a whole load of steps.... But the thing is.... we know which roads and houses have problems and we know what those difficulties are. One size does not fit everything and for these people a box may be better than a wheelie bin. But why not provide good local solutions to local situations? For me I regret the loss of my two blue wheelie bins for paper. I do not want four or five boxes (the equivalent of 2 bins) to do the same job. I do not want a shower cap so the puddles of rain build up in the middle. I do not want them in my garage. The blue wheelie bins were great. Why fix what wasn't broken in the first place? I do not want boxes. So when it comes to recylcling plastics/tins/glass, yes, absolutely yes, let's (for most people) have another wheelie bin but don't for a single minute think that lifting boxes of paper, storing boxes of paper outside or in one's shed/conservatory/garage or whatever, or having the shower caps blown of boxes of paper is progress. Ask Stocksbridge residents about their previous experience. The need for recycling and the pressure for conserving resources will increase dramatically in the years to come. We need to recycle not just "bottle-shaped" plastics but all those other plastics that have the recycle logo that we know can be recycled if we have the technology. And whatever the arguments against, we must develop those technologies, sooner rather than later. It really does matter. Eventually it will matter on economic grounds but right now it matters in any case for the environment. SCC needs to embrace this wider recycling issue. Wheelie bins are the way to help most people (not all, but most) to recycle. They are convenient and, for paper, keep the contents dry and avoid lifting anything. They are also eminently suitable for non-recyclable waste (black bins), recyclable garden waste (green bins) and for paper (blue bins). I am sure they will be equally succesful for plastics/glass/cans. And they don't involve lifting. But why are we incapable of local solutions? If we know 30 roads in a district in Sheffield are almost impossible for wheelie bins to be used why can't we arrange boxes (or whatever) for those residents? And for those residents who have no problem in having three or four different wheelie bins, why can't we have them? Was anyone ever asked what would help most to recycle all we need to? I was never asked, were you? Already the green wheelie bins are to be replaced by hessian sacks (personally I think it sucks, but you may love hessian). The blue wheelie bins for paper are to be replaced by blue boxes (personally I think boxes suck but you might love them) I have already asked the Council to take my blue box away but I am happy to I recognise you might like your blue box because it works for you. But... when I was a kid progress was synonymous with wheels rather than lifting and carrying. You tell me why reverting to a pre-wheel civilisation is progress. Ric