There is a North/South divide in Sheffield. Shame on us!

[go4it 10]

I am using the North/South divide as a metaphor.

 

I take my kids out and about when I am of work, we go all over the place. If the kids see a park or playground on our travels, they pester me into submission to stop the car (other parent's will sympathize with this:().

 

I have noticed a huge difference between playgrounds in different parts of the city.

 

Parks in the more affluent parts of the city (lets call them South) have up to the minute apparatus with child safe surfaces.

 

The less affluent areas (lets call them North) have parks with worn out apparatus, and dangerous tarmac floor surfaces.

 

My observation’s expanded to the general appearance of these areas. South, well cared for with an obvious injection of cash from somewhere?! North, run down and little attention to the surroundings.

 

I am sure that I am not the only one to notice this divide, I just can't work out the reasons for it.

 

Actually the divide is the other way round - the North has better play equipment than the South.

 

The reason for this - it is all paid for by pots of money from the Council. People will talk about 'community involvement' in these areas, but that is literally asking 'Tracey', who has 2 young kids, what see wants to see in the park whilst she has a fag when her kids are on the swings.

 

I'm not sure whether the go ahead for these playgrounds was when Sheffield was Labour or Lib Dem - although I would guess Labour.

 

Community involvement in the South is regular meetings, fundraising events etc etc. These groups of people work endlessly as there is no pot of money for their playground, so they have to fund it themselves. As a result you get playgrounds like Endcliffe Park - a massive success down to proper community involvement.

 

As a city we continue to do everything for the North. I can't fault the North - why bother to do something when someone is going to do it for you. It's like with the swimming - instead of paying £2 to go for a swim (and learning that services cost money) some Labour councillors kicked up a fuss and decided to find some money so they could swim for free. What does this teach anyone?

[Greybeard 10]

It's like with the swimming - instead of paying £2 to go for a swim (and learning that services cost money) some Labour councillors kicked up a fuss and decided to find some money so they could swim for free. What does this teach anyone?

 

That Labour councillors look after number one ??

[Dozy 11]

Actually the divide is the other way round - the North has better play equipment than the South.

 

The reason for this - it is all paid for by pots of money from the Council. People will talk about 'community involvement' in these areas, but that is literally asking 'Tracey', who has 2 young kids, what see wants to see in the park whilst she has a fag when her kids are on the swings.

 

I'm not sure whether the go ahead for these playgrounds was when Sheffield was Labour or Lib Dem - although I would guess Labour.

 

Community involvement in the South is regular meetings, fundraising events etc etc. These groups of people work endlessly as there is no pot of money for their playground, so they have to fund it themselves. As a result you get playgrounds like Endcliffe Park - a massive success down to proper community involvement.

 

As a city we continue to do everything for the North. I can't fault the North - why bother to do something when someone is going to do it for you. It's like with the swimming - instead of paying £2 to go for a swim (and learning that services cost money) some Labour councillors kicked up a fuss and decided to find some money so they could swim for free. What does this teach anyone?

My bold

 

Absolute tosh! The Council doesn't have pots of money that it hands out, it has very little money. This is why Friends groups have to put in funding bids to access money from the Lottery, etc. If they're lucky, they'll get some matched funding from the Council.

 

And writing funding bids involves a hell of a lot more work than asking "Tracey" what she wants in the park. It can involve any number of people/groups working together to meet the criteria for funding.

 

You seem to share a somewhat common misconception that people who live in poor areas get everything handed to them on a plate in the name of regeneration.

[viney40 10]

Yes, of course it is, dear.

 

 

(Nurse, nurse - I think it's time for Mr Viney's next lot of tablets!)

 

Great post Dozy.

[go4it 10]

You seem to share a somewhat common misconception that people who live in poor areas get everything handed to them on a plate in the name of regeneration.

 

I'm sorry but in deprived areas that is the case.

 

It is more so a case of 'what will happen if we don't spend this money and do it for them'. Money is spent on deprived areas in the hope that it will reduce anti-social behaviour and crime.

 

Now if people in the communities were left to do it all themselves then lets face nothing would happen. No playgrounds, no facilities, no activities. Anti-social behaviour increases, crime goes up. Hence people jump in to do it for them.

 

All the park programmes have costs a silly amount of money - all the people involved in trusts and agencies - all justified in the name of regeneration. The true community spirit is in places like Endcliffe where a group of people (all unpaid) have got together and said - 'We want this, it costs X, lets fundraise X and build it'.

[Dan_Ashcroft 10]

The big divide in Sheffield has always been between the rich West and the poor East.

 

It goes back to the 18th and 19th centuries. The prevailing wind is from the west so the rich lived up wind from the factories and the poor lived down wind from them.

 

To this day the posh leafy suburbs are still in the West and the more deprived workers' housing is in the East.

[Dozy 11]

Great post Dozy.

 

No more than you deserve, my dear!

[fox20thc 10]

OK, I havent read the following pages yet, and somebody may have already said it, but Page Hall residents a few years back decided to try entering In Bloom and won the silver gilt award in Sheffield and a neighbourhood certificate of merit award at Britain in Bloom. There was a double page spread in the star on it, I remember that!

And Firth Park enters every year I think - as do many of the less afluent areas of town.

 

ETA the Page Hall in bloom project was entirely led by the community, and got people from all backgrounds involved. The kids play park thingy up at Firth Park looks pretty good (OK, I am not a kid and I haven't been up-close, but it looks good when you walk past) and there was somewhere else froma poorer area, not sure which one, where local residents managed to raise the money for a kids play park thingy.

 

So I think the argument that people in poorer areas can't be bothered or lack community spirit is erroneous

I second that see here

[cgksheff 44]

.........

All the park programmes have costs a silly amount of money .........

 

It is disgraceful how much Council departments suck back money from total agreed funds.

 

Staff already being paid in Planning, P&C, Property etc. all get allocated their pound of flesh, and then only licensed/approved contractors can supply and install which means that a set of swings can easily cost £10,000.

[Darth Vader 10]

Since when has Firth Park been affluent?

 

Obviously, not a Historian.

[Dozy 11]

I'm sorry but in deprived areas that is the case.

 

It is more so a case of 'what will happen if we don't spend this money and do it for them'. Money is spent on deprived areas in the hope that it will reduce anti-social behaviour and crime.

 

Now if people in the communities were left to do it all themselves then lets face nothing would happen. No playgrounds, no facilities, no activities. Anti-social behaviour increases, crime goes up. Hence people jump in to do it for them.

 

All the park programmes have costs a silly amount of money - all the people involved in trusts and agencies - all justified in the name of regeneration. The true community spirit is in places like Endcliffe where a group of people (all unpaid) have got together and said - 'We want this, it costs X, lets fundraise X and build it'.

My bold

 

Sorry, but you really are talking through the wrong orifice. I've been marginally involved in getting money for projects in "deprived" areas for years, and it really isn't just chucked at us. For a kick off, a lot of the money comes from national or regional pots, which means you're bidding against every other deprived area which qualifies.

 

If it was as simple as people going round asking us what we wanted and then just handing over the money, the lives of local community activists would be a hell of a lot easier than it is in reality.

 

As for the Endcliffe park group raising all the money for the playground themselves, do you really think they managed to get together £293,000 by rattling tins and having jumble sales? They did exactly what every other group does - applied for funding and got it:

 

"Funds for the playground were raised from a number of sources including the Big Lottery, Veoila Environmental Trust, Hallam FM Cash For Kids and Arts Council England."

 

Which is exactly what groups in deprived areas do - and we also do it for nowt! Or do you the Council also goes round handing us handfuls of dosh for our voluntary work?

[ruffday 10]

Just seen this thread and i must say its more an east/west divide.

As the Manor,intake,hansworth and hackenthorpe are hardy rich affluent areas and are all in the south east of sheffield.