Summer's moving on and things are starting
to happen in Burngreave. Here's a few of the things that your Area Panel
has been involved in.
AREA PANEL, 13 JULY
This was a great event, the best Area Panel yet in Burngreave,
certainly in my time in post.
We had around 60 people attend from all parts of Burngreave.
Long may it continue.
We had some very lively debates around parking at Fir Vale, about the progress of New Deal and about local support for the Vestry Hall renovation project. There was a lot of interest in the feedback from recent meetings on road safety plans for the area. The biggest debate of the night was on street cleaning issues with Council Officers explaining what services are available. They'll be coming back to the next Panel meeting in September to report on the success of the local cleanup campaign that's been in the last two editions of The Messenger.
It was also the first Area Panel under the guidance of the new Chair Ibrar Hussain. He let everyone have their say but he also made sure no-one hogged the floor !
COUNCILLORS' SURGERIES
Councillors Jones, Hussain and Watson hold their surgeries on a Saturday, at Burngreave Library, between 11am and noon.
There are none in August but they begin again on 2nd September,
starting with Ibrar , then Steve and then John.
There are also surgeries at the Pakistani Advice Centre on Owler Lane.
Second Tuesday every ,Month - Cllr Hussain, 4th Tuesday - Cllr Alan Law
Can we also send our good wishes to John Watson who is not well.
CARWOOD PLAN
DO YOU LIVE ON THE CARWOOD ESTATE ?
If so, your Area Panel would like to hear from you on what you think would make it abetter place to live. We're going to pull together your ideas and approach theCouncil to try and bring them about.
Ideas please , in writing either to me at the address below or your local Councillors Ibrar Hussain or Steve Jones , Old Town Hall,Sheffield S1 2HH
Wrinkles
show in Facelift Scheme
The second phase of the Council's £850 000
Facelift scheme got off to a shaky start over the summer. 120 residents
on Burngreave Road can have the outside of their houses cleaned, pointed,
painted, have the gutters sorted out and boundary walls rebuilt as part
of an area-wide renewal scheme.
Architectural Features Destroyed
Unfortunately, when the Council called a meeting to launch
the second phase of the Facelift, a number of residents from phase one,
on Rock Street, turned up to complain.
Complaints came mainly from residents of detached and semi-detached houses
who claimed that unique architectural features had been destroyed and
that the Council contract allowed builders to take away stone and sell
it.
Claims of shoddy work on Rock Street included:
- 1850s dressed stone lintels covered with stone filler
- Poor quality pointing
- Hedges and gardens removed unnecessarily
- A 30 foot wall built incorrectly and then demolished
A crisis meeting has been held between residents, the Director of Housing
and local Councillors.
"We had a very constructive meeting with the residents and we're all anxious
to sort out the problems experienced in Rock Street and ensure a successful
and high quality scheme for Burngreave Road. We gave an undertaking to
local residents affected that they will all be consulted before Burngreave
Road work starts."
Councillor Steve Jones
Area Panel has also helped to broker meetings between Council
Bereavement Services Officers and local residents on what was becoming
a contentious
issue - that of allowing dogs in Burngreave Cemetery. Following discussions,
the Council are now considering a 12-month trial allowing access providing
that people abide by the "Five Golden Rules" drawn up by local dog walkers.
All grave owners across the City will be consulted on the proposal before any final decisions are made.
Dog walkers negotiate settlement
All the signs are that dog walkers have negotiated
a deal with the Council and grave owners. Following intensive meetings
in the cemetery itself, Area co-ordinator, Ann Allen was sent off to broker
a deal.
Under
the deal, dog owners offer:
- A regular patrolling presence
- An environmental task force
- To close the vehicle gates at night
- To develop a users group
In
return the Council will:
- Provide dog waste bins at each entrance
- Provide notice boards with the Five Golden Rules and a History Board
- Enforce Dog Fouling penalties
- Provide sharps bin for used needles
- Provide Support the user group
Always treat graves and grave owners with respect.
Keep your dog under control at all times.
Please
keep your dog on a lead when walking near grave owners and other cemetery
users.
Always clear up all dog mess and place in bins provided. If you don't
you can be fined £25 on the spot.
No ball games or other games on or around gravestones. If people are visiting
the graves of their loved ones, please ensure that your dog does not disturb
them. Please show these people the respect that the purpose of their visit
deserves, e.g. No shouting, whistling or throwing balls for your dog.
Don't leave litter or cause damage and encourage others to behave the
same way. Make the cemetery a "green space" the whole community can enjoy
and take pride in. 
Markets Past, Present
& Future
New Development
Next month Sheffield Markets are looking forward to the start of a long awaited redevelopment for the Castlegate area. Building will start on the Sheaf Market site in October 2000 and the whole scheme is due to be completed by Summer 2002.
The development will include a new indoor market, an outdoor market and a leisure complex named the Setts, which will include a 12 screen cinema, health & fitness suite, restaurants, bars/cafes, electronic games centre, and a 16 lane bowling centre. Plans also include a car park with more than 500 spaces.
The building of the new market & leisure complex will result in some disturbance, but this should not cause any inconvenience to markets customers visiting Castle Market, King Street and Exchange Street market which will continue to operate as normal.
Prize Draw
From Monday 11th to Saturday 30th, Castle Market will be running a prize draw, giving all Castle market customers an opportunity to win a new Suzuki Swift.
To enter the draw you must collect three stickers, which will be handed out by Castle market traders whenever a transaction is made. One out of three of the stickers must be collected from a Castle Market trader, on the Lower Ground Floor.
The closing date for all entries is the 6th October.
Specialist Markets
Sheffield Markets will be holding several specialist markets in the run up to Christmas. On the 22nd & 23rd September a craft market will take place on the Peace Gardens.
The Peace Gardens and Fargate will hold a Victorian Christmas Market on the 14th to 17th December.
On the 21st & 22nd October there will be an Autumn Fair held at Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet. You can get there by the number 97 bus to Totley/ Totley Brook, which stops just outside the Industrial Hamlet.
Exhibition Centre & Castle Ruins
Sheffield Market's offer a tour of the history of the markets.
The tour will include a look around Sheffield Castle ruins that were demolished
in 1648 and a view of the Exhibition centre. The exhibition covers the
history of the markets in Sheffield from 1296, when Edward 1 granted the
charter to Thomas de Furnival, Lord of the Manor of Sheffield, to the
present day.
If you are interested then please telephone Sheffield Markets on Tel:
(0114) 273 5281.
Radical
plan cuts £200,000 from advice services
The council are putting forward a 'radical' new strategy
for advice services. The plan cuts £500,000 from the council's direct
spending and reinvests £300,000 in the voluntary sector.
Despite the investment in their members services, Sheffield Advice Centres Group (SACG), are campaigning against the plan, 'A Strategy for Advice Seekers', which is open for consultation until September 14th.
The Benefits Advice Shop and the Welfare Rights Unit would close, and cuts in specialist workers would mean the loss of the African-Caribbean worker at SADACCA. The £300,000 reinvested in the voluntary sector aims to develop consistent, high quality, services reflecting local needs across the city, including a city wide telephone advice service.
SACG say the new structures won't work and will cost more than £300,000, as well as reducing services for excluded communities. We ask why a strategy to develop 'joined up working' has degenerated into open conflict, and give details of how to have your say.
Advice Centres fight £200,000 cuts
Back in February this year the Council reviewed spending on Social Services. They decided to change the way advice was provided and at the same time reduce spending by £200,000. Because they don't have a duty to provide advice, the Social Services Policy Committee felt savings of 13% were justified.
'Radical' changes
A shake up has long been needed. 'A Radical Strategy for Sheffield's Advice Services' had already been written. This recommended a coordinated network of local advice centres, working in harmony with other local services, particularly the new Primary Care Groups, and specialist, citywide advice services like the Law Centre.
Failed consultation
The hope was that although savings were being made, the extra money spent on voluntary advice centres would provide a better service. The council have run focus groups and a council officer produced a plan for consultation, but the advice centres have universally condemned it. They feel their views and concerns were ignored, that it simply doesn't understand the workings of community led organisations and that the figures don't add up.
Far from building a coordinated network the plan has set the council officers and the Liberal Council in direct opposition with their main partners, the Sheffield Advice Centres Group (SACG). So much so that SACG are running a co-ordinated campaign of petitions, letter writing and lobbying against the plan.
The Council's Plan
'A Strategy for Advice Seekers' sets out proposals for the Council to stop providing advice itself, closing the city centre Benefits Advice Shop, the Welfare Rights Unit, to stop directly funding independent Advice Support Workers for black and ethnic minorities and removing funding for SACG's coordinator post. By doing this and stopping funding for Tinsley and Woodhouse centres the council will save £500,000.
£300,000 of this saving is to be reinvested in local services with a number of aims. A reorganised management structure and targeted increases in local debt and benefit workers aim to develop consistent, high quality, services reflecting local needs across the city. A citywide telephone advice service and a new voluntary service next to the new Council One-Stop-Shop would provide assessment and referral, partly to replace the Benefits Advice Shop.
The council hopes to maximise the 'volunteer potential'. This reflects a belief that the use of local volunteers is the best way to provide appropriate, accessible and culturally sensitive advice, but also refers to the ability of voluntary organisations to get funding into advice services from sources not available to local authorities.
SACG's Worries
SACG are actively opposing the plan. As well as concerns that it will cost more than £300,000, they don't believe it will work. They fear that the management changes and the loss of the SACG Coordinator will weaken the local centre's ability to provide training and support for volunteers, develop equitable responsive services and seek funding.
Pitsmoor cuts
In Pitsmoor the changes in the Advice Support Workers mean that the workers at SADACCA and the Yemeni Community Association will be lost, threatening the future of the Yemeni Centre. There will be a new Yemeni worker in the Spital Hill CAB, but Urdu / Punjabi hours reduced. There is a real danger here of increasing exclusion.
During the recent New Deal consultations the community clearly called for more one to one advice and support work. Professionals and community groups all want more advice workers, more translation services and are all trying to develop new ways of working together to provide 'joined up' services.
The council is cutting its funding for advice services, and the consultation process has resulted in overt conflict with the main volunteer organisation. The New Deal may be able to deliver some improvements, but it, in common with many other funders, explicitly cannot replace Council funding directly.
Rights to advice?
While they may not have a statutory responsibility to provide advice, at a time when even professionals struggle to complete applications for help for the disabled, advice services are essential if the council is to deliver the help that is its obligation.
Have your say
The closing date for comments on the plan is September 14th. They can
be sent to
Phil Reid
Welfare Rights Unit
Palatine Chambers
22 Pinstone Street
S1 2HN
If you want to support SACG's campaign you can get involved through
the Spital Hill CAB (Tel. 2755376). They are encouraging people to sign
their petition, come down to a lobby of the council at 1.30pm at the town
hall on September 6th or to write to your MP, councillor or the Sheffield
Star or Telegraph. Alternatively you could send the card below to
Councillor Peter Moore,
Leader Sheffield City Council
Leaders Office
Town Hall,
S1 2HH
Mark Lankshear
Burngreave area - one of poorest in country
The Government recently announced that Burngreave is the 60th most deprived
ward out of 8414 in the country.
The 'multiple deprivation' score is based on the number of people on benefits;
joblessness; poor health and disability; low school and college qualifications;
poor housing and poor access to services like supermarkets and doctor's
surgerys.
Southey Green was the only ward in Sheffield rated as more deprived - coming 43rd in the list. Manor ranked 76th and Norfolk Park 98th