Area Panel Roadshow 3rd October 2006

BROOMHILL, CENTRAL AND NETHER EDGE AREA PANEL

ROADSHOW HELD 3RD OCTOBER, 2006, AT ST. PETER'S CHURCH, WOODSTOCK ROAD

PRESENT:		Councillors Ali Qadar (Chair), Jillian Creasy, Jean Cromar, Bernard Little, Janice Sidebottom, Pat White and Alan Whitehouse.

		Also in attendance:-
		Councillor Andy Sangar	-	Member for Fulwood Ward

		Dave Whitfield	-	Area Co-ordinator

		Bakhtiar Rashid	-	Area Action Officer

		Ben Benest (Area Planning) Gay Horsfield, James Burdett and Brian Hey (Transport Planning)	) )	Development Services

		Paul Pitts	-	Street Force

		Philip Ashton Tommy Lau	) )	Libraries and Information Services

		Garry Collingwood Bob Elshaw	) )	Community Safety Team

		Gary Beatson	-	Sharrow Project

		Karen O'Halloran Helen White Louise Ashcroft	) ) )	Sheffield Homes

		Richard Fowler M. McHale	) )	Activity Sheffield

		Philip Ives-Owen	-	Sheffield Futures

		Jane Tanser Brenda Molnar Carmen Lawrence	) ) )	Sheffield 50+

		Mark McCreesh	-	South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service

		Rachael Mannion Pete Fletcher Bobby Dev R. France S. Hague	) ) ) ) )	South Yorkshire Police

		Joanna Rutter	-	Sheffield Primary Care Trust

		Colin Havard	-	Sharrow Community Forum

		Bev Nunn	-	Sharrow Youth Forum

		Chris Venables Michael Miller	) )	Nether Edge Neighbourhood Group

		Don Lennox	-	Sharrow Citizens Advice Bureau

		Christine Dickinson	-	Carers Federation

		Cath Baker	-	Sharrow Surestart

		Approximately 40 local residents and representatives of local community groups attended the event.

		…………

1.	APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE FROM MEMBERS OF THE PANEL
	Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Andrew White.

2.	PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROADSHOW
	This was the first of three planned Area Panel Roadshows to be held during the 2006/07 Municipal Year, within the different neighbourhoods of the Panel's area to give local residents the opportunity to discuss issues of local interest with Area Panel Link Officers and representatives from external agencies.
	The event comprised a number of display boards and stands staffed by the Link Officers and representatives from external agencies, and provided an opportunity for local residents to engage with them and discuss issues of interest within the Nether Edge area.

	South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service
	Mark McCreesh attended in his role as the Community Fire Safety Officer for the City, and had a display promoting the Home Fire Safety Risk Assessments the Service were undertaking in the community. The Officers undertook inspections of people's homes, providing advice on and looking at ways people could prevent fires in their homes, and fitting smoke detectors in order to give early warnings in case of fire.
	The Roadshow promoted inter-agency activity, allowing Link Officers and representatives from external agencies, together with members of the public, to know what was happening in their local community.

	Carers Federation - Patient and Public Involvement Forums
	There was considerable interest from members of the public in the work the Patient and Public Involvement Forums were undertaking. Four local residents completed application forms to join a Sheffield Forum, which would mean that the people in the Abbeydale Road area of the City would have representation on the Forum, and would therefore be able to influence the health delivery, not only in that area, but City-wide.

	Activity Sheffield
	Richard Fowler and colleagues had a display promoting the Live Life Get Active Project, which was a partnership between Activity Sheffield, Sharrow and Broomhall Forum, Sheffield Primary Care Trust and the Area Panel. The displays showed the benefits of physical activity and officers introduced an element of inter-activity at the event by holding a speed bounce and speed skip challenge.

	Sharrow Community Forum
	The Forum displayed information on the Distinctive Sharrow Project, which was creating a vision plan for the London Road, John Street and Bramall Lane area of Sharrow, and which aimed to produce a draft vision by mid-October, 2006. A number of local residents expressed an interest in the Project and the event proved useful for the Forum to inform other service providers on its progress.
	The Forum also helped with a display on the Sharrow Project, which solicited interest on the plans for the new community hub on the site of Sharrow Junior School.
	The event proved useful for one of the Forum's new Community Engagement Workers, as it enabled them to meet the Panel Link Officers and representatives from other external agencies, and acquaint them with relevant activity in the area.
	The Sharrow Youth Forum also displayed information about their recent activities.

	Sheffield Primary Care Trust
	Joanna Rutter organised a display at the event, highlighting one of the first projects to come out of the Sharrow Healthy Communities Local Area Agreement enhanced public health programme – (ShipShape Health and Well Being Information Shop), that the Area Panel was supporting. The display gave details of how the project had been developed, the services and activities it provided, as well as an overview of how many people had accessed the shop and courses to date.

	Nether Edge Neighbourhood Group
	The display organised by the Nether Edge Neighbourhood Group (NENG) covered events they had recently managed to improve the neighbourhood, which included bulb and meadow planting in Chelsea Park and the establishment of railing troughs and a large planter at the Nether Edge shops. The railing troughs and planter had been funded through the Area Panel, and maintained throughout he Summer by Street Force.
	Posters were also displayed detailing two imminent activities, which included bulb planting in Nether Edge and knitting blanket squares. The activities were linked to “Make a Difference Day”, a national initiative organised by Community Service Volunteers, and which encouraged people of all ages to volunteer their time for the good of the community.
	Copies of The Edge, the Group's magazine were available and the Group used the event in order to recruit new members.

	Street Force
	A number of enquiries were made during the event, mainly concerning contact numbers for fly-tipping, litter and other general enquiries about what Street Force’s role.
	Action was taken with regard to the following enquiries after the event:-

	· Enquiry from a resident of Belper Road, regarding the size of the No Through Road sign.

	A. Issue passed to the relevant Signs Manager in Street Force who has indicated that this sign is a standard No Entry sign, in accordance with the Traffic Signs Regulations, and as such, was adequate for purpose.

	· Enquiry from a resident of Carterknowle Road regarding highway trees which were causing a nuisance and the poor condition of roads and footpaths.

	A. Referred to Highways Inspectors in Street Force - any defects would be repaired in accordance with current prioritisation guidelines. The issue regarding the dangerou, s trees was passed to the relevant Street Force Manager to investigate. Not likely to be any immediate action as higher priority was given to trees that were structurally dangerous, following a recent City-wide survey.

	· Enquiry from a resident in the Pinner Road/Hunter House Road area regarding a complaint about wheelie bins being left on the footpath and blocking the right of way for residents, causing particular problems for a local resident who is partially sighted.

	A. Passed to Veolia - letters to be sent to all residents in that area, requesting them not to leave their bins on the pavement after they had been emptied. There will hopefully be new legislation introduced later this year enabling the Council to take action against residents leaving their bins out and blocking the pavements.

	Development Services (Transport Planning)
	Gay Horsfield and James Burdett welcomed comments from local residents on the Sharrow Residents Parking Scheme and the Sheaf Valley Corridor.

	Libraries and Information Services
	Tommy Lau (Greenhill Library) and Philip Ashton (Highfields Library) promoted the library service in general, drawing people's attention to special library sponsored events such as this months "Off the Shelf" Festival of Reading and Writing. They also welcomed comments from members of the public about all aspects of the library service, and the following were noted:-

	· Welcomed the wide range of titles with regard to the latest books and DVDs at Highfield Library.

	· Could more funding be directed towards the Central Library to improve the service?

	· Libraries and Information Services were providing an excellent service and the innovative measures being introduced, such as being able to search for a title on line, were welcomed.

	· Disabled access was still a problem at Broomhill and Highfield Libraries.

	Sheffield 50+
	Staff and volunteers of Sheffield 50+ welcomed the opportunity to attend the event. They talked to members, both old and new, and made a number of other useful contacts.

	Sharrow Project
	The Sharrow Project is a recognised transformational project involving the integration of service provision in the Sharrow area, across all Council Services and partner organisations. The Project involves the rationalisation of Council-owned property to provide building replacements for service provision, fit for the 21st Century. Display materials for the Project were available to view, together with leaflets that members of the public could take away. All contact with the public was generally positive and a number of local planning students were very interested in the Project, as well as being very well informed on the proposals.

	Sharrow Sure Start
	Display highlighting the work of Sharrow Sure Start with families with young children in the area. Fliers showing the various groups and activities, together with copies of the latest newsletter were available. Cath Baker talked to a number of people, and was able to send some information to someone who was supporting a newly arrived family in Low Edges, where there is very little the family was accessing in terms of stay and play groups, and activities for under five year olds. Plans to talk to Lansdowne residents about the activities organised under the project. The event was very useful from a networking point of view.

	Sheffield Futures
	Phillip Ives-Owen displayed information and reported on the successful Summer programme of activities, focussing specifically on the activities in and around Nether Edge. He received interest from a number of young people at the event and several residents provided information on issues involving local youths. He considered the event a success, not only due to the contact with the public, but also as it provided an opportunity to liaise with other providers and agencies on an informal basis.

	Sheffield Homes
	Karen O’Halloran, Louise Ashcroft and Helen White informed the public of the services provided by Sheffield Homes and responded to a number of enquiries on rehousing matters.

	Local residents were also given the opportunity of completing a comment sheet, providing their views on what they considered should be priorities for the Area Panel over the next year. The suggested priorities had been tailored specifically to the Nether Edge and Sharrow areas, and included various issues, under the following headings:-

	Is there anything that directly affects your home or environment that you feel needs to be highlighted?

	· There should be a simple map of the City, highlighting the all the various bus routes, in and out of the City Centre. Travelling in and out of the City Centre is generally straight forward, but a number of people have difficulty using buses to travel across the City. This is a major deterrent and people often have no option but to use their cars. There is also a need for some facility on buses for users to take on bulky or heavy items.


	What might we do to make the area greener, safer and more welcoming?

	· Need for better, clearer information regarding the best methods of waste disposal and recycling. A wallchart or booklet providing information on what household rubbish can be recycled and where it should be taken would be useful, and would encourage more people to recycle their waste. People would also like to be ressasured that their household waste was being recycled efficiently and effectively.

	What could the Council do to make Nether Edge and Sharrow even better places to live?

	· More action should be taken to prevent any further large-scale developments in the area, particularly those comprising tall buildings, which, whilst looking out of place, would over-shadow existing buildings and affect people’s privacy. Such developments would also have an adverse effect on the area, by putting pressure on existing facilities, such as schools and transport, and also create additional traffic, thereby increasing pollution levels.

	Do you have a particular question that hasn’t been answered at today’s Roadshow?

	· Why are activities and materials that create pollution not priced accordingly, in order to put more pressure on people to use greener products?

	Any other thoughts?

	· There needs to be more pressure at both local and Central Government level for people to have a greater awareness of green issues, in order to preserve the planet for future generations. More consideration should be given to using green materials in the construction of all new houses, and where practical, they should include wind turbines and solar panels.

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