Send your objection today!

East Midlands Trains has now applied to Sheffield City Council for Listed Building Consent to install ticket barriers, which would prevent free access across the bridge.


Please now object by:

Step 1 going to the Council web site by copying and pasting this link

http://planning.sheffield.gov.uk/publicaccess/tdc/DcApplication/app
lication_detailview.aspx?caseno=KQ5ZZUNY0H000

Step 2
Select whether you are 'local resident' or 'live outside area'

Step 3
Click 'submit comments' button and follow the instructions from there.

The deadline is 13 October.

Here is some sample text that you are welcome to use. If you have time to write your own personal letter this may be more effective.


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I object to the planning application to install ticket barriers at Sheffield station for the following reasons:



1. Public access.
Sheffield station is an important historic listed building, which deserves to remain open to the public. the proposals would fundamentally alter its character, the barriers, screens and cctv would not be in keeping with the architecture of the building. They would break up spaces and floorscape of the public areas and restrict peoples movement, all important to the appreciation and enjoyment of the station. All these things would significantly reduce public use.

2. Safety and security. The station footbridge is a safe secure and accessible route from the tram stop into the city centre for local people and residents. East Midlands Trains would be forcing people to use a badly lit, inaccessible and unsafe footbridge that would risk public safety.

3.Breaking up Sheffield's integrated transport.
Ticket barriers would remove the direct link between the tram and the train station, creating inconvenience for passengers. Train users would have to arrive at the station much earlier to buy their tickets before travelling. This would add to the existing queues and congestion.

4. Barriers put the interests of a private company, ahead of the public interest. East Midlands Trains' profits should not be put before the public interest. EMT should protect their revenue by putting more ticket inspectors on trains, not by punishing Sheffield residents.




You can view the application on the Council website at:
http://tinyurl.com/yb9ttd4


RASC feels that the submission disregards the huge level of public concern and anger which has been expressed since the beginning of this process. It is also misleading and of poor quality, with various factual errors. All the organisations it claims to have consulted have in fact objected to the barriers.


If you prefer to write, quote the reference 09/02887/LBC to Howard Baxter, Sheffield City Council Planning Division Howden House 1 Union Street Sheffield S1 2SH.

There is more at www.sheffieldgreenparty.org.uk

Please also join the Facebook group, Keep Sheffield Station open to the public.

East Midlands Trains apply for consent to barrier the station

Please act quickly- we have very little time to respond to this.We must show the Planning Office the strength of feeling about this planning application. We can't let East Midlands Trains steal our bridge!

Consultation on Listed Building Consent Application


East Midlands Trains have submitted a proposal for:
Provision of Automatic Ticket Gates, CCTV cameras and improved lighting in station booking hall and Supertram lobby, erection of glazed barriers adjacent to footbridge stairs, provision of ticket vending machines and video help point in Supertram lobby, erection of boundary fencing and walling to the west side of platform one
Location: Sheffield Midland Station, Sheaf Street, Sheffield, S1 2BP,
Applicant: Mr S Dakin - Stagecoach South Western



Please make comments on the application at Planning Applications Online (www.sheffield.gov.uk and follow the Quick Link to Planning and City Development) or at First Point, Howden House, between 8:30am and 5:30pm Monday to Friday.

If you decide to write a letter, please send it to Les Sturch, Principal Planning Officer Development Management Section,Howden House, 1 Union Street Sheffield S1 2SH , quoting 09/02887/LBC. Please comment before the 2 October 2009, so that your views can be considered. You should note that any comments you make will be placed on the Council website, together with other application details, and placed on the public file.

Most of these applications are decided by officers, but occasionally they are reported to an Area Planning Board. If so, you may attend and, if you wish, ask to speak. I will try to inform you when the board meeting is.

Elm Street Police Station to re open.

Good news in the Star tonight- the little police station on City Road is planned to re-open.
Elm Tree police station, at Manor Top, Sheffield, was closed down years ago after it was set on fire. The neglected station became a magnet for youths and addicts. But the whole story rather begs the question why was the station allowed to fall into such misuse in the first place? Surely it is obvious that one of the most deprived estates in the country needs its police stations?
To create safer neighbourhoods we need police patrolling our streets and engaging in crime prevention.

Here are some of the other things on the Greens wish list concerning crime.


• Look to establish restorative justice as a key feature of the UK criminal justice system. The primary aim will be to restore and, if necessary, improve the position of the victim and the community; the offender will be required to make amends.
• Improve the design of our cities to provide safer streets and public spaces.
• Ensure universal access to high quality youth centres to provide an outlet for young people outside of school hours.
• Bring in a Civil Law Injunction Programme (CLIP) to more effectively deal with anti-social behaviour.
• Oppose any further privatisation of the prison system, as it is vital that where custody is used it is effective in preventing offenders from re-offending.

Sheffield Park Academy

Worrying news today about one of our local schools, Sheffield Park Academy, formerly Waltheof, where I have some experience of teaching.http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/sep/13/sheffield-park-academies-ofsted-failureThe school has been labelled "inadequate" by OFSTED. It comes as no surprise that the United Learning Trust has not succeeded in turning round this school. The Green Party believes that schools should be governed in the interests of pupils and parents, not un-elected trusts, businesses or religions. Building a new school has done nothing to remove some of the deep seated problems in the area- poverty and unemployment, many generations of educational underachievement, anti social behaviour and a culture that does not value education. One of the things I said at conference was that the major division in our society is class. Sheffield secondary schools are extremely class dominated. Comprehensive schools that take from the local area sound like a good idea in theory, but in Sheffield it means that the kids fortunate enough to live in the posh areas go to successful schools, and the kids from the housing estates end up in schools that are always going to struggle. If the system was truly comprehensive we would find a way of mixing pupils from different areas. One of the few schools that does this in Sheffield is All Saints RC, where my own children went- because it is a Catholic school its intake is from all over the city, so is very socially mixed. But many of my friends in the Green Party argue that this is divisive too as it splits religious groups. Maybe the answers to some of these problems don't lie in educational policy at all- the root of the problem is the poverty. When the Greens eventually come to power we will tackle that head on, with policies like the Citizen's Income Scheme, the Living Wage and higher taxes for the rich. When our society is fairer the schools in the inner cities and housing estates will at last have a chance to thrive. But the Academies will be returned to the local education authority, not controlled by businesses or religious trusts with no political accountability.

Brighton Conference

Have returned from the Green Party conference in Brighton.We had some lively debates and I was in the thick of things on the Education Voting Paper. Although the debate didn't always go my way I am still very proud to belong to a party that conducts its business in such an open and democratic manner. You certainly wont see this at the stage managed conferences of the big parties. But losing a crucial vote by just one vote (after the original hand count had gone in my favour) was a bit galling. You'll find reports and videos of the conference on the green party site, but here are a few of the policies that I think will help us gain support in the next General Election.

All major airports and ports will be taken into public ownership under a Green Government. This is of course in addition to our current policy to nationalise the railways. Government will then be able to take control of our transport system.

Our policy on Afghanistan now reads
(1) An immediate withdrawal of all UK forces from Afghanistan.
(2) The withdrawal of all NATO forces from Afghanistan .
(3) An regional agreement with the powers bordering Afghanistan – Pakistan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, together with Russia and China, to hold a peace conference as soon as possible with the aim of establishing a new Afghan government which will have the support of all the Afghan people.
(4) Continued support from the EU, UN and other international bodies to support the rebuilding of Afghanistan and the provision of international aid.
(5) The protection all women and minorities in Afghanistan and the upholding of human rights to be an essential part of any peace agreement reached with the regional powers, the UN and the people of Afghanistan.
(6) The issue of Afghan refugees in neighbouring states and elsewhere, and their long term settlement and humanitarian support to be a central feature of any peace agreement.
(7) And to amend ROPS (Record of Policy Statements) accordingly.

As more and more lives are lost in Afghanistan in a war whose purpose Gordon Brown can not explain, I am sure this policy will be popular with the electorate.

On Health
"Health spending in the UK needs to reflect the needs of the country and should be maintained at around the average in the European Union. The party will continue to support the principle that the NHS is a national service, free at the point of entry and fully funded by taxation." As Labour continues the creeping privatisation of the NHS it is very important that the Greens protect it.

On the MP's expenses scandal we passed policy to introduce a system for the electorate to recall an MP.
PA254 Government at all levels should be accountable to electors between elections. Accordingly, necessary legislative steps will be taken to provide for any representative's electors to be able to petition for the recall of any elected person. Specifically, a petition signed by 40% of the registered electors within an MP's constituency will trigger a recall by-election. Until this legislation is passed, Green MP's will voluntarily resign and trigger a by-election, if they are presented with a valid recall petition signed by 40% of the registered electors within their constituency. In the event of the elected representative having been elected by the Additional Member System, the recalled representative would be replaced by the next person on their party list not to have been elected.

I'm not sure the 40% figure is right- it needs to be a big enough number to avoid abuse of the system, but it needs to be small enough to enable it to be used- getting 40% of a constituency to sign a petition would be a mammoth task and could probably only be organised by the press barons. So I hope the 40% will be reduced to something more attainable, say 30%, in the future.

One of the highlights of conference was the Saturday entertainment. Mark Thomas got us writing a silly manifesto. One of the most popular ideas was to provide a free needle and cotton with every pair of socks! Attilla the Stockbroker was superb.
I love his poem about asylum seeking dalekswhich can be found here along with some of his other works.

Don't barrier the station

Three little videos on the station campaign.

10-10 Sign up today

Everyone's looking for something to do about climate change. What’s needed is something straightforward, immediate and meaningful. I think I've found it.

Today I joined thousands of individuals and organisations from across the country to unite behind one simple idea: that by working together we can achieve a 10% cut in carbon emissions during 2010. It’s called 10:10, and everyone can be a part of it.

Cutting 10% in one year is a bold target, but for most of us it’s an achievable one, and is in line with what scientists say we need right now. By signing up to 10:10 we’re not just promising to reduce our own emissions – we’re becoming part of a national drive to hit this ambitious goal country-wide. In our homes, in our workplaces, our schools and our hospitals, our galleries and football clubs and universities, we’ll be backing each other up as we take the first steps on the road to becoming a low-carbon society.

To find out more and sign up go to www.1010uk.org
To read coverage of the campaign from the Guardian go to www.guardian.co.uk/10-10