It was with a deep sense of shock and real sorrow that we heard of the death of Cllr. Anne Murphy.
We are sure that these feelings are shared by all who knew and came into contact with Anne during her many years as Councillor for Crookes and Crosspool and as a previous Lord Mayor of Sheffield
Anne was a kind, caring and compassionate person, always ready to give her help and support to those in need. She will be greatly missed.
Our thoughts and prayers are with Gavin and family at this very sad time.
Lydgate Junior School is one of six schools in Sheffield celebrating the news that they have been selected to be part of the Department for Education’s £1bn school rebuilding programme, This takes the number of Sheffield schools to benefit to seven.
The programme includes 239 schools nationwide that will receive funding for their school to be refurbished or rebuilt to support levelling up opportunities across the country. The staff and pupils from each of the six Sheffield schools can now look forward to working and learning in state-of-the-art facilities, setting the school up for high educational standards for all its pupils for decades to come.
Across the School Rebuilding Programme, the rebuilds and refurbishments will create modern education environments and provide new facilities. Redevelopments will also be net zero carbon in operation, helping to meet Sheffield’s net zero ambitions.
While details around the exact amount of funding and timescales for delivery are still to be confirmed, DfE representatives, the local authority- maintained schools and the Sheffield City Council will begin engagement on initial consultation plans.
Further details on the plans and timescales for delivery will be announced in the coming months.
All the schools will remain open throughout the redevelopment.
Sheffield Dog Park wins approval to reopen on the second attempt
A Sheffield dog exercise park in the Rivelin Valley that was told to close because it contravened green belt rules has now won the right to reopen. Full Story in “The Star”
Having posted that we will run our last 2 clinics for this year on Saturday 3rd and 10th December, there has been such a low uptake of appointments that we can’t justify running a full day’s clinic this Saturday, 3rd December so we will only be offering a morning’s clinic, and then reviewing demand for the Saturday 10th December.
For any help or any advice on this, feel free to contact Steve Ellis at the church. Tele: 0114 2670 006 (answerphone 24/7).
Councillors have issued a statement about the Active Neighbourhood trial currently running in Crookes and Walkley. The councillors support the aims of the trial but say the implementation has been ‘unpredictable’ and ‘confusing’. At a meeting with the Council’s Head of Strategic Transport and Infrastructure, (Tomorrow Tuesday, September 27th) they will call for more clarity to be given on the trial and for local residents to have a say on how it progresses.
A Joint statement from Ruth Milsom and Minesh Parekh (Councillors for Crookes and Crosspool ward) and Tom Hunt and Ben Curran (Councillors for Walkley ward):
“All of us want to live on streets that are safe for pedestrians, drivers and cyclists. We want streets where children are safe to play out and that aren’t busy cut-throughs. That’s why we support the aims of the Active Neighbourhood trial in Crookes and Walkley. It was set up to try out ideas for how to make streets more liveable.
“But right from the beginning we have heard serious concerns from residents and businesses. People who like the changes as, well as people who don’t, have all told us that the initial public engagement and design process should have been better.
“We are now three months into a six-month formal consultation period, and too many of the trial measures still haven’t been implemented.
“Residents are frustrated with the uncertainty about what is happening and concerned about the implementation of the scheme. We share those concerns. No-one is satisfied with the current situation, whether they like the trial or not.
“When we meet the Council’s Head of Strategic Transport and Infrastructure we will press him for clear proposals for implementation, better communications with residents, and a programme of meaningful public involvement. The trial will have better outcomes and more legitimacy if the next steps are clearly informed by local public opinion”
Cllr. Ruth Milsom, Ian & Steve (Crosspool Forum), Lee Kent (Amey).
Local Cllr. Ruth Milsom is keen that we start raising some interest and awareness around the topic of verges in a gentle way without wanting to alarm anyone or give the impression that any kind of change has already been decided.
There have been suggestions from local residents about increasing biodiversity on the verges, and also concerns about how the standard mowing regime can inadvertently cause damage to bulbs and flowers that have been planted.
Thinking we can focus on wanting to have conversations locally to get people’s thoughts on how the verges might be managed for aesthetic and ecological benefit. Ian & Steve representing the Crosspool Forum, met up with Cllr. Ruth Milsom and Lee Kent from Amey to deliberate the opportunities opening up and to explore modifying mowing regimes and what grows on the verges.
Keen to initially get people’s views, Cllr. Milsom will be writing to residents with a survey, which will be followed up with a public meeting shortly afterward.
Once sufficient feedback has been received from an initial survey, Cllr Milsom will go to the council Highways team to discuss any enhancements that are broadly agreed on by residents.
South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) is seeking views from members of the public to make sure they are best using the public money they have to support South Yorkshire’s bus network in a public survey, which launches on Monday 1 August.
Why are buses changing in South Yorkshire? Buses are a lifeline, the backbone of our transport network, used to get people to work, school, – to visit places, family and friends. They help to cut car use, traffic and pollution and are a big part of helping us all tackle climate change.
As you are aware we are facing the biggest cuts to the network for a generation, with nearly a third of services at risk. This is because most of South Yorkshire’s bus network is run by private bus companies who choose where to run services and can make changes to reflect when and where people are traveling most.
The pandemic has had an impact on travel patterns and the income bus companies make from fares. The government has been paying bus companies throughout Covid-19 but when this funding ends in October, bus companies plan to cut routes or sections of routes.
What is SYMCA doing in response to the service cuts? We are doing all we can with the limited powers and money we have to protect bus services and have already stepped in with emergency funding for school buses. This includes paying bus companies to run services through a contract where there isn’t a profitable route. But the scale of cuts being made by bus companies means our budget can only buy back around half the network at risk.
Between April 2022 and March 2023 our budget to support the bus network is £11.9 million. It would cost around £23 million to pay bus companies to replace all the services they plan to remove.
We, therefore, want to make sure we are making the best use of our budget – the council tax we all pay for public transport – to run bus contracts where people rely on them most. We want members of the public in our region to tell us what kinds of bus services are most important to them.
How can people take part in the survey? The survey launches on Monday 1 August and will close on Sunday 21 August and is open to anyone over the age of 16. The easiest way to take part is online at https://travelsouthyorkshire.com/haveyoursay. Please note that the survey will not be live until Monday 1 August.
Information about how people can have their say will also be available in interchanges, via Traveline and publicised across social media, radio and the press.
Feedback will help us with our decision-making about buses and how we use public money to support bus services in South Yorkshire.
How can you help? If asked about the public engagement, please advise people that the easiest way to take part in the survey, from 1 August, is online and direct them to www.travelsouthyorkshire.com/haveyoursay.
Alternatively, anyone without access to the internet can call our Traveline team on 01709 51 51 51 who will be happy to help them complete the survey over the phone or paper copies will be available at our interchanges.
Polling Stations are open from 7 am to 10 pm this Thursday, May 5th, 2022.
You don’t need your poll card to vote. You must vote at your assigned polling station. If you are registered to vote but don’t have your poll card, you can go to the polling station and give them your name and address. You don’t need any form of ID to vote in the Crookes & Crosspool ward Where Do I Vote?
If you are aged 16 or over and have not already registered, the deadline for registering to vote in the 5th May 2022 elections is 11:59pm, Thursday 14th April: https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote
This is a full list of candidates, who are running in the Crookes and Crosspool ward,
Local Sheffield elections2022
Isabelle France, Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition
Nathan Howard, Northern Independence Party – Nationalise Energy Companies
Josiah Luck, Green Party
Mohammed Mahroof, Liberal Democrats
Minesh Parekh, Labour and Co-operative
Alongside the council elections, there is a South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority election to replace the current Mayor, Dan Jarvis.
This is a full list of candidates who are running in the SouthYorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority election
St. Columba’s Church hosted a mop-up Covid vaccination clinic for the Children’s Hospital on Monday 14th February and another for the Primary Care Network on the morning of Wednesday 16th.
St Columba’s Church, Crosspool,
NHS England are funding necessary renovations to the wood block flooring in both the worship area and the hall, which have been severely affected during the year’s vaccination programme, partly due to the substantial footfall (over 50,000 vaccinations have been given on site), but mainly due to the requirement to sanitise all the wood flooring using chlorine solution after every day’s clinic (just short of 100 days). In terms of cost, it is worth pointing out that the renovation cost added to the total charges made by the church to the NHS for a year’s exclusive use of the site, still come to less than the Arena were charging for one month’s hire for the vaccination programme (this is not to knock the Arena which works on a commercial and larger scale than they do, but to put things in context).
However, the worship area is also in need of re-decoration, which the Church has budgeted for, and this must be done prior to the floor repairs as it entails the use of tower scaffolding on the floor.
Work starts on 22nd February, and they expect all to be finished by the end of March. All groups who use the church have been kept informed, and most are anxious to return after Easter, whilst the leadership team will discuss how they harmonise Sunday services and church activities when they again have two fully operational church sites.
St Columba’s Church Service
Having developed such good relations with both the community and the medical team in 2021, they will continue to offer occasional use for clinics in the future, and are able to do so as the requirements for sanitising, particularly of the flooring, have been relaxed, so further damage can be avoided. They also intend to have a service of thanksgiving where they invite community volunteers and medical staff to join them and are looking at other ways to build on links made during the last two years.
Steve Ellis (St. Columba) said, “it has been a privilege to work with all in the community and the medical teams whose commitment and dedication has been inspiring. The church community as a whole need especial thanks, not just those directly involved in the practicalities of supporting both the vaccines and the Community Volunteer Hub, for their positive support, encouragement and prayer during the pandemic”.
Crosspool News - crosspool.info 