The bullet points from last week’s meeting are below. You can also download them as a PDF.

Everyone is welcome to attend the Open Meetings. The next is on 27 October 2011, 7pm, at St Columba’s.

Crosspool Forum Open Meeting 28 July 2011 bullet points PDF (70KB)

Bullet points from Crosspool Forum Open Meeting, Thursday 28 July 2011

Matters arising and Chairman’s report

1. Funding has been granted for another computer course – start date 9th Sep 2011. As before an entry level course and an advanced course (spreadsheets, emails & the internet). Names to Ian Hague ASAP. If interested.
2. A car boot sale is expected to take place on 10th Sep, Crosspool Tavern car park as usual.
3. The Crosspool Festival was a great success – the Open Gardens took £2000, the pie & pea supper £230, the picnic in the park £300, and Summer Fayre £900. All this will go to charities and to Crosspool community use
4. Diamond Jubilee year 2012; Ian has secured some funding for flags and flowers ot mark both the Queen’s Jubilee and the London Olympics year.
5. The next Clarion will be out in a few weeks time; residents to send in any articles or ask these to be posted on the webpage
6. The ‘Crosspool Harvest’ scheme has a new name – Hillside Harvest – & an allotment site on Hagg Hill. The Forum is still looking after Hagg Copse.

There was no Treasurer’s report at this meeting and no police presence.

Councillors’ Report (Geoff Smith)

A lot of reviews and strategy meetings have been taking place in the Counci, and of interest to Crosspool are the following:

1. Broomhill air pollution issues; by the autumn they hope to have a strategy in place including ensuring vehicles with fewer emissions are using the Crooked hill gradient, and tackling the food outlet problems.
2. Mayfield Valley lorry problem; the Council is working with freight operators to designate.routes throughout Sheffield so that problems are not just moved from one road to another equally bad.
3. “Twenty’s plenty” campaign; a strategy is being developed to look, first, at making this the speed limit for roads round schools, and then secondly to work with Highways PFI to extend this further to other streets, from the autumn.
4. Stephen Hill/Benty Lane junction; after a survey the report is imminent.
5. Household waste review; the black bins will still be collected weekly, and blue ones fortnightly. In the trial areas of Sheffield where householders were allowed to choose which blue bin to hold which waste only 16 percent altered their use! This will not be extended, so Crosspool will use the wheeled blue bin for alu, steel cans, glass & plastic still.

Mr Smith listened to questions and arguments from the floor about commuter parking (from Derbyshire) on Crosspool streets, and local school car use (teachers & pupils). Erecting meters around Crosspool was suggested. He had not been aware of the long-standing Vernon Terrace bus shelter issue, but will take it on board. Residents are eager to see a satisfactory conclusion to this.

Guest speakers: magistrates Andrew Bentley, Anthea Peers and Grant Laughton

The JPs from Sheffield gave a most illuminating talk about the role of magistrates in the community, how the judgement is essentially fair and peer-led.

• Almost anyone can apply to be trained to be a magistrate – age 18-70 – and can expect to be asked to sit on the bench for 26-35 half-day sittings a year. ( Employers are however not obliged to cover the expenses of their employees, which can be a problem).
• The origins of the magistrate system go back to 1195 in this country, and there are now Adult, Youth & Family courts in operation, with 2 or 3 justices sitting in each court.
• Sadly some 60-65 percent of the cases in front of them are drug-related, and the officers have the discretion to pass a serious case on to the Crown Court, or to hear the case and to discharge, fine (up to £5000), impose a community order (of up to 360 hours) or send to prison (up to 6 months) those found guilty. There is a large guideline document on sentencing and their powers, but discretion and common sense are also important – fining a youth with no money makes no sense, if it is the parents who will have to pay!
• The justices regularly visit the local prisons and stressed they are not pleasant or comfortable places – indeed can be very intimidating, very smelly and noisy! – but neither is a community sentence a soft option.
• Motoring offences were discussed, how all cautions etc stay on the individual’s permanent record for life, and how “crime does not pay” – the court will investigate thoroughly and claim back any proceeds from crime.
• It was stressed that a motorist must be parked, with the car engine switched off, before using a mobile phone; penalties for misuse are about to be increased.
• The main speed cameras in Sheffield are at Parkway Bernard Rd, Penistone Rd & Queen’s Rd (Earl of Arundel box junction).

AOB

The No. 51 outbound bus from town now runs from a stop outside HSBC (along with the 52) – though residents still feel there can be 3 x 52s in a row waiting so there’s a real worry of the 51 overtaking them & not picking travellers up!

Next meeting

The next Open Meeting will be 27 October 2011, 7pm, at St Columba’s.