Andrew Cooper | Sheffield Green Party

Sheffield City council has set a balanced housing budget, the first under the new committee system and the first with a Green Party chair of the Housing Policy Committee.

Speaking on the proposal to introduce the budget, Cllr Douglas Johnson thanked officers, tenants and councillors on the cross-party Housing Policy Committee and said he believed in good public services.

“What better example of a public service can there be than the provision of housing. We should be proud that Sheffield has retained its 39,000 council homes in public ownership and control.”

He also commended the cross-party working that had helped the committee overcome the huge funding gap of £23 million and agree the best proposal that could be had. In spite of rising inflation, the council had:

– provided nearly 1000 new council homes,
– Improved its repairs performance, even though there was a long way to go
– Reduced the number of empty council homes
– Re-roofed and insulated 7000 council homes
– Started to put solar panels on council housing roofs
– Tripled the hardship fund to help tenants with the cost of living
– Mobilised resources to respond to the large-scale emergency in Stannington in December.

However, Cllr Johnson called out Labour Party criticisms that there was not enough money to build as many houses as desired, saying,

“In view of their somewhat point-scoring press release, it was disappointing that Labour failed to offer any proposals to meet the £200m funding gap in the stock increase programme. That may explain why they had in fact already voted to reduce the housing target.

“Labour councillors claimed that cities like Bristol, which still has Labour Party overall control, were spending more on their stock increase programme until I pointed out that Bristol City Council had actually reduced their target from 2000 to 1700 homes.

After an extended debate , the full council agreed unanimously to the proposed budget.

Speaking after the budget had been passed, Councillor Douglas Johnson said

“No one wanted to reduce the number of houses we committed to build but the reality is that rising construction costs have made it impossible to keep to the original target. Councillors from all parties, including Labour Councillors, understood that. Greens only have 2 votes on the Housing Committee so seeking to blame the Greens for taking responsibility in a difficult financial climate is clearly nothing more than politicking.

Labour could come up with no examples of any other Council which had not had to reduce its ambitions due to rising costs. They did mention Bristol City Council as an example but failed to mention that the Bristol Stock Increase programme is being reduced from 2000 to 1700 units due to 20% increase in building cost inflation and that the cost of build per unit has risen from £220k to £270k, similar to Sheffield’s.

The time for doing the detailed work on the issues the council faces is the Council Committee meetings. Hand wringing about problems that they have no answers to in Full Council is clearly just for show. We all care about the problems but we must equally take responsibility for finding solutions.

References

1 -The Housing Policy Committee has nine members: 4 Labour, 3 LibDem and 2 Green Party.

2 – The Housing Revenue Account is the ring-fenced account for council tenants. It works on the principle that council tenants should not subsidise, or be subsidised by, other council taxpayers

3 – The Housing Revenue Account includes money to put towards capital expenditure on new council houses, housing improvements, home insulation and retrofitting.

4 – The Stock Increase Programme is the council’s strategy to build or buy more council homes. Due to rising costs of inflation, the budget will no longer stretch to build the original target of 3,100 homes. In December, all party groups voted to reduce this target to 2310 new homes to contain the programme within its budget.

5 – Housing Revenue Account Budget and amendments 2023/4

Greens on Sheffield City Council have marked the success of the new Committee system, nearly a year since it was introduced, replacing the old ‘Strong Leader and Cabinet’ system where all decisions were made by a small number of Councillors.

The Committee System replaced the Cabinet system following a referendum in 2021 led by the popular ‘It’s Our City’ campaign, where 65% of local people called for the change.

In a motion to be debated at the full Council on the 20th of February, Green Councillors have pointed to a number of benefits that have come from the way the Council conducts its business. These include:

All Councillors now take part in the decision-making of the Council;
This makes Councillors more accountable to the electorate due to their involvement in decision-making;
autocratic top-down decision-making is reduced by the Committee system;
the successful work, across the committees, to address the Council’s current financial crisis, with Councillors having worked together to reach an understanding of the issues and consensus over the ways to address them;
Despite the hardest ever budget shortfall this year, cross-party working has achieved a broadly balanced budget to stabilise the council for the next financial year.

Councillor Angela Argenzio who is proposing the motion said,

“No political system is perfect and the Council still has a long way to go, but the fact that most of the Council’s financial difficulties have been debated and agreed, across party, before the crunch Budget meeting on March 1st is a major achievement. This has never been achieved before and would not have been possible without the Committee system. It has brought Councillors together, across the party divides , to put tribalism aside, to understand the issues and to come to a consensus on how to address difficult problems.

Some Councillors were comfortable with the old way of working, where backbenchers and opposition parties had no say over decisions and a small elite of Councillors called the shots. Some have not understood the difference between a Cabinet member in the old system and a Committee Chair in the new system.

One area that we have not properly developed is how we engage the public in Council decision making. That has to be a strong focus for the Council going forward. Improving the way the Council works is good but if we are not properly engaging with the public then decisions are not always understood, can be misinterpreted and can be subject to political manipulation.

Getting some political groups to accept that we have a more democratic council, and that we have joint responsibility for decisions, is still work in progress. We can change the way the Council conducts business but changing the culture of the Council is still work in progress. I am optimistic and I believe we can have greater collaborative and consensual working across political groups.”

NOTES

26,419 people signed the petition to call for a referendum on changing the council’s governance system. This forced the council to hold a referendum. The previous Administration declined invitations to move to a committee system voluntarily.

89,670 people (65%) voted for and 48,727 (35%) voted against a change to a modern committee system in the referendum held in May 2021.

Broomhill and Sharrow Vale Green Councillors have welcomed the deferral of a controversial licensing application for the Founders and Co Bar which had proposed closing at 1.30am in the morning. The application would have seen an open terrace with drinkers partying to the early hours of the morning only a few metres from peoples homes.

The City Council hearing for the licensing application for Founders and Co at 605 Ecclesall Road, has been delayed.

Councillor Brian Holmshaw said,

“We now hope the applicants have the opportunity to properly consult local residents and it would not be unreasonable to expect that licensing hours are reduced in line with the many objections from local people. There is a long established 11.30pm planning curfew that operates in the Ecclesall Rd and Sharrow Vale area. This was originally agreed for the area by the Planning Inspectorate in February 2014.

All three Broomhill and Sharrow Vale Green Councillors welcome this site being brought back into use, but we have strong concerns over late night noise and disturbance in this established residential area. We really welcome that Founders and Co have brought this building back into use but they need to balance their business priorities with being a good neighbour to the surrounding community. To try and avoid creating worry for residents we encourage licensing officers to make it clear to future applicants that 11.30pm closure is a minimum licensing condition in and around the area.”

Proposed Student housing at Wellington Street — Proposed Student Flats at Wellington St

City Ward Green Party Councillor Ruth Mersereau has objected to proposals to build 963 student flats on land at Wellington Street in the city centre.

The planning application was submitted by developer Code Living and is part of a mixed-use development that includes a gym and a cinema.

Councillor Mersereau said,

“This is a large block of short-stay student accommodation, of which there is already an oversupply in the city. What we actually need is housing for people who want to live longer term in the city centre, and to build stronger longer-term neighbourhoods and communities.

The room sizes proposed by the developer are really poky. Living in spaces that are too small has a negative impact on people’s health and well-being. The proposed sizes for flats are very concerning. 16.3m2 for a corner studio flat is less than half the recommended size in the South Yorkshire Residential Design Guide, (which suggests 33m2 for a studio). The most common studio in the application is only 18.48m2, barely above half the recommended studio size, and even the accessible studios at 23.6m2 and 27.7m2, are all well below the recommended size. The 2 bedroom flat at 37.9m2 is also significantly below the 62 square metres recommended. It really looks like the developer is trying to cram as many units in as possible for financial reasons and to the detriment of the people who have to live there.

One thing that would really add to the quality of the development would be easy access to a pleasant open space, but there is insufficient open space or greenery for residents, both in the block itself and nearby.

The cycle provision doesn’t meet with Sheffield City Council guidelines for student accommodation – there should be at least 685 long-stay spaces, but this application only provides for 500. Also, there is no provision for tricycles/hand-cycles.

I have strong concerns about the extra traffic generated – the travel plan calculates about 196 two-way trips per day to the block for refuse collections, taxi drop-offs, deliveries, etc. I feel this is a huge underestimate. I am also concerned there is no provision for loading bays etc, and there could potentially be multiple vehicles pulling up on the pavements nearby – causing obstruction and danger for people on foot.

If we are to truly regard ourselves as a ‘green city’, as Sheffield promotes itself, then this development simply doesn’t belong here”.

References

Planning Application for a mixed use building to form 963 co-living residential units on land bounded by Rockingham Street, Wellington Street and Trafalgar Street

South Yorkshire Residential Design Guide

Greens on Sheffield City Council have backed an initiative to tackle drivers who break the law on a range of traffic offences including banned turns, entering yellow box junctions when the exit is not clear, and driving where and when motor vehicles are prohibited.

The power to enforce a range of traffic offences currently lies with the police alone but Government legislation came into force in May 2022, allowing Sheffield City Council to apply for a Designation Order enabling it to exercise enforcement powers to help make Sheffield’s roads safer.

Councils wishing to exercise these powers have a deadline of 15th of February to submit their applications and to indicate to the Government which roads they want to apply these powers to.

Sheffield has identified an initial 3 areas to enforce

Queens Road and Bramall Lane – illegal turning movements Yellow box junction – no stopping

Glossop Road and Upper Hanover Street – Illegal turning movements Yellow box junction – no stopping

Hoyle Street – yellow box junction – no stopping

The rules will be enforced using cameras with vehicle number plate recognition technology and appropriate signage will inform road users that enforcement cameras are in use.

Councillor Ruth Mersereau said,

“This is a very positive move and Greens fully support this initiative to make roads safer and to tackle dangerous drivers. Over 75% of people responding to the consultation backed these proposals, so it is a popular initiative as well as one that promotes highways safety. If this trial is successful there is a real opportunity to extend these enforcement powers across the whole city and that is something I and my Green colleagues would very much support. ”

Report to Extraordinary Transport, Regeneration and Climate Committee on Traffic Management Act Part 6 – Application to the Department for Transport to enforce Moving Traffic Offences

Greens on Sheffield City Council have welcomed the launch of grants to help individuals and businesses upgrade their vehicles to make them compliant with the Clean Air Zone due to come into force on 27th February. There will be exemptions for Hackney Carriages and Light Goods Vehicles registered in the Sheffield area up until the 5th of June 2023. These vehicles will have nearly 6 months to apply for a grant to change their vehicles to cleaner models to be compliant with the Clean Air Zone. Private cars are exempt from the charge.

A range of grants are available from £2000 to £16000 depending on the type of vehicle being replaced or upgraded to a less polluting model. Full details are on the Council’s website (1)

Councillor Christine Gilligan, Green Spokesperson on the Transport, Environment and Climate Committee said,

“I am really pleased that the Clean Air Zone is finally coming to Sheffield, as Green Councillors have played a key role on the Council in championing the scheme, for the health of local people and our local environment. The grants to support local businesses and other vehicle owners eligible for the charge are very welcome and will ease the transition to a cleaner city.”

“It is about reducing emissions from polluting vehicles, but it is also about saving lives. Respiratory illnesses are well documented in our city, with over 500 deaths per year attributed to poor air quality and its impact on a range of conditions (2). Young children with developing respiratory systems and frail, elderly people are particularly vulnerable to polluted air. This is why Greens have pressed hard against attempts to delay the introduction of the Clean Air Zone.”

References

1 – https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2022-12/clean-air-zone-looking-to-upgrade-vehicle_1.pdf

2 – More information about the Clean Air Zone | Sheffield City Council

Councillor Brian Holmshaw, the Green Party’s representative on the Planning and Highways Committee voted against the massive expansion of the Meadowhall Centre. Liberal Democrat and Labour Cllrs voted to pass the application with only a sole representative from each of their parties voting against it.

Cllr Brian Holmshaw said,

“The 35,000 square metres of concrete, tarmac and brick of the Meadowhall extension represents a danger to Sheffield’s city centre, to our small businesses and to our environment.”

The Council report on the development admitted that the city centre is fragile with high shop vacancy levels, including the Debenhams and John Lewis sites. Despite this, Council Planning officers recommended expansion at Meadowhall. Up to 2 per cent impact on city centre trade was forecast, resulting in dozens of family-owned businesses and jobs lost, and more indirectly affected.

Cllr Holmshaw said,

“The new retail park and leisure development will damage Carbrook retail centre, Valley Centertainment, Rotherham and Barnsley town centres, Parkgate shopping centre and small businesses in South Yorkshire”.

Following the vote Green Party Councillor Brian Holmshaw said:

‘”I simply could not vote for this application. Those of us around in the 1990s saw how damaging Meadowhall was to city centre trade then, a legacy that lives with us now. Why would we want to further damage our city’s economy well into the future?’

‘Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council objected to this application. If Rotherham Council can stand up for its town centre then why can’t Sheffield stand up for its centre too? The dubious claim about the 2029 start date to help Sheffield city centre recover from the pandemic does not wash either. In reality, it will take that long to build a new expanded Meadowhall anyway.’

It is worrying that the developers are not interested in increasing the site’s biodiversity by installing bat boxes, swift bricks and bird nesting sites and increasing wildflower planting. This would improve the biodiversity of the woodlands and green river corridors that run by the site. Instead, Biodiversity Net Gain can only be achieved through ‘off-site provision’. That means somewhere else. That is concerning and sets a dangerous precedent for other riverside developments in Sheffield”

Further Information

From Sheffield Retail and Leisure Study 2022

1. ‘[Our] survey of the centre has demonstrated that since 2016 the comparison goods offer of Sheffield city centre has deteriorated considerably. This is exemplified by the closure of the John Lewis department store at Barker’s Pool and the Debenhams at The Moor (alongside the loss of a number of other high profile comparison goods national multiples).’

2. ‘[We note] the significant increase in vacant units. Our survey recorded a total of 139 vacant units, accounting for 25.3% of all units in the city centre. This figure is significantly in excess of the current national level, which equates to 14.1% of all commercial units being vacant. The 2022 vacancy rate also represents a slight increase on the 23.7% of vacant units recorded at 2016.’

From the planning officer’s report to planning committee

3. ‘The most recent (October 2022) footfall report for Sheffield City Centre, published by Sheffield BID, identifies that notwithstanding some peaks (May and July) where 2022 footfall levels exceeded 2019 levels, the overall year on year comparison predicts that total annual footfall in 2022 is likely to be 19.4% lower than was the case in 2019.’ (page 172)

4. ‘the proposed retail floorspace on Plot 5 can be seen as a potential further risk to retaining a healthy level of comparison goods retailing within the City Centre. Moreover, the trade draw of the development overall can be seen as a risk to addressing the current issue with reduced footfall, the high proportion of City Centre units which are vacant and the attractiveness of marketing City Centre vacant units for refurbishment, re-use and investment, including opportunities for re-purposing large vacant retail units to leisure use’ (page 172)

5 ‘It is also acknowledged that many of the existing centres which the proposed development will draw trade from, including Sheffield City Centre and Rotherham Town centre, are in a relatively fragile ‘post-pandemic’ condition, with relatively high vacancy rates, a struggling comparison goods retail sector and footfall which is only now beginning to rebound following the pandemic (although remaining C. 20% below 2019 levels upon the basis of Sheffield BID’s October 2022 2019 v.s 2022 year on year comparison). The issues affecting the existing centres within the Meadowhall catchment is compounded by a general restructuring of the retail (comparison goods) sector in recent years which has seen the withdrawal of several significant retailers from the units which they previously occupied in existing centres, including the Debenhams and John Lewis units in Sheffield City Centre.’ (page 182)

A Green Party Councillor on Sheffield City Council’s Planning and Highways Committee has backed residents and conservation groups in opposing a proposal to build a 6 storey office building in the City’s Conservation Area.

The application by Urbana, which was an amended version of a previous application by the applicants, was tabled without objectors to the original application or local Ward Councillors being informed.

Residents have expressed concerns that the original application was overbearing and impacted on light levels in their homes. Conservation Groups have also expressed concern over the design of the buildings that they regard as detrimental to the City’s Conservation Area.

Cllr Brian Holmshaw who is the Green Party Councillor on the Planning and Highways Committee said

“It’s a real worry that the Planning and Highway’s Committee are ramming through developments like this against the wishes and interests of local communities.

Residents and local councillors were not informed in advance that this major application was coming to the November planning committee. So they lost their opportunity to speak out and make clear their concerns.

This was a key city centre development that in the end I voted against as it reduced light levels to flats and amenity space in neighbouring buildings. I also agreed with Historic England, the Sheffield Conservation Group. and the city centre residents group that the design was poor and not worthy of a strategic location in the heart of the city centre’s conservation area.”

Cllr Holmshaw requested a deferral of the Planning Application to allow residents to make their objections to the revised application but this was not supported by Labour and Lib Dem Councillors.

Cllr Martin Phipps who is a City Ward Councillor had also requested that the Planning Application be deferred to allow residents’ voices to be heard. He said,

“I’m really disappointed that the application was not deferred until a later planning committee meeting, as we requested.

Residents were not informed that the developer had updated the plans or that it was going to committee, even when they had selected to track the application.

The application went completely cold for months as the developer appealed their previous rejected application for a 7 floor office block, which is still ongoing.

A site visit was requested so the committee members could see from the residents’ communal area the impact the development would have, as was done for the previous application, but a site visit took place without informing the residents and without visiting their side to see the potential impacts.

Residents will feel they weren’t given a fair hearing: and I can only agree. It’s a shameful way for a decision to have been reached and I know has shaken the faith of residents in the council.”

The application was passed by Labour and Lib Dem Councillors with only Cllr Holmshaw, the sole Green Councillor on the Committee, backing local residents and voting against.

References

Charles Street Development Revised Planning Application

**Cllr Christine Gilligan proposing our successful Renewable Energy Strategy motion.**

This feedback on the Council which lasted nearly 4 hours are the edited highlights. If you want to watch the full council meeting and look at the Agenda, here is the link

Petitions

A petition with 11,127 signatures was presented titled “Make the council repair, not demolish, Rose Garden Cafe, Graves Park. The building, constructed in 1927, was described as “iconic” by the petitioners. Green Cllr Marieanne Elliott said the issue should be referred to the Communities, Parks and Leisure Committee to be considered as that would be the best place to equitably seek a decision on the cafe’s future. This proposal was rejected by Labour and Lib Dems. Instead, they referred it to the Charity Trustee Sub-Committee, which has no workforce and no budget.

Former Burngreave Labour councillor , Ibrar Hussain, had a petition asking to cancel the Clean Air Zone due to the additional costs to Taxi drivers of purchasing cleaner taxis. However, responses to written questions showed that a third of the taxi fleet already complies with CAZ standards and another third is 12 years old , which is the maximum age permitted by licensing policy.

Labour Cllr Julie Grocutt, Co-Chair of the Transport, Regeneration and Climate Committee responded by saying they had committed to deliver the Clean Air Zone “in the Spring”. Sheffield already offers some of the highest grants in the country for improving vehicles. There has been pressure from some Labour Councillors to delay the introduction of the Clean Air Zone but Greens have been pushing back on this and asked several questions to try to get Labour to unambiguously commit to starting the CAZ on time next year.

Public Questions

Questions were asked regarding the progress of the Street Trees Inquiry, the poor treatment of asylum seekers in Sheffield and the Council’s plans for the Rose Garden Cafe in Graves Park.
On the asylum seekers question, Green Cllr Angela Argenzio, responded saying that the Council needed to put pressure on the Government as they managed the programme and that she would liaise with the NHS over their treatment of asylum seekers. Cllr Douglas Johnson also responded saying 1300 people seeking asylum were in Sheffield currently and that Government were bypassing local democratic control with regard to the accommodation for asylum seekers,

Councillors Questions

Labour proposed shifting the members’ questions till the end of the meeting. This would have effectively meant that they would not be heard as the Council meeting is guillotined at 6.00pm. It would have meant that Committee Chairs would not have been held properly to account. Greens and Lib Dems defeated this Labour proposal.

Cllr Johnson challenged Cllr Fox on Investment Zones asking if he was aware that the South Yorkshire Combined Authority had not challenged the Government on the lifting of protections to the environment that are implicit in the proposals for Investment Zones. Cllr Fox responded by saying these would be addressed should the Government allocate any Sheffield land for Investment Zones.

Motions

Cllr Christine Gilligan Kubo proposed the Greens motion for a Sheffield Renewable Energy Strategy making the links between the cost of living crisis and our reliance on fossil fuels. Cllr Douglas Johnson seconded the motion, saying we need to act locally to address the global problem pointing out that some other Councils are doing more than Sheffield. The motion was passed with a Labour amendment which the Green Group largely accepted. A wrecking amendment by the Lib Dems was defeated. The motion as amended was agreed unanimously, Full details of the motion can be found here

Labour presented a motion on the stigma of menopause and period poverty. Greens supported the motion including an amendment asking the Council to support the promotion of reusable period products such as moon cups. Cllr Marianne Elliott presented the Green Amendment which was seconded by Cllr Maroof Raoff.

Motions on “Best Value Services for the People of Sheffield” from the Lib Dems and from Labour on the “Cost of Living Crisis – National Failings and Our Local Response”

Though these motions weren’t debated they were voted on along with their amendments. On the Cost of Living motion Cllr Martin Phipps said,

“I was disappointed but not surprised to see Labour abstain on Green proposals to support policies that increase the minimum wage to £15 an hour, restore the £20 universal credit uplift and double it to £40 and increase tax on the wealthiest 1% to address rising inequality and to support those on lowest income, as well as voting against our proposal for an employer’s workplace parking levy once more.

The Green Party have consistently stood against austerity, championed fair pay, support for the most vulnerable and real action on inequality. Labour are showing themselves to be the party for the wealthy, not working people and those in poverty.”

Christine Gilligan Kubo A Green Party motion (1) calling for more action by Sheffield City Council to promote renewable energy has been passed unanimously at yesterday’s Full Council Meeting.

The motion proposed a number of measures to promote renewable technologies such as solar panels, wind turbines and heat pumps.

Cllr Christine Gilligan Kubo, the Deputy Chair of the Transport, Regeneration and Climate Committee said,

“If Sheffield is to play its part in reducing carbon emissions to meet its net zero target by 2030 and address the cost of living crisis, we need to reduce energy demand through energy efficiency measures such as retrofitting homes and other buildings; and to significantly raise the amount of energy we produce from renewable sources.

Having more of our energy produced from renewable sources helps us control costs by having secure forms of energy generated locally. It also means that the UK is less at the mercy of dubious and undemocratic regimes with poor human rights records that are often the suppliers of fossil fuels.”

The Green motion proposes that the Council carries out an audit of all its land and buildings to assess their potential for renewable energy and calls for a wider plan across the whole of Sheffield to see what can be done to boost renewable technologies in partnership with landowners and interested parties such as the National Grid and renewable energy installers.

Councillor Douglas Johnson Cllr Douglas Johnson, who Chairs Sheffield City Council’s Housing Committee, said,

“ One of the most exciting proposals in our motion was calling on the Council to develop a compelling offer for householders, to install solar photovoltaic panels and energy saving measures in their own homes. This could make a real difference to people wanting to reduce the amount of energy they use and the bills they have to pay.”

Other proposals in the motion called for changes to the Sheffield Local Plan to encourage renewable energy installations, encouragement for community investment and a strong emphasis on skills and training.

Cllr Douglas Johnson said,

“We need to grow a skilled local workforce to deliver renewable energy projects in our area. These will be the sort of jobs we are going to need for decades to come, and will provide the security people will need to build their lives upon. The Council needs to be looking to the future and our successful proposal on renewable energy will provide real hope that it is a brighter one and a greener one.”

References

(1) Renewable Energy Strategy motion to Sheffield City Council

Author: Andrew Cooper

Greens show the way ahead in Sheffield housing row.

Greens mark success of Sheffield City Council’s Committee system

Greens welcome deferral of controversial licensing application in a residential area

Green Councillor objects to poky student flats in huge development

Greens back new Council powers to tackle dangerous drivers.

Greens welcome Clean Air Zone Grants

Meadowhall expansion passed 6 votes to 3 – Green opposes

“Residents and Conservation Groups ignored in new City Centre development” say Greens

Sheffield City Council meeting – 2nd November 2022 – Green Party Feedback

Green motion on Renewable Energy passed by Sheffield City Council.