Please join us at this rally and march to protect the right to strike. Look out for the Green Party banner and march with us. Meet at Devonshire Green 12pm to join the march or Sheffield City Hall at 1pm for the rally.
Solidarity with all the workers who are currently striking to defend their pay and conditions. 
After massive bus service cuts across South Yorkshire in October, the planned removal of government Covid-support subsidies on April 1st threatens a lot more. It’s no longer just rural services under threat. Now all areas of Sheffield are suffering bus service cuts.
The high-frequency, double-decker, 52a no longer goes beyond Hillsborough Interchange. The replacement is the daytime only, unreliable, infrequent, low capacity, 31 service which does not run on Sundays. This has hit all groups of bus users in Wisewood and Loxley communities very hard:
– For working people, the loss of a frequent, reliable, direct service to the city centre and key employers like Hallamshire Hospital. It will force some people to drive when we need to reduce car use to meet the city’s climate change targets.
-For many older and vulnerable people, the loss of a frequent, 7 days a week option for daily shopping, medical appointments or just getting out of the house. If the 31 fails to turn up or is full, you have a one-hour wait. This happens frequently and is particularly harsh in cold weather.
-For school students and parents, the loss of their direct 52a service to central secondary schools.
Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has taken more control over buses in his region by introducing franchising. South Yorkshire’s new mayor, Oliver Coppard, has understood how bad our buses are unlike his predecessor Dan Jarvis. He’s started applying for similar franchising powers but it’s a long process. We must keep up the pressure on Coppard and the councils which make up the mayoral authority to ensure we get back public control, rather than the unregulated chaos we have at present.
I’d like to thank local community activist Nicola Feetham whose 52a petition with more than 2300 signatures has kept up the pressure to provide vital services in the Hillsborough area. Also Better Buses for South Yorkshire who continue to campaign relentlessly on our behalf.
Hillsborough Greens have asked the mayor to make a more frequent 31 service a funding priority. Greens across South Yorkshire will not give up pushing the mayor, bus companies and the Tory Government to provide the investment and services we need across all local communities.
Toby Mallinson
Council Election candidate, Hillsborough Green Party
A letter to the Sheffield Star
In reply to Mike Lawton, yes I am a regular reader of the Star. I am pleased he answered my question about how we can create a city that values public transport more than private transport. We are broadly in agreement concerning the measures necessary to do this. We need cheap, reliable, high-quality services that go where people want to go. To do this we need public control and decent funding for our bus, rail and Supertram systems and this urgently needs action from both Mayor Coppard and the Government. For a vision of what our transport system could look like please see GETSHEFFIELDMOVING.ORG.
Mike opposes 20mph zones in residential areas because he thinks they cause more pollution. This is not the primary reason campaigners want 20’s plenty zones. The main reason is to reduce death on our roads. Compared to other similar cities Sheffield has particularly shocking statistics. With 10-12 under 16 casualties a year, Sheffield has a worse record than nearly all the other metropolitan areas. At 20 mph a child hit by a vehicle has a 90 per cent chance of survival, at 30 mph a child hit by a vehicle has only a 50 per cent chance of survival.
Just like we changed the culture of wearing seat belts and smoking in public, we need to make it socially unacceptable to drive faster than 20mph in residential areas. In Sheffield, we have been very slowly rolling out more 20mph zones, but it would be preferable to tackle this on a city-wide basis. Mike is right that boy racers (and they are usually males) are a particular problem and these need to be tackled by the police. Some of our Councillors have been out with the police to see how they go about this. Those who are caught should be made to make reparations to the community they have endangered.
The science on whether driving at 20mph or 30 mph leads to more pollution depends on how people drive. Studies that find that 30mph is less polluting are due to the aggressive driving of some people in 20mph zones who brake heavily at speed bumps rather than just maintaining a steady but safe speed. What is very clear is that if you drive carefully, anticipating hazards well in advance so you avoid sudden braking and aggressive gear changing you can save fuel, money and emissions. This is a triple win, better for safety, better for the environment and better for your pocket! Even greater savings can be made if you walk or cycle!
Research in Germany has shown that the greater the speed of vehicles in built-up areas, the higher the incidence of acceleration, deceleration, and braking, all of which increase air pollution. Traffic calming reduces idle times by 15%, gear changing by 12%, brake use by 14%, and petrol use by 12%.
To me, the Green transport vision makes so much sense. Fewer deaths and casualties from road accidents and asthma, less obesity as more people walk and cycle, cleaner cities, fresher air, public transport so good you don’t need to bother owning a car, streets where kids can play rather than being clogged with parked cars. What is not to like?
Graham Wroe
Sheffield Green Party
I’d like to wish everyone a happy new year on behalf of the 14 Sheffield Green councillors and all the best for a busy and positive 2023.
It’s been a great year in 2022!
20 years’ hard work of focussed election activity have resulted in a situation where Greens are influencing and driving real change in the city. As councillors, we sometimes find it hard to put our finger on simple successes because of the new regime of co-operative working. But, make no mistake, the current functioning of the city council is so much better now that Greens are one of the three parties in the Administration.
In May 2022, we increased our councillor number to 14 and were the only party in Sheffield to have an increase. We then negotiated two seats on each of the committees that are now the main decision-making bodies of the council.
It’s worth remembering this new committee system came about from the successful It’s Our City campaign and referendum that many Green Party members worked on.
Every issue that comes through these committees now has Green influence in the decision-making. Whether it is a major issue like getting the Sheffield local plan progressed through cross-party working or smaller wins like getting free transport to school for a child, a Green presence makes a real difference to people’s lives.
This is what changes the city – and the world.
The Sheffield Street Tree Inquiry is underway as a direct result of it being negotiated by Green councillors. We expect this report to be published in the spring.
A Clean Air Zone is finally to be implemented, after years of rear-guard opposition by Labour and LibDem politicians. We welcomed the chance to unlock millions of pounds of grants to small businesses – money which had been sitting in the council’s bank account for years.
We have worked on equality issues – through the Race Equality Commission and by promoting the provision of free period products in public buildings.
Between us, we have worked continually to promote walking and cycling, bus services, heritage campaigns, human rights and the cost of living crisis.
Now the councillor group is big enough, we have been able to employ Andrew Cooper, an absolute star, to work with us as our policy adviser. Andrew has 20 years’ experience of being a councillor in Kirklees as well as unparalleled knowledge of energy issues. Andrew has steered us through getting a renewable energy strategy proposed and accepted by the full council. The implementation of this strategy is something we will be following up in 2023.
Nationally, we have worked with other Green councillors on issues such as Investment Zones and the Government’s enforced cap on social rents, which would mean substantial cuts in investment in social housing. Green councillors made representations to government which changed their proposals for the better. We estimate this change by government will result in an extra £3.1 million for council housing in Sheffield.
We will continue to do this work as long as we have a strong Green group on Sheffield City Council – this is where we need everyone’s help.
Because of our electoral success in 2019, we are defending four seats in May’s elections and we aim to win some more. This will come with many challenges now we are part of the Administration taking responsibility for running the city.
So we need you to help us maintain the Green presence and keep the council in No Overall Control.
2023 is going to be an exciting year. I’m looking forward to seeing you on the election campaign trail where we can all make the difference to put Green policies into practice in our city.
Thank you for all your support
Douglas Johnson
on behalf of the Green councillor group
Volunteers from Ecclesall Green Party and Endcliffe Parkrun have teamed up to help collect
items needed for the Sheffield S6 Foodbank to continue its essential work across the city.
They started in November and plan to run the collection on the last Saturday of every month.
Their next event is the last Saturday of 2022, New Year’s Eve.
You don’t have to be a runner to bring donations along. Donation point open 8:30am-
10:00am by the Race Start Line / Playground, Endcliffe Park.
Parkruns are free, fun, and friendly weekly 5 km community events that invite everybody to
walk, jog, run, volunteer or spectate. There are six regular weekly events across the city,
perfect for a New Year’s Resolution.
Kate Scott, one of the volunteer run directors of Endcliffe Parkrun said: “We have on
average 550 Parkrun finishers; imagine if we could collect that many items every month for
the food bank!”.
Peter Gilbert, from Ecclesall Greens said: “This winter is going to be a tough one for many
people in Sheffield as the cost of living crisis bites deeper. As a community we can help
where we can.
“I love collaboration and reached out to Endcliffe Parkrun as I wanted to set up a monthly
collection in the area and these runs bring a massive local turnout.
“Kate replied that it was a fabulous idea. Runners linked to S6 Foodbank had approached
Endcliffe Parkrun wanting to replicate local food bank links to parkruns across the country
and Kate had spoken to S6 Foodbank’s manager the week before, so it was great timing.”
Chris Hardy, manager of Sheffield S6 Foodbank said, “I want to just say a massive thank
you to everyone who’s donated and wanting to donate over the festive season. We’re
feeding 1300 people, just over 500 families per week at present and we expect that to
continue into the New Year.”
You can also donate directly to Sheffield S6 Foodbank via
https://justgiving.com/campaign/nobodygoeswithout
I was pleased my letter about the climate emergency provoked some debate on the Star letters page over Christmas. In reply to Roy Sanderson, population is not the most important factor. More important is those people’s consumption, as this adds to our emissions. Carbon Brief, the UK-based climate science website, has done some great research and found out that UK energy use is incredibly unequal. Those with extreme wealth are by far the biggest polluters.
The top 10% of earners use more energy on flights than the bottom 20% use in a year. Their holidays and business trips burn through all the energy the poorest fifth use for power, heating, fueling cars etc.
Compared to energy use by the bottom 10% of earners, the top 10% use 10 times more for domestic flights, 5 times more for international flights, 3 times more driving cars and 5 times more for recreation.
The study shows white, wealthy middle-aged men are most likely to be “excess” energy users while non-white and female users are most vulnerable to energy poverty.
Comparing nations, the whole of Africa has 16.7% of the world’s population but has emitted only 3% of global carbon dioxide (data from Global Carbon Project). The USA has 4.5% of the global population but, since 1959, has emitted 21.5 per cent of global carbon dioxide.
John Bunting asks if I am a member of the “Flat Earth Society”. No, because I take peer-reviewed science seriously. It is those that still don’t accept the scientific facts of climate change that should be asked this question. Of course, there should be debate about the climate emergency, but not about whether or not it exists! We have to debate what changes we can make and how quickly we can change to limit the worst effects of our overheating planet. How do we move our society from one that values private transport most, to one that values public transport most? How do we change our consumerist passion for more and more stuff to an even stronger passion to care for the earth and everything in it?
Graham Wroe
Sheffield Green Party
Tadhamon Choir. Saturday Jan 7th 2023 at 7pm, Central URC Church, Norfolk St S1 2JB
Book free tickets in advance here
In the discussion about the proposed coal mine in Cumbria, we must remind ourselves that there are no jobs on a dead planet. Nonetheless, we have to address the need for skilled, well-paid jobs in the post-industrial north. A ‘ just transition ‘ means developing strategies that will enable us not only to move away from coal mining but also from nuclear power and nuclear submarines which have provided employment for working-class communities in Cumbria in recent decades
The skills to develop the renewable energy sector already exist. The state should intervene to support places like Barrow, Workington and former coal mining areas like South Yorkshire in their ‘ just transition’, working with unions to do this. For instance, a plan was put together to help aviation workers at Gatwick transition to green jobs with Green New Deal UK working with the Public and Commercial Services Union. We need similar plans in South Yorkshire for workers at Doncaster/Sheffield airport and in other fossil fuel-intensive industries so they can be employed in green jobs. Further Education Colleges need to be training our young people for these opportunities now.
The TUC estimate that 60,000 green jobs could be created in Yorkshire in 2 years, building energy-efficient homes, retrofitting social housing, reforesting, upgrading public transport and improving cycling and pedestrian routes.
Only an alternative vision of what a sustainable and just society might look like will enable us to address the issues areas like Cumbria and South Yorkshire face at a local, regional and global level
Hillsborough Green Party
A wave of strike action is continuing across the UK throughout this winter. This is not a surprise as working conditions and pay has been deteriorating since Conservative and Lib Dem’s imposition of austerity in 2010. Taking the example of nurses, pay has fallen in real terms by 20% in this period, leading to many having to access hardship funds, use food banks or simply walk away from the profession. In roughly the same period, the wealth of UK billionaires has increased by nearly 300%. Make no mistake, austerity and entrenched inequality are political choices.
These strikes are about far more than pay, as, in all sectors, conditions for work have deteriorated. New pay offers are being tied to measures which are likely to make them deteriorate further, such as longer hours, 7-day weeks, weaker pensions and compulsory redundancies. Again, people are voting with their feet. There are now 47,000 vacancies for nursing roles in England alone, with 40% fewer working in social care than 10 years ago. This is all a far cry from Sunak’s statement in 2020 saying that the NHS will get “whatever it needs” to deal with the country’s impending health crisis.
Instead of dealing with this confluence of crises, the current government intends to stifle dissent, crucial to any properly functioning democracy, whilst simultaneously blaming the workers most affected by their own policies and their refusal to negotiate. This can be seen in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act which would give police the power to break up protests if they are deemed too ‘noisy’, and with the promise of ‘tough new laws’ to prevent and restrict further strike action by unions trying to protect their jobs.
In Sheffield, and nationally, the Green Party is proud to support those on strike. We recognise that it is the 12 years of wilful neglect that has caused the current situation we find ourselves in, not the strikers themselves who, after all, are part of the working public the government are claiming to protect. We recognise that it is not the demands of the unions which cause inflation to rise, but profit jumps of oil and gas giants and other large corporations, as well as ‘external forces’ the Tories blame it on. We know that public sector pay rises are both deserved and provide long-term security to the services we cherish. Even if an inflation-matching pay award of 11% was given to all public sector staff, this would still be less than what the Tory mini-budget cost the UK economy in September. It will also reduce the huge amounts of funding currently being squandered on absurdly high agency fees to cover unfilled posts.
But more than all of this, we recognise that fully functioning public services are the bedrock of a more just and equal society, one in which opportunity and access to services, work, wealth and information are afforded to everybody, not just the privileged few.
Cllr Marieanne Elliott, Sheffield Green Party
See also the press release here.