Access To Lyceum By Car

[Planner1]

18 hours ago, ECCOnoob said:

So in fact,  nothing at all to do with the government 'changing what they called' the funding after all then.......  

 

Looks to me like the intention was to rip out the traffic flow and turn it into an empty pointless cycle space right from day one, regardless of whatever consultation or feedback the public gave. 

 

Perhaps the council should have had the balls to say that right at the start instead of faking covid concerns followed by some faux impression that they actually care what the public feel about their additional proposals.  

 

I repeat, wouldn't pay them in brass washers. Councillors we can at least chuck out come election time. It's the layers and layers of inefficienct, incompetent, stubborn and unnecessary clogging up the Town Hall, Howden House and Moorfoot overdue a good shakedown.

You may think its pointless, others may disagree.

 

Before you go blaming the officers, remember that it's the Councillors who make the decisions, sometimes against the advice of officers.

 

Councils have many ambitions, but of course there often isn't the money to carry them out. So, when a government funding opportunity suddenly arises and they get the chance to try out some of the ambitions to see if they work and what the public reaction will be, can you blame them for giving it a go?

 

Councils have a legal duty to consult, but the Councillors and officers know very well that pretty much any of the measures they propose are going to be unpopular with some people. That's why the difficult decisions are taken by your elected representatives, who are accountable at the ballot box.

 

Also, don't mistake consultation for a ballot. Consultation is to give decision makers a flavour of what people think. Its also an opportunity for people to bring up any issues they may think haven't been considered or fully understood. But, its not a vote on whether or not something should happen. The decision makers may be swayed by the opinions expressed, they may not. It's their decision.

 

Because many of the opinions on measures like these are polar opposites, you inevitably get sections of people claiming that the Council have "ignored" their views. They don't ignore people's views, they just don't always agree with them and understand very well that you can't please everyone. 

 

If you want to discuss the quality of Council staff, I'll give you an opinion. The staff at SCC I came across over many years of working there were in the main very competent and professional. Just as good as the ones I've come across working with a wide variety of Councils across this and adjacent regions. They also compare well with the private sector, who aren't in my view generally any better or more competent (and I've come across a lot of them).

 

In terms of the bloated bureaucracy you portray, I'd say that this not a true reflection. Decades of cuts upon cuts mean that there are far fewer staff nowadays than there used to be and the organisations are always looking to be more efficient. To give a comparison, I've had ex  Council officers I know, who now work in the private sector, say that there's more "red tape" in the private sector than there was at the Council.

 

The problem that Councils have in the field of transport and highways at the moment is that there's a lot of work out there and private sector are paying a lot higher than Councils, so they are struggling to recruit staff. Councils (including SCC) often now have private sector staff embedded with them for long periods (often years) to cover gaps in capacity.  

[Mr Bloke]

25 minutes ago, Planner1 said:

You may think its pointless, others may disagree.

 

Before you go blaming the officers, remember that it's the Councillors who make the decisions, sometimes against the advice of officers.

 

Councils have many ambitions, but of course there often isn't the money to carry them out. So, when a government funding opportunity suddenly arises and they get the chance to try out some of the ambitions to see if they work and what the public reaction will be, can you blame them for giving it a go?

 

Councils have a legal duty to consult, but the Councillors and officers know very well that pretty much any of the measures they propose are going to be unpopular with some people. That's why the difficult decisions are taken by your elected representatives, who are accountable at the ballot box.

 

Also, don't mistake consultation for a ballot. Consultation is to give decision makers a flavour of what people think. Its also an opportunity for people to bring up any issues they may think haven't been considered or fully understood. But, its not a vote on whether or not something should happen. The decision makers may be swayed by the opinions expressed, they may not. It's their decision.

 

Because many of the opinions on measures like these are polar opposites, you inevitably get sections of people claiming that the Council have "ignored" their views. They don't ignore people's views, they just don't always agree with them and understand very well that you can't please everyone. 

 

If you want to discuss the quality of Council staff, I'll give you an opinion. The staff at SCC I came across over many years of working there were in the main very competent and professional. Just as good as the ones I've come across working with a wide variety of Councils across this and adjacent regions. They also compare well with the private sector, who aren't in my view generally any better or more competent (and I've come across a lot of them).

 

In terms of the bloated bureaucracy you portray, I'd say that this not a true reflection. Decades of cuts upon cuts mean that there are far fewer staff nowadays than there used to be and the organisations are always looking to be more efficient. To give a comparison, I've had ex  Council officers I know, who now work in the private sector, say that there's more "red tape" in the private sector than there was at the Council.

 

The problem that Councils have in the field of transport and highways at the moment is that there's a lot of work out there and private sector are paying a lot higher than Councils, so they are struggling to recruit staff. Councils (including SCC) often now have private sector staff embedded with them for long periods (often years) to cover gaps in capacity.  

Hmmm...

Which just backs up exactly what I've been saying all along.

Anyone with any talent and competence doesn't stay too long at SCC...

[HeHasRisen]

People in going for higher paid jobs shocker.

[Planner1]

28 minutes ago, Mr Bloke said:

Hmmm...

Which just backs up exactly what I've been saying all along.

Anyone with any talent and competence doesn't stay too long at SCC...

No, not the case.

 

Depends what you want to do and whether your ethos is to work in a public service. Sometimes money isn't always the only factor that influences where people work.

 

There are very competent people at SCC who have been there for many years. They could easily earn more in private sector but choose not to follow that route.

[Resident]

On 13/03/2022 at 14:31, Planner1 said:

The emergency active travel funding was allocated in two tranches. You can see the details here on the government website.

to quote them: 

• tranche 1 supports the installation of temporary projects for the COVID-19 pandemic
• tranche 2 supports the creation of longer-term projects

Councils everywhere are looking at measures like this to get more people using active travel, as they know it's the only way that they are going to meet the carbon reduction targets. 

 

Sometimes, things like this take a while to get completed. Often its because they are working around other developments in the city centre that need to happen first, or waiting for more funding.

 

Have you asked them the reason why it's taking a while?

SCC caused an increase in carbon pollution by removing trees then have the nerve to force CAZ on the city. 

[HeHasRisen]

The nerve? Dont they legally have to implement something?

[Planner1]

1 hour ago, Resident said:

SCC caused an increase in carbon pollution by removing trees then have the nerve to force CAZ on the city. 

Clean Air Zones are about Nitrogen Dioxide emissions, and they have been forced onto local councils by central government, as I’m sure you know, but hey, let’s not pass up a chance to knock the Council.

 

If you’re so concerned about carbon emissions, care to tell us what you are doing about it?

[Resident]

11 hours ago, Planner1 said:

Clean Air Zones are about Nitrogen Dioxide emissions, and they have been forced onto local councils by central government, as I’m sure you know, but hey, let’s not pass up a chance to knock the Council.

 

If you’re so concerned about carbon emissions, care to tell us what you are doing about it?

Trees also help with NO2  but thanks for playing..

[Guest]

15 hours ago, Planner1 said:

Clean Air Zones are about Nitrogen Dioxide emissions, and they have been forced onto local councils by central government, as I’m sure you know, but hey, let’s not pass up a chance to knock the Council.

 

If you’re so concerned about carbon emissions, care to tell us what you are doing about it?

You are quick to defend the council when they are following Government orders and that's fair enough.

You ignore the other half of the argument regarding all the trees the council have cut down in clear defiance of the peoples wishes.

You also ignore the fact that this thread is complaining about the difficulty people have  dealing with the councils brainwaves.

We are perfectly right to raise concerns about this despite you using your council thinking and deciding we must report to you regarding steps we are taking.

The city centre road system is a complete mess and you lot, the planners, are the ones responsible for people driving round in circles and causing pollution.

[dutch]

I have spoken with someone who knows council and the people who work there very well.

This is my attempt to write down exactly what she said:

 

Sheffield council and the people who work there are too lazy to even use their brain to think. They do not try to sort things and many of them are not at all qualified or experienced enough for what they are supposed to do. Because they are too lazy to put any effort into thinking about practical necessary decisions sheffield has become what it is today and it will only get worse.