Sheffield Congestion Charge From Feb 27th 2023

[Planner1]

28 minutes ago, Baron99 said:

My bold. 

 

So you know Coun. Fox's current 'busy' diary then?   

 

He's apparently just gone into hiding, not even offering any explanation from him of his staff as to why he won't be interviewed on the matter by Toby Foster, regardless of whether this turns into a phone-in or not.   As Foster mentioned the other day, he has always got on with Fox & all he wants to do is to pose questions raised by the public. 

 

As for a moaners forum, well neither you or I have the foresight to say what questions would be directed at Coun. Fox, if it ended in a phone-in.  If it did go down that path then I'd say that those at the front of the queue would be those business men & taxi drivers who have already been interviewed at length by Foster, such as the owner of 'Our Cow Mollie', 

 

As leader of SCC, Fox has the responsibility to communicate this to Sheffielders & sell it as a benefit & have all the necessary Facts to back it all up.  That's his job. 

 

Regardless of trying to plicate those who will be immediately affected, Fox also has the responsibility to tell Sheffielders, what are SCC's plans should the city centre become even more of a ghost town, should businesses simply relocate out of the city? 

 

What are SCC's plans for the suburbs when traffic starts to avoid travelling through the city centre?  Surely the matter of pollution simply just shifts to more densely populates areas with slower moving traffic? 

 

When doe he expect private car drivers to start paying to enter the CAZ? 

 

For years & years, there have been numerous reports that the worst polluted area in Sheffield was the Tinsley area.  So why no CAZ in that area then, now we are implementing CAZs?  

 

Where is the money collected for the CAZ going to be spent?  I understand at least 10% goes back to central Govt.  So, where / what is the other 90% going to be spent on?  Will it be ring-fenced for environmental projects in Sheffield or spent at the whim of SCC? 

 

There you are.  A number of valid questions that neither you or I could attempt to answer.  That's why Fox needs to turn up & be interviewed. 

 

He's very quiet on the matter.  Strange for a man who we all remember was quite gobby when he was previously defending SCC & AMEY during the tree fiasco.  One would think he a bit frit nowadays? 

I’ve worked directly with several leaders of councils. They are busy people. We don’t need to see their diary to understand that.

 

I’d say all of the questions you raise have already been answered or the information is in the public domain, so readily available.

 

Leaders have people who report to them, who lead on specific areas of work. That person who has responsibility for the CAZ has already been interviewed. You might not like the answers given, but they are what they are as far as I can see and nothing is going to change. So I can well understand why he won’t be interviewed until it’s all in place and the dust has settled.
 

What is  “a bit frit” ? 

Edited February 15, 2023 by Planner1

[Baron99]

1 hour ago, Planner1 said:

I’ve worked directly with several leaders of councils. They are busy people. We don’t need to see their diary to understand that.

 

I’d say all of the questions you raise have already been answered or the information is in the public domain, so readily available.

 

Leaders have people who report to them, who lead on specific areas of work. That person who has responsibility for the CAZ has already been interviewed. You might not like the answers given, but they are what they are as far as I can see and nothing is going to change. So I can well understand why he won’t be interviewed until it’s all in place and the dust has settled.
 

What is  “a bit frit” ? 

My bold. 

 

Well we're not discussing who you've worked with or for in the past are we?  Or in the least bit interested. 

 

Fox or his office offer no explanation for his refusal to discuss the current situation or answer any questions about going forward with the matter or even him communicating the benefits of the CAZ & what SCC will do with the money raised. 

 

What is  “a bit frit” ?  It's OK, Terry Fox will understand the term. 

Edited February 15, 2023 by Baron99

[sheffbag]

2 hours ago, Baron99 said:

Where is the money collected for the CAZ going to be spent?  I understand at least 10% goes back to central Govt.  So, where / what is the other 90% going to be spent on?  Will it be ring-fenced for environmental projects in Sheffield or spent at the whim of SCC? 

 

 

£2 from every charge goes back to the company running the scheme nationally.

 

The rest then can be spent on "projects that directly or indirectly help the council achieve its targets," (quote/unquote SCC report) these targets are not specified anywhere so as long as anyone writing a business case could say that it has a positive environmental impact then the cash can be used

 

[Baron99]

3 minutes ago, sheffbag said:

£2 from every charge goes back to the company running the scheme nationally.

 

The rest then can be spent on "projects that directly or indirectly help the council achieve its targets," (quote/unquote SCC report) these targets are not specified anywhere so as long as anyone writing a business case could say that it has a positive environmental impact then the cash can be used

 

Do you reckon if I write a business case to improve the environment around Fargate & say for £5k out of the CAZ payments, I could get rid of 8 shipping containers, I'd be a shoe in? 

[Guest]

9 minutes ago, sheffbag said:

£2 from every charge goes back to the company running the scheme nationally.

 

The rest then can be spent on "projects that directly or indirectly help the council achieve its targets," (quote/unquote SCC report) these targets are not specified anywhere so as long as anyone writing a business case could say that it has a positive environmental impact then the cash can be used

 

No wonder we have such a useless council who don't know how to spend money wisely.

They can spend what they like on projects to achieve their targets and these targets are not specified so they can just chuck it anywhere and no comeback.

This is like finding out you are now living in Alice in Wonderland.

 

[Resident]

16 minutes ago, sheffbag said:

£2 from every charge goes back to the company running the scheme nationally.

 

The rest then can be spent on "projects that directly or indirectly help the council achieve its targets," (quote/unquote SCC report) these targets are not specified anywhere so as long as anyone writing a business case could say that it has a positive environmental impact then the cash can be used

 

 It's the "indirectly" bit that concerns me. You just know SCC will spend the money on things that have nothing to do with Clean Air projects but find (READ: invent) some hugely questionable/tenuous link to get away with it. 

[Anna B]

47 minutes ago, sheffbag said:

£2 from every charge goes back to the company running the scheme nationally.

 

The rest then can be spent on "projects that directly or indirectly help the council achieve its targets," (quote/unquote SCC report) these targets are not specified anywhere so as long as anyone writing a business case could say that it has a positive environmental impact then the cash can be used

 

So who would that be then? 

Don't you think we should know who's pulling the strings, and how they got the contract?

And how much it's costing?

What exactly are they doing for the money? What does running the scheme nationally actually mean?

Surely the councils should be running (and monitoring) these schemes locally. 

Are we paying for yet another layer of administration yet again?

 

 

[Jeffrey Shaw]

A question: as the Ring Road (A61) is shown on all Clean Air Zone [NB: not 'Congestion Zone!] maps, does this mean that the CAZ comprises:

a. everything inside the Ring Road; or

b. ditto plus the Ring Road itself?

[Longcol]

21 minutes ago, Jeffrey Shaw said:

A question: as the Ring Road (A61) is shown on all Clean Air Zone [NB: not 'Congestion Zone!] maps, does this mean that the CAZ comprises:

a. everything inside the Ring Road; or

b. ditto plus the Ring Road itself?

b - the Inner Ring Road is included in the CAZ.

 

https://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/topic/468612-sheffield-clean-air-zone/#comments

 

[mike1961]

A guy on Facebook has poised the following scenario.

 

A taxi driver driving say a 2015 registered Skoda Octavia with a diesel engine that doesn't meet current SCC Caz requirements and will therefore be charged for entertaining the zone as he or she is polluting the air.

 

The driver of the taxi sells his taxi to me and I use it as my own private vehicle and therefore I won't be charged.

 

Is this therefore anything to do with pollution or just fleecing small businesses for money?.

 

Also in London the office of national statistics stated that between 2001 and 2021 only 1 death was recorded due to air pollutants.