Has council 'cowardice' killed Ecclesall Road?

[SheffieldForum]

The Tribune has just released an excellent piece on the decline of Ecclesall Road, once dubbed Sheffield’s "Golden Mile." Once a thriving hub where people came to shop, stroll, and socialise, it now feels more like a busy thoroughfare than a destination.

 

As the article highlights, the constant stream of cars, vans, and lorries thundering past isn’t exactly inviting for those who might want to linger. Even on a quiet Monday afternoon, the road was eerily devoid of cyclists, with most people just passing through rather than sticking around.

 

Here’s a couple of snippets:

 

"There are several “Golden Miles” in the UK, the most famous of which is probably Blackpool’s Promenade. All are meant to be places people want to spend time in, walk around, and relax. But Ecclesall Road seems to have become less a destination and more of a thoroughfare. While I’m there, there are lots of people walking up and down, but not that many seem to be staying put. A steady stream of cars, vans and lorries also thunder past. Some do park up but most just drive straight through."

 

[...]

 

"Spurred on by a 2018 report by the organisation Living Streets that showed shoppers on foot can spend up to six times more than those who arrive by car, in 2021 Sheffield Council announced plans to radically change the way the road ran. The rationale was simple: control the controllables. Sheffield City Council can’t control rents on the streets, which are the preserve of landlords, nor business rates, which are set nationally. And they have even less control over the way our economic system enables big companies like supermarkets to elbow smaller ones out of the way. One of the few levers they are able to pull is transport and traffic. The proposals would have seen new so-called “red routes” set up along the route where drivers receive automatic fines if they stop there. Bus lane hours would also have been changed to improve the flow of public transport on the road. The aim was to make the road more welcoming to those on foot and bike, and public transport more efficient, while reducing the need for people to travel there by car.

 

"But that’s not how it was seen by many businesses on the road and their customers. Launched in 2022, the “Save Eccy Road” campaign quickly spawned a Facebook group with 1,500 members and a petition signed by 15,000 people."

[...]

"When I ask him why Sheffield Council would want to hurt local businesses, he says it’s “because they want clean air”. When I put it to him that the original rationale was about improving public transport and active travel rather than air quality, he remains unimpressed. “It’s a theory, I suppose,” he says. As we continue our chat, it becomes clear [the interviewee] Gerry isn’t someone who is against any and all pro-environment policies, and strongly supports reducing our reliance on fossil fuels. The fact that even people like him opposed the plans indicates they had a serious image problem from the start."

 

Read the full thing on The Tribune.

 

What do you think? What are the reasons for the decline of Ecclesall Road? What are the solutions? Should Sheffield City Council revisit it's controversial proposals or were the very vocal campaigners right that it would kill businesses?

 

 

[AndrewC]

Hard to say Ecclesall Road isn't still - overall - one of the better places to live in Sheffield, but it's really not very special any more as a destination, and whilst I can understand students and younger people would still enjoy it's benefits whilst overlooking it's pitfalls, I'm not sure why anyone with money enough to move to quieter, nicer suburbs wouldn't have already. I think the house prices stay high due to reputation more than reality.

 

A grimy, inner-city feel has crept in to it over the last 5-10 years.

 

Traffic has gone a long way towards ruining the street though it's far from the only issue.

 

As well as the general din from the daily traffic which uses the route to get to/from most of the south-west suburbs, there has in more recent years been a surge in individual vehicles with loud engines and (illegal) 'pop' exhausts and the like.

 

Also, there has been a very specific uptick in anti-social parking and driving since places like Lounge 418 opened (the double-yellows at the bottom of Thompson Road now almost always have cars parked on them, endangering pedestrians and reducing visibility for other drivers using the junction).

 

There are a few nice food & drink places along Ecclesall Road still but they feel few & far between with chains and not-particularly-impressive independents the order of the day now. Why anyone would want to use the front outdoor spaces to eat or drink is beyond me, given the traffic issues described above.

[hackey lad]

Worked on a few HMOs on and near Ecclesall Rd about 20 years ago .  They were looking run down then . 

[cuttsie]

Nowt unusual about our caring council killing areas, 

They killed Sheffields oldest trading and meeting area down on Exchange Street a few years ago .

 

They decided that a pile of rubble was more important than a living, noisy, vibrant historical meeting place and instead  decided to plant daisies and pyrethrins to blow in the wind , Come to think of it that's what our Town planners do or summat like blowing in the wind that is . 

[crisispoint]

I used to use Ecclesall road fairly regularly then the parking, I'd visit, two steps, the Porter cottage the guitar shop, and the charity shops, but then parking became increasingly difficult, I hardly bother now other than for Waitrose.

[Longcol]

3 hours ago, hackey lad said:

Worked on a few HMOs on and near Ecclesall Rd about 20 years ago .  They were looking run down then . 

 

A couple I lived in 1977 - 79 were pretty terrible - one had the old fashioned jump fuses, another had a fuse box that sparked whenever you plugged in a radiator (neither had any heating other than what you brought yourself). Worst was finding a dead rat behind the fridge in one - it had got stuck between the element and the back of the fridge. We wondered where the smell had been coming from.

[Longcol]

19 minutes ago, crisispoint said:

I used to use Ecclesall road fairly regularly then the parking, I'd visit, two steps, the Porter cottage the guitar shop, and the charity shops, but then parking became increasingly difficult, I hardly bother now other than for Waitrose.

 

Never much parking down there even 40 odd years ago. Roadside or Berkeley Precinct (Tesco's). Nowt much further into town than the original Pomona or Nursery Tavern.

[crisispoint]

9 hours ago, Longcol said:

 

Never much parking down there even 40 odd years ago. Roadside or Berkeley Precinct (Tesco's). Nowt much further into town than the original Pomona or Nursery Tavern.

I could usually get a free 2 hours on the road or on the car park by the Lescar

[Mkapaka]

15 hours ago, SheffieldForum said:

The Tribune has just released an excellent piece on the decline of Ecclesall Road, once dubbed Sheffield’s "Golden Mile." Once a thriving hub where people came to shop, stroll, and socialise, it now feels more like a busy thoroughfare than a destination.

 

As the article highlights, the constant stream of cars, vans, and lorries thundering past isn’t exactly inviting for those who might want to linger. Even on a quiet Monday afternoon, the road was eerily devoid of cyclists, with most people just passing through rather than sticking around.

 

Here’s a couple of snippets:

 

"There are several “Golden Miles” in the UK, the most famous of which is probably Blackpool’s Promenade. All are meant to be places people want to spend time in, walk around, and relax. But Ecclesall Road seems to have become less a destination and more of a thoroughfare. While I’m there, there are lots of people walking up and down, but not that many seem to be staying put. A steady stream of cars, vans and lorries also thunder past. Some do park up but most just drive straight through."

 

[...]

 

"Spurred on by a 2018 report by the organisation Living Streets that showed shoppers on foot can spend up to six times more than those who arrive by car, in 2021 Sheffield Council announced plans to radically change the way the road ran. The rationale was simple: control the controllables. Sheffield City Council can’t control rents on the streets, which are the preserve of landlords, nor business rates, which are set nationally. And they have even less control over the way our economic system enables big companies like supermarkets to elbow smaller ones out of the way. One of the few levers they are able to pull is transport and traffic. The proposals would have seen new so-called “red routes” set up along the route where drivers receive automatic fines if they stop there. Bus lane hours would also have been changed to improve the flow of public transport on the road. The aim was to make the road more welcoming to those on foot and bike, and public transport more efficient, while reducing the need for people to travel there by car.

 

"But that’s not how it was seen by many businesses on the road and their customers. Launched in 2022, the “Save Eccy Road” campaign quickly spawned a Facebook group with 1,500 members and a petition signed by 15,000 people."

[...]

"When I ask him why Sheffield Council would want to hurt local businesses, he says it’s “because they want clean air”. When I put it to him that the original rationale was about improving public transport and active travel rather than air quality, he remains unimpressed. “It’s a theory, I suppose,” he says. As we continue our chat, it becomes clear [the interviewee] Gerry isn’t someone who is against any and all pro-environment policies, and strongly supports reducing our reliance on fossil fuels. The fact that even people like him opposed the plans indicates they had a serious image problem from the start."

 

Read the full thing on The Tribune.

 

What do you think? What are the reasons for the decline of Ecclesall Road? What are the solutions? Should Sheffield City Council revisit it's controversial proposals or were the very vocal campaigners right that it would kill businesses?

 

 

don’t get it - it’s a busy thoroughfare because there’s a lot around there and it’s the main route out to some big suburbs. 
 

it’s also got loads of well used shops and bars and restaurants .

 

What is the problem?

[SheffieldForum]

52 minutes ago, Mkapaka said:

don’t get it - it’s a busy thoroughfare because there’s a lot around there and it’s the main route out to some big suburbs. 
 

it’s also got loads of well used shops and bars and restaurants .

 

What is the problem?

The decline of it? Hence the point of the article?