Agenda item

QUESTION

ANSWER

1)    Annabel W

I have noticed over the last five years an increase in rubbish building up in and around the Firth park area. There is a Wood and fields just behind Windmill Lane which has lots of plastic bottles, cans, crisp packets and other household waste thrown on the ground.  A lot is left by school children and the adults that walk across this land.

There needs to be bins at both entrances of this land, to encourage these lazy people to put their waste in a bin.  Maybe the word bin could be translated for all middle eastern and eastern European people to understand too.
It's unacceptable to see so much waste scattered on what could be a pleasant area to walk round.
Also, I would like to ask why so many Eastern European men are allowed to hang outside the shops at Page Hall all day. Why aren't they in work or volunteering to clean the area up especially as they have spent all day dropping litter?  I find large groups like this congregating an eyesore and see this as antisocial behaviour.

Hardworking taxpayers are fed up of the Firth park area getting dumped with idle, lazy men and women. There is an urgent demand for change now and fairness in where these people are placed.  Sheffield has more to it than just the poor areas.

We agree that it is totally unacceptable for people to discard litter and household waste. The council and its partners are committed to ensuring that this sort of behaviour is not allowed to continue and we would encourage members of the community to report incidents via 101 or direct to the council on 273 4567 or at https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/in-your-area/report_request/crime/asb.html. If reports are received then the council is in a better position to respond, and this not includes removing the litter, but also assessing whether we need to engage in further preventative work in the area.

A great deal of work is taking place in Page Hall to specifically address anti-social behaviour in Page Hall, which includes encouraging residents to engage with the council and its partners, including local community groups. We have made a great deal of progress in Page Hall over the last few months, with the Council increasing its street-based resource in the area, as well as working with community groups and local schools. Again, if people feel that issues need to be raised with the council, then we would encourage members of the community to report anti-social behaviour to 101 so that we can respond in the appropriate way.

2)    Paul Downend
Unable to attend meeting

1. Why is the meeting held at the periphery of the North East wards where the majority of the issues of concern are in Page Hall?

1: Shirecliffe Community Centre was chosen as a venue by members as it is a good, easy accessible venue and it has always attracted good attendance from across the area.

2. Where was this meeting advertised?

I have had to email the council twice since February to get information only to receive word back days ago and then an email from the local Neighbourhood Watch last week.

2.  The news release on this meeting was issued on the 27 February to all local media contacts and went on the Council’s newsroom site on the same day. 

A general press release was sent by the Council's Communication Team advertising all the cabinet meetings. Since then The Locality Management Team have blogged, emailed, tweeted the meeting on a regular basis. Paper copies of the posters have been sent to TARAs. We have asked our contacts in the Voluntary and Community Sector to help advertise the meeting also.

3. Can the Council explain their current policy in buying up properties for sale in Page Hall? What is the criteria for your approach and what numbers are you planning on buying?

3. We intend to purchase 20 properties at Page Hall by the end of March 2016.  We are purchasing properties via 2 schemes;

LTE Purchase and Repair (P&R):

This is a scheme where the City Council can purchase Long Term Empty (LTE) properties and are able to claim Homes & Communities Agency (HCA) funding.  This scheme is citywide and properties have to be vacant for over 6 months to qualify for the HCA funding.  We carry out surveys to ascertain what improvement works are needed and how much these will cost. 

We also instruct a valuer to carry out an independent valuation.  We then input this information into our systems to ensure the properties are financially viable.  If the property is viable then we issue an offer to the current owner and progress to completion. 

General Acquisitions:

This is a scheme where the City Council can purchase properties in the City to increase the Council housing stock.  It is City Wide although work has been undertaken to look at what type and size of properties are in most need within individual housing market areas in the City.  This ensures that we are buying properties the City Council know are in demand and can be let via the housing register.  These properties do not have to be vacant prior to purchase but they do have to be financially viable so the same process is followed as we do with the Purchase and Repair scheme.

We intend to purchase 4 properties at Page Hall through the P&R scheme (out of a total of 37 throughout the City in 2014/15 - 2015/16) and a further 16 will be purchased via the General Acquisitions (out of a planned total of 135 purchases throughout the city between 2014/15 - 2015/16). To date we have legally completed on 4 properties at Page Hall (2 via P&R and 2 via General Acquisitions).  These 4 properties are now with Housing and Neighbourhood Services in order for improvement works to be carried out before the properties are let.

4. Page Hall is still an area of concern for long standing residents, both homeowners and tenants alike, what assurances can you give that the issues of littering, fly tipping, anti-social behaviour, overcrowding are being addressed and what results have you reached so far?

Are you planning on offering any financial support to those who wish to leave the area and cannot afford to do so?

4:  The council and its partners are working hard to address concerns raised by members of the community in Page Hall. The council recognises that there are ongoing issues with anti-social behaviour, particularly littering and fly-tipping. As well as the dedicated resource currently in Page Hall, and additional resource will be dedicated to Page Hall to deal with these issues. It is expected that these additional officers will provide more enforcement and educational opportunities to prevent issues occurring in future. The success of this work will rely on the continued support of members of the community, particularly in relation to reporting incidents of anti-social behaviour.

We believe that Selective Licensing will have a long-term positive effect in the area, and this coupled with the extra resource to tackle ASB, will provide us to build on progress so far. As an indication of the work being carried out by the council, we can confirm that in 2014 we investigated 199 complaints of rubbish in gardens and served 86 legal notices on landlords to remove the rubbish. From January to March 2015 we have already served 70 legal notices and expect this approach to be replicated to cover 'on-street' ASB.

The council is not planning on offering financial support to those wishing to leave the area. We want to work hand-in-hand with residents to make the area a better place.

5. Are you planning on extending the selective licensing beyond the current area in Page Hall?

5. Not at this stage.

3)    Mike Barnfield

Can you give us a progress report on the Page Hall Selective Licensing Scheme including the proportion of landlords who have signed up in the voluntary zone? On our street (in the voluntary zone) things have only gone from bad to worse.

See attached

4) Neill Schofield

'Now that the Shirecliffe Landfill site has been closed to active waste tipping, how does the Cabinet see the future of Parkwood Springs?'

I am putting the question as a local resident and as the Chair of the Friends of Parkwood Springs.

We want to see Parkwood Springs become a ‘country park in the city’; it’s only 1 mile from the City Centre and it has the potential to be a major leisure and recreation attraction that adds to Sheffield’s unique image: an offer of both city life and outdoor recreation. With the landfill coming to the end of its active life now is the time to look at options for the future of Parkwood Springs. We’ve started a piece of work called a ‘Regeneration Masterplan’ and we have begun to engage with a number of people at this early stage, and we expect to widen this out in the coming months.