Agenda item

Outdoor Economy

It was moved by Councillor Leigh Bramall, seconded by Councillor Steve Wilson, that this Council:-

(a)       welcomes this Administration’s efforts to develop Sheffield’s outdoor economy, including The Outdoor City Strategy currently out for public consultation;

(b)       is proud that Sheffield hosted the European Outdoor Summit at the City Hall between 13^th to 15th October 2015, attended by more than 300 delegates from across the globe;

(c)        recognises the potential of the outdoor economy to help to attract and retain people with the knowledge and skills to drive our key industries, including advanced manufacturing;

(d)       believes that:

(i)         Sheffield has the potential to establish itself as a leader in outdoor recreation, given its unique natural assets, high rate of participation in outdoor activities, and high number of outdoor businesses; and

(ii)        developing the ‘Outdoor City’ brand will help to boost tourism and attract people to the city; and

(e)       notes research carried out last year by the Sport Industry Research Centre at Sheffield Hallam University which found that outdoor recreation in Sheffield generates more than £53m in economic output a year, in addition to engaging people in outdoor activity and generating significant health benefits.

Whereupon, it was moved by Councillor Steve Ayris, seconded by Councillor Penny Baker, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by the addition of new paragraphs (f) and (g) as follows

(f)        believes that, despite the Administration’s ‘Outdoor City’ rhetoric, their recent actions have put green spaces in the city at risk and are a cause for concern, noting such actions as:-

(i)         the Council’s Planning and Highways Committee approving the decision to expand school provision in Tinsley by building a new school on Tinsley Green Recreational Ground despite this being the only green open space in the Tinsley area;

(ii)        allowing what is believed to be 117 green belt sites to be at risk of development as part of the ‘Call for Housing Sites’, and refusing to disclose the locations of these sites;

(iii)       selling off Cobnar Cottage, part of Graves Park – gifted to the people of Sheffield by J. G. Graves back in 1925;

(iv)       allowing Amey to fell many mature, healthy highway trees as part of the Streets Ahead programme;

(v)        the Council’s Planning and Highways Committee granting permission for a coal-cleaning operation at Hesley Wood, resulting in hundreds of trees being destroyed; and

(vi)       declaring green land within the Beauchief Abbey Conservation Area as surplus, risking development; and

(g)       therefore calls on the Administration to:

(i)         reconsider more sympathetic engineering solutions to preserve highway tree stock;

(ii)        publish the list of 117 sites in the Green Belt at risk from development;

(iii)       do more to encourage development  on brownfield sites; and

(iv)       reassure the public that no more park land will be sold off or developed.

(Note: With the agreement of Council, and at the request of Councillor Steve Ayris (the mover of the amendment), paragraph (f) (ii) above as published in the “List of Amendments Received by the Chief Executive” circulated at the meeting, was altered, in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 17.9, by the addition of the words “what is believed to be” after the word “allowing”.)

On being put to the vote, the amendment was negatived.

It was then moved by Councillor Sarah Jane Smalley, seconded by Councillor Aodan Marken, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by the addition of new paragraphs (f) to (k) as follows

(f)        welcomes the Administration’s recognition that action needs to be taken to make Sheffield a more pleasant city in which to spend time outdoors and to enable people to be active;

(g)       recognises the potential of a more pleasant urban environment and better mobility for both residents and visitors to Sheffield;

(h)       believes that a true 'Outdoor City' should be a Sheffield where people enjoy spending time outdoors as part of daily life, not only as part of sport and recreation;

(i)        believes that enabling people to undertake physical exercise as part of daily life by walking and cycling for transport will deliver far-reaching benefits over and above those that can be achieved by an 'Outdoor City' focused on recreation alone;

(j)         believes that a true 'Outdoor City' must be a place where ordinary people can walk and cycle safely and that, to enable this to happen, a high quality cycle network should be built to give people a genuine choice to cycle instead of driving and to allow ordinary people to cycle protected from motor traffic, and that this must be designed to be usable by all; and

(k)       stresses that planning and delivering a high quality cycle network must be progressed as a priority in order to meet the Council's aims of increasing the percentage of journeys made by bicycle to 10% in 2025.

On being put to the vote, the amendment was negatived.

The original Motion was then put to the vote and carried, as follows:-