Presentation by Dan Whittaker – Community Services Officer – North East Local Area Committee
Minutes:
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8.1 |
Dan Whittaker, Community Services Officer for the North East Local Area Committee, gave a presentation which outlined the four priorities relevant to the Community Plan. These were:-
He explained that a 12-week programme was developed for six young people, which included working with a supervisor from Amey, and assisted with clearing sites, grass cutting and health and safety training. During the programme, the young people worked with Lifelong Learning in English and Maths.
He shared some photographs to demonstrate some ‘before and after’ results of site clearances on Lytton Street, Chaucer Road, Longley Hall Road and Wincobank Lane playground project. It closed with two positive reviews about the project from a young person and an Amey supervisor.
Mr Whittaker then invited questions from members of the public present.
(a) Mick Daniels
Is any of this land on contract to Amey and are they fulfilling their contract?
Mr Whittaker confirmed that the land in question belonged to either the Parks and Countryside Service or Housing Services. Pockets of this land did not have a maintenance plan so had not been maintained, which is why the Local Area Committee had intervened. He also explained that, moving forward, they planned to link with Amey, the Parks and Countryside Service and Housing Services to discuss sustainability.
Mr Daniels enquired when Amey’s contract was due to end, and asked if some of the money they were receiving would be allocated to support some of the initiatives the Local Area Committee were involved with.
Mr Whittaker stated that the Local Area Committee would continue to liaise with Council services on how problem sites were maintained in the future.
Councillor Peter Price advised that the Council contract with Amey was for highways work and did not cover housing land.
(b) John Cross, resident from Halifax Road
Mr Cross commented that when entering Sheffield from the North, the area was not as well maintained as it used to be and described it as a ‘disgrace’. He felt that the grass cutting service was poor.
(c) Margaret Hill, Burngreave Tenants and Residents Association
Ms Hill asked if the Local Area Committee team would go to her area to neaten their green spaces.
Dan Whittaker stated that he would liaise with Ms Hill and Mr Daniels in the breakout session.
Councillor Talib Hussain announced that Dan Whittaker had a new role and would be moving to another Council service. He thanked him for his hard work in recent years with the North East Local Area Committee.
Councillor Hussain also thanked Councillor Peter Price for his 52 years’ service to the people of Sheffield as a Councillor, as he was due to retire in May.
Councillor Hussain wished Councillor Abtisam Mohamed all the best as she was standing down from her position as Councillor for Firth Park in May 2024 to stand as a parliamentary candidate. He thanked her for all her hard work in the Firth Park area and for the North East Local Area Committee.
Councillor Tony Damms added a personal thank you to Councillor Peter Price.
Mick Daniels also personally thanked Councillors Peter Price and Abtisam Mohamed. |