Agenda item

Streets Ahead Project

It was moved by Councillor Jack Scott, seconded by Councillor Nikki Bond, that this Council:-

(a)       notes that August 2013 marked the first year of the Streets Ahead Project, secured by the previous Labour Administration and the previous Government;

(b)       believes that the main opposition group have tried to erroneously claim that the Project was secured by the present Government when in fact all they have done is continue the previous Government’s plans and regrets that the smallest opposition group have criticised the Project;

(c)        continues to fully support the Project, which has delivered the following achievements during the first year;

(i)           resurfaced roads and pavements: 185 miles;

(ii)          street light upgrades: 4,000;

(iii)         energy saved from new street lights: 40%;

(iv)         street cleaning litter collected: 75 tonnes per week – the equivalent weight of nine double decker buses;

(v)          grass cutting: more than 2.8 million square metres of grass verges maintained each year – amount of grass cut equivalent to around 4,500 football pitches;

(vi)         roadside drainage gullies cleaned: 63,500; and

(vii)       distance travelled by city gritters last winter: Equivalent of five times around the world.

(d)       notes that the Project is on time and on budget;

(e)       welcomes that the scheme has directly created 282 new jobs including 29 apprentices and 15 graduate trainees, with hundreds more employed in the Project through suppliers; and

(f)                 looks forward to seeing work start in Meadowhead, Woodseats, Beauchief and Hutcliffe Wood in September as the Project moves into its second year.

Whereupon, it was moved by Councillor Joe Otten, seconded by Councillor Simon Clement-Jones, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by:-

1.         the deletion of paragraphs (a) and (b);

2.         the re-lettering of paragraphs (c) to (f) as new paragraphs (e) to (h); and

3.         the addition of new paragraphs (a) to (d) as follows:-

(a)       recalls the previous Government’s complete mismanagement of the nation’s finances and their desperate last-ditch attempts to win votes through increasingly erratic and unfunded spending commitments;

(b)       therefore, underlines its belief that a spending commitment from the last Government was not worth the paper it was written on;

(c)        thanks Liberal Democrats in Government for helping to secure the £1.2 billion of funding to actually enable the Streets Ahead Project to proceed;

(d)       regrets that the smaller opposition group opposed the historic project, which will finally rid Sheffield of its pot-hole city tag;

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

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

RESOLVED:  That this Council:-

(a)       notes that August 2013 marked the first year of the Streets Ahead Project, secured by the previous Labour Administration and the previous Government;

(b)       believes that the main opposition group have tried to erroneously claim that the Project was secured by the present Government when in fact all they have done is continue the previous Government’s plans and regrets that the smallest opposition group have criticised the Project;

(c)        continues to fully support the Project, which has delivered the following achievements during the first year;

(i)        resurfaced roads and pavements: 185 miles;

(ii)          street light upgrades: 4,000;

(iii)         energy saved from new street lights: 40%;

(iv)         street cleaning litter collected: 75 tonnes per week – the equivalent weight of nine double decker buses;

(v)          grass cutting: more than 2.8 million square metres of grass verges maintained each year – amount of grass cut equivalent to around 4,500 football pitches;

(vi)         roadside drainage gullies cleaned: 63,500; and

(vii)       distance travelled by city gritters last winter: Equivalent of five times around the world.

(d)       notes that the Project is on time and on budget;

(e)       welcomes that the scheme has directly created 282 new jobs including 29 apprentices and 15 graduate trainees, with hundreds more employed in the Project through suppliers; and

(f)                 looks forward to seeing work start in Meadowhead, Woodseats, Beauchief and Hutcliffe Wood in September as the Project moves into its second year.

(Note: Councillors Simon Clement-Jones, Shaffaq Mohammed, Rob Frost, Sylvia Anginotti, Colin Ross, Joe Otten, Penny Baker, Roger Davison, Sue Alston, Andrew Sangar, Cliff Woodcraft, Denise Reaney, Ian Auckland, Bob McCann, Katie Condliffe, David Baker, Alison Brelsford and Trevor Bagshaw voted for paragraphs (c) to (f) and against paragraphs (a) and (b) of the Motion and asked for this to be recorded.)