6 Comments

I do think the Council should have been bolder in pushing through the CAZ, with tougher restrictions being imposed earlier. Look at what Sadiq Khan has achieved in London with the ultra low emission zones. This is entirely subjective I know, but on recent visits to London I’ve been struck by how much cleaner and fresher the air is around previously hideous traffic hotspots like Euston Road - and also struck by how polluted the air in Sheffield feels when I arrive back here!

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Thanks Celia 🙏 Yeah, I read the other day that cycling in London has increased massively since before Covid so maybe that's part of the reason too?

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/london-cycling-covid-transport-for-london-b1012998.html

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The link to the Sheffield star article on the history of fargate was really interesting. The writer describes the ever changing use of the street - from pubs, to housing/retail to larger retail units. but then moans that it is still changing !! larger retail units are in the past now, with internet shopping becoming the norm.. so fargate might return to its pubs/entertainment past and a high level of housing as per the councils city plan.. as long as it is used and useful - long may it change and reform.

The dig at the end of the article at the proposed shipping containers was particularly woeful. its a quick and easy way to bring in exciting new businesses - if they succeed, they may then take one of the empty retail units... not many small businesses can start up in fargate due to the high business rates and long leases, the containers may give them a chance.

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Yeah, I thought it was an interesting piece too, if a little rose-tinted about the past at times. Like you say, Fargate has changed throughout its history and will do so many times again.

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So your big story turned out to be a very little story. A councillor says the politicians on the Council he is a member of aren't doing enough. So other than having a bit of a whinge what is he doing about it? Oh I see he is chairing some political think tank. Do me a favour.

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Thanks for your comment Peter but the point of the big story in our weekly briefing isn't a really in depth examination of something, it's a bite-sized look at a major issue. The idea this week was to do something about the heat and ask whether Sheffield was making progress towards its net zero target by 2030. I think it's clear that we need to move faster and further than we have to date.

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