Consultation on the future of transport across the Sheffield City Region (SCR) is set to go live next Monday, 8 January.

An online questionnaire, running until the end of March, will give people across the region the chance to have their say on the SCR’s ambitious draft Transport Strategy. The strategy aims to grow the regional economy by £500million, boosting economic growth by making it easier for people, particularly those in the most deprived areas, to get to work or places of education.

Find the consultation online at http://sheffieldcityregion.org.uk/transport-strategy-consultation/

Looking ahead as far as 2040, the strategy aims to make the best use of the latest transport technologies, and to improve air quality – particularly in those areas that suffer most from pollution.

The strategy, which has been produced together with local authority partners, highlights the fundamental role that transport plays in enabling economic growth. It also demonstrates a commitment to national transport programmes that benefit Sheffield City Region.

Martin McKervey, Transport lead for the SCR’s Local Enterprise Partnership, and Partner at international law firm, CMS, Cameron Mc Kenna Nabarro Olswang LLP, said that the strategy would be refined based on comments received during the consultation.

He said:-

“While we have already achieved a great deal in terms of building a thriving, super-connected and successful economy, such as making multi-million pound road improvements, introducing new tram-trains and contributing to the continuing growth of Doncaster Sheffield Airport, we know there is more that needs to be done.

“We want to make it easier for commuters to reach core cities in the North, improve air quality through sustainable travel, and also do the very best we can to enable people in our most deprived communities to reach places of employment, education and leisure by public transport.

“That’s why I would encourage everyone to have their say on this strategy, which will shape our ambitions for transport across the region and impact upon the day to day lives of all of us in decades to come.”

A key aim of the SCR Transport Strategy involves growing the city region’s economy by £500m, by increasing the numbers of people able to get to key employment sites and education by public transport in 30 minutes. It also aims to increase rail commuting between the SCR and both Greater Manchester and Leeds City Regions by several thousand journeys daily, and ensuring 90 per cent of the region’s population can reach a long-haul airport by public transport within 90 minutes.

Other aims include creating healthy, safe streets by increasing sustainable travel, delivering reduced accident rates, improving air quality, having a zero-carbon public transport network by 2040 and boosting footfall in the main retail and leisure areas by 15 per cent.

There is also an aim to increase transport-focused R & D investment by £330million, and to increase productivity by £75million through reducing journey times and using technology-based efficiencies.

This public consultation will also involve businesses, public transport operators, Peel Airports which runs Doncaster Sheffield Airport, special interest groups such as Friends of the Earth and Natural England, and stakeholders such as MPs, local authorities and parish councils.

The SCR strategy has been published as Transport for the North (TfN) launches a consultation on its own new draft Strategic Transport Plan later this month.

The TfN plan outlines the transport infrastructure needed to transform the economy of the North over the next 30 years, in line with the Northern Powerhouse agenda, stretching from the Sheffield City Region to the North East and from Liverpool to Hull.

Details of SCR’s Transport Strategy consultation will be on display in key transport and community points across the Region. People can respond through the online system, by email, or by writing in.

Chesterfield residents are invited to attend a special community assembly meeting where the borough’s portion of Council Tax bills will be discussed.

The meeting will place on Wednesday 10 January from 6.30pm at the Town Hall, Rose Hill.

Chesterfield Borough Council’s leader, Councillor Tricia Gilby and chief executive, Huw Bowen, will give a presentation about the key issues and financial pressures facing the borough before hosting a discussion about the 10 per cent of Council Tax bills which is used to pay for borough council services.

Residents will have the opportunity to ask questions of the leader and chief executive as well as Councillor Amanda Serjeant, the council’s deputy leader and Kevin Hanlon, director of finance and resources.

Councillor Tricia Gilby, Chesterfield Borough Council’s leader, said: “All Chesterfield borough residents are welcome to come along to the meeting and give their views.

“Although Chesterfield only receives 10 per cent of the Council Tax paid by our residents, services provided by Chesterfield Borough Council include: refuse collection, street cleaning, leisure and park facilities, regeneration, statutory functions such as environmental health and planning, markets, theatres and tourism.”

Derbyshire County Council receives 74 per cent of Council Tax to pay for services including education, adult care, children and young adults care, and roads. Derbyshire Police receives 11 per cent and Derbyshire Fire and Rescue receives five per cent to run their services.

Residents in Staveley and Brimington also pay for services provided by their town and parish councils, which means the proportion of their bills going to each authority is slightly different to in other areas of the borough.

Have you got any old, broken or unwanted electricals? Dig them out and take them to your local household waste recycling centre in the New Year for your chance to win one of fifteen £100 cash prizes.

From hair-dryers to hedge-trimmers, fairy lights to fridges and toasters to TVs, there’s a wide range of household appliances you can take to Derbyshire County Council’s recycling centres. And from 2 January, you can exchange them for a golden ticket – which means you could be quids in.

Simply ask for your golden ticket from a member of staff at any of the county council’s nine recycling centres, type in your unique ticket number online at www.derbyshire.gov.uk/electric and find out if you’re an instant winner. The more items you recycle, the more tickets you’ll get.

Derbyshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Infrastructure Councillor Simon Spencer said: “This is a great way of putting unwanted electricals to good use – with the added bonus of a chance to win £100.

“It’s a shocking fact that across the UK we throw away more than a quarter of the electrical items we buy instead of recycling them.

“We spend £20 million a year dealing with waste in Derbyshire which residents choose not to recycle.

“But if every Derbyshire household took just one electrical item to one of our recycling centres in January we could recycle an additional 333,000 appliances, saving not only tax-payers cash but also the precious metals and other valuable materials they contain.”

The competition prizes are being funded by Advantage Waste Brokers – the contractor which works on behalf of the county council to collect and recycle electrical items taken to its recycling centres.

Electrical goods can be exchanged for a golden ticket at the following recycling centres:

• Ashbourne (Mayfield Road)
• Bolsover (Buttermilk Lane)
• Buxton (Waterswallows Road)
• Glossop (Melandra Road)
• Ilkeston (Manners Avenue Industrial Estate)
• Loscoe (Heanor)
• Newhall (Swadlincote)
• Northwood (Darley Dale)
• Stonegravels (Chesterfield)

is thrilled to announce that they have received a generous grant of £103,035 from the Westfield Health Charitable Trust.

The grant, that is going to used to create a beautiful garden room and dementia friendly courtyard for our patients, their families and visitors, will ensure there is a space where families can make positive memories and remember their lives together.

Graham Moore, Chairman of the Westfield Health Charitable Trust, said: “It is a pleasure to be funding the improvements on the Inpatient Unit at Ashgate Hospicecare.

It will create a stunning, comfortable and dementia-friendly sunroom and courtyard for the patients, their families and visitors. I look forward to seeing the completed project in the late Spring.”

Tina Croley, Trust and Grants Fundraiser at Ashgate Hospicecare, said: “We are so grateful to the Westfield Health Charitable Trust for their generous grant to the hospice. We share their aim to take care of people’s health and wellbeing, and the passion to look after them. 

With their support, we will be able to meet a key priority of creating space for families to be together whilst addressing the needs of our patients with dementia and other cognitive difficulties.”

In 2015, Ashgate Hospicecare achieved an overall rating of ‘Outstanding’ from the Care Quality Commission. The report showed the Hospice provides high quality, safe and innovative care and that patients, their relatives and carers were highly complementary and satisfied with the care given, which they often described as excellent, exceptional or outstanding.

Karen Walker, Ward Manager of the Inpatient Unit at Ashgate Hospicecare, said: “We are really proud of our ‘Outstanding’ rating from the Care Quality Commission for our care.

The wonderful grant from Westfield Health means that we will have an outstanding area to match that care.”

The University of Derby has launched a bursary to encourage more people in the county to participate in higher education and develop the necessary skills to help grow the local economy.

Derbyshire residents and students from eligible schools across Derbyshire, who apply to study first year full-time undergraduate courses starting in September 2018 at the University, will receive the £1,000 Derbyshire Bursary to help support them through their first academic year of study.

Professor Kathryn Mitchell, Vice-Chancellor of the University, said: “I am delighted to announce our Derbyshire Bursary. This significant investment will support school leavers in Derbyshire in making the transition from school to higher education, and people considering a return to higher education study.”

The government’s Industrial Strategy, the Midlands Engine initiative and the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership Strategy for Growth 2013-2023 have identified that skills need to be nurtured in order to address national skill shortages, and the bursary aims to address this to provide the region’s businesses with ‘work-ready’ graduates.

Professor Mitchell added: “We are proud to be the only University in Derbyshire and recognise the role we have to play in raising aspirations and boosting skills across our county.

“Studying a degree is a big decision and financial commitment, but the benefits of higher education are well known and we have seen so many examples at Derby where it has genuinely transformed people’s lives. Through this bursary we want to open up the opportunity to as many people as possible, including school leavers and mature students, so that they can develop the technical and professional skills required for their careers after graduation.”

To qualify, students need to apply for a first year undergraduate place on a full-time course with University of Derby by 15 January 2018. Providing they meet the requirements of the entry offer, the bursary will be paid into their bank account during the first academic year of study.

In addition to bursaries, the University provides a range of additional financial assistance for students including a £100 study resource e-voucher to spend at Blackwell’s bookstore and free bus travel on the Derby Unibus services.

For more details about the eligible schools, courses and for full terms and conditions visit www.derby.ac.uk/derbyshire-bursary.

New £6.9 million University Campus brings history and future together in Chesterfield