Memorial area litter needs to be tackled

On Saturday a small group of us including Sheffield's Lord Mayor, Councillor Denise Fox, paid our respects to the men, women and children who perished in the Sheffield Flood of 1864 by laying floral tributes at the memorial in the public area outside the United Kingdom Border Agency at Vulcan House Millsands.

The Lord Mayor and olthers at the wreath laying ceremony at the flood memorial, Sheffield, United Kingdom, 11th March 2017. Photo by Glenn Ashley.

As usual the area was littered with fag ends and even a bookies’ pen.

The memorial itself has the names – where they are known – of the victims of the flood.

The state of the area was commented on by one of the attendees, not our Lord Mayor.

I have written on the issue to the Star previously to no apparent avail.

In the vicinity of Vulcan House are the premises of Irwin Mitchell’s Solicitors whose staff apparently use this space along with UK Border Agency staff as a smoking area during their brief breaks from the pressures of work.

At a time when the city is being rightly lauded to have Pride in Sheffield when we are faced with the plagues of litter and mindless graffiti – which no one seems to have the resources or ability to tackle in any meaningful way – it is surely appropriate for these two major occupiers of a site which also contains specimens of public art and archaeology to come together and see that a memorial to their fellow Sheffielders is kept in a fitting condition.

This would not be countenanced in Barkers Pool .

Someone please step forward and grasp the nettle on this issue.

Ron Clayton

Former Health and Safety Officer UKBA 2003-2010