Sheffield LibDem councillor impressed by work of ex-Labour MP to bring Olympic Legacy Park to city

Coun Barbara Masters spoke out after a special meeting of the city council on December 14 agreed to award the freedom of the city to the ex-Sheffield Central Labour MP.

LibDem and Labour councillors alike were annoyed when Green councillors objected, saying that the decision should wait until a new process being discussed is in place. This would give a more diverse group of Sheffielders the chance to sit on an awards panel.

Coun Masters said that she joined fellow members of the council’s economic development and skills policy committee on a visit to the Olympic Legacy Park (OLP) in Attercliffe earier this month.

Mr Caborn was part of the team showing the group round and Coun Masters said they were all impressed with what they saw.

She said this included:

World-leading facilities attracting investments into Sheffield The leaders of the different facilities ensuring they remain at the forefront of innovation The ethos encouraging innovative thinking in the facilities and the UTC The eagerness to embrace involvement from local industries and other bodies such as health service providers. The determination to ensure the deprived community in which it is located benefit directly The ‘can do will do’ approach to problem solving generally.

Coun Masters said: “It’s described as ‘a unique place and project delivering a better future for all through transformational health and wellbeing research, innovation, and applied technology’and plans‘to cement the Park’s position as a world-class hub for innovation in sport, health and wellbeing’ will be announced shortly.

‘Vision, connections, energy’

“My view is that Richard had the vision, the connections, energy and determination to push this through and to get the OLP to a place where it can go from strength to strength. He made this happen.

“The message I took from the visit was that it was made possible because Richard was keenly aware he had to move away from a ‘process first’ approach and he needed to forge a visionary private/public partnership. This is reflected in the board of the OLP of which he is a member.

“It consists of representatives who are forward thinking, not entrenched in their views. They are keenly aware that progress is stifled unless the focus is on problem solving not processes.

“This is why I was dismayed by the attitude of the Green Party councillors who were prepared to halt the awarding of the freedom of the city because they want a process that has yet to be formulated to be in place first, completely disregarding the merits of the case in hand. In my view the focus on process before progress seems to be endemic in the council and this is a typical manifestation of the attitude which has held Sheffield back for years.

“Yes, measures must be in place to ensure accountability and financial responsibility, but these are too often used to enforce mainstream orthodoxies and silo thinking. The emphasis should be on progress not processes which are damaging.”

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