Long serving Sheffield councillor and star of Britain’s Best Dish retires after 27 years

One of Sheffield’s most long standing councillors will be bowing out at May’s elections after 27 years of politics.
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Coun Chris Rosling-Josephs will not be seeking re-election in his Beighton ward due to ill health.

“The last election took a lot out of me, as elections are big things,” he explained. “I always push myself and I always want to do things to the best of my abilities so I said to my wife Becky that I’d have to start building up to stand again.

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“But after about six months, I realised I wasn’t getting better. I’ve never had brilliant health and we went into lockdown which didn’t help, so I took the decision to retire.

Coun Chris Rosling-Josephs with Coun Sophie Wilson and former councillor Ian Saunders in Beighton.Coun Chris Rosling-Josephs with Coun Sophie Wilson and former councillor Ian Saunders in Beighton.
Coun Chris Rosling-Josephs with Coun Sophie Wilson and former councillor Ian Saunders in Beighton.

“I’ve got to say it’s been an absolute privilege to be elected and to work for the people of Beighton, and Sheffield in general, and mostly it’s been fantastic.

“It gave me the opportunity to be president of the National Markets Association, that’s something that doesn’t come along very often and to do that for a couple years and be involved was an absolute honour.”

The dizzying heights of planning

Chris has sat on planning boards for years and he’s long been an advocate for tall buildings, on several occasions calling for Sheffield to have a 50 storey skyscraper.

Coun Chris Rosling-Josephs is a keen cook in his spare time and met chef Jean-Christophe Novelli.Coun Chris Rosling-Josephs is a keen cook in his spare time and met chef Jean-Christophe Novelli.
Coun Chris Rosling-Josephs is a keen cook in his spare time and met chef Jean-Christophe Novelli.
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“My thing has always been about build up, rather than building out and everybody thinks oh, it’s got to be like the old tower blocks at Norfolk Park.

“It doesn’t have to be like that though, look around the world. Look at what’s been built in other cities such as the hotel in Deansgate at Manchester

“There’s a building in Singapore with gardens on the top and interconnected walkways. It’s one of the greenest buildings in the world and is absolutely fantastic.

“Why don’t we look at things like that in this country? We’ve a very conservative way of looking at buildings.

Coun Chris Rosling-Josephs and his wife Becky at Buckingham Palace in June 2018.Coun Chris Rosling-Josephs and his wife Becky at Buckingham Palace in June 2018.
Coun Chris Rosling-Josephs and his wife Becky at Buckingham Palace in June 2018.
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“High rise living is not for everybody and they’ve got to be sustainable but I’ve often said, people don’t get nosebleeds above seven storeys.”

He is frustrated that Sheffield seems to have lost its ambition, triggered by a decade of austerity and budget cuts.

“There’s always this thing about Sheffield being the biggest village but we’re not really, we’re an international city.

“We used to have ambition with Supertram, the World Student Games and the theatres refurbishment but because they cost money, you get criticised for spending it. Nowadays the council gets criticised then seems to lose its nerve.”

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He recalls the late Labour councillor Alf Meade who was a visionary with his environmental ideas and campaigns.

“When I first came on planning I asked the question, why can’t we specify that every new house built has solar panels and was told oh, we can’t do that.

“If we’d have done that 27 years ago, our carbon footprint in the city would have been next to nothing.

“Alf talked about ground source heat pumps and he was ahead of his time with Bernard Road incinerator and the waste heat generation.”

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When asked what he’ll miss most, he says the small things which help members of the public.

“I think that’s where you get some of the most satisfaction, where you’re directly making a difference. I remember doing one case where it was a lady in a 70s, she had an accident and she needed to some temporary help.

“It took me three weeks to actually get somebody around to her house and she eventually got all the help that she needed.

“She had help for about six to eight months then didn’t need it anymore and went back to be very independent but it was just breaking through that barrier because she was unable to do it. She was so grateful that I had helped her.”

Britain’s Best Dish

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Outside the Town Hall, cooking is his passion. Wife Becky is a qualified baker and confectioner and Chris is a keen amature, appearing on TV’s Britain’s Best Dish twice.

“The first time I was on I cooked bread and butter pudding then the second time I made a leak and red onion tart with a sage pastry.

“I got knocked out both times. The first time I didn’t mind as it was a woman from Sheffield who beat me with a sticky toffee pudding that was really fantastic.

“The second time I got beaten for being a gentleman and allowing the other person to continue cooking for an extra 15 minutes!

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“Becky’s pastries are absolutely fantastic, they just melt in your mouth, so I tend to stick to savoury.

“I used to watch my grandmother cook and my mum made a lovely pastry. Then a friend of mine had a Chinese takeaway and I used to help with the prepping and that’s how I learned Chinese cooking.

“I expanded to other types of cooking such as Italian and then watched Rick Stein. One time when we were in London we went to Golborne Row market and there was a Palestinian street food guy who did a chicken wrap which was out of this world.

“I asked him for his recipe and he wouldn’t give it but we found a recipe for a Persian rub and it’s wonderful. My bookcases are absolutely full of cook books and I love having friends around and cooking for them.”

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