Nether Edge active neighbourhood plan going ahead despite row over consultation

Sheffield Council has tried to clear the air about an active neighbourhood plan after a politically charged row erupted on social media.
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With about a week to go until the local elections on May 5 an argument broke out between Labour representatives, Green Party representatives and local residents over the Nether Edge active neighbourhood scheme.

It started when Nighat Basharat, Labour local election candidate for the ward, called for it to be delayed so more residents could have their say.

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Map of Sheffield Council's Nether Edge active neighbourhood scheme.Map of Sheffield Council's Nether Edge active neighbourhood scheme.
Map of Sheffield Council's Nether Edge active neighbourhood scheme.
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The local Labour Party group polled residents about the consultation, saying it found most respondents were not informed of the consultation and wanted to give more feedback while others described it a “box ticking exercise”.

But some local residents said they had no problem and Green councillors accused Labour of “point scoring”.

Opposing views were exchanged in Twitter comments for days and Emily Wilson, a local resident, called for the row to be dialled down as she felt intimidated adding that she made a formal complaint to the council about a Green councillor for the way they communicated with her.

When asked to respond to concerns about the consultation, the council declined to comment due to purdah which restricts political communications in the pre-election period but it did clarify some key facts and background in response to confusion caused by the row.

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It said a six week consultation was carried out in summer 2021 which received 332 responses showing broad support for the principles of the scheme – to provide a safer and quieter environment while maintaining access for local residents and businesses.

A trial will run for up to six months using an experimental traffic regulation order and construction on this will start in May.

During this time people can feed into further consultation which will be used to review the scheme and consider whether it should be made permanent, removed or amended.

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Traffic counts to be carried out to help monitor the effects of the scheme.