Story: Brent Moya
The Area Panel called a meeting on Thursday 18th September with the aim of resolving residents’ concerns in Page Hall.
The area has often felt neglected, and has recently struggled with issues linked with the arrival of economic migrants and their families. A residents’ meeting in July resulted in an angry story in the Star. Councillors and Council officers have since taken action on long-term problems in the area.
High on the agenda was rubbish and dumping in Page Hall and problems with noisy neighbours. Cllr. Jackie Drayton chaired proceedings as service providers reported back.
Karl Tupling addressed concerns regarding cleaning up the area, saying:
“We are providing larger bins for bigger families and Streetforce have increased street cleaning to twice a week.” He also pledged to provide skips for people to clear their back yards and to start a deep clean up of gulleys and pavements.
Matt Wooding from the police, said they had increased their presence in the area. “We can encourage changes in behaviour with Acceptable Behaviour Contracts and will work closely with the Council,” he said.
Concerns about children not attending school were addressed by Julie Tasker, from the Council’s Service District. Shakil Zaman, from the Missing Children team added: “We will visit families to help children attend school.” Veolia Environmental Services representative provided optimism: “Our crews have reported recent improvements with the introduction of bigger bins,” she said.
There have been communication problems between residents from Slovakia and the Czech Republic and the rest of the community, as new arrivals don’t speak much English. Fiona Gervis from Mediation Sheffield said:
“Our role is to mediate in neighbour disputes. We recently recruited two interpreters for Page Hall and visited 14 households on 25 occasions. We also supported ‘Bring out your rubbish’ days, explaining to residents how they can deal with their rubbish.”
Questions followed. One resident, Shaun, said there were still problems with noise, speeding cars and dumping.
“The rubbish dumped near the school is rancid, it needs cleaning up now. It’s a danger to the children.”
Community worker, Chris Scott, suggested the Council pay Veolia extra to clean up this mess. Ivor Wallace of Page Hall Community Association said:
“This particular site at the end of Lloyd Street has been an ongoing issue for four years. It’s been addressed by the Council over several years but not to anyone’s satisfaction.”
Cllr. Drayton explained that they were in contact with the land-owner who has been issued a 21 day notice to clean up.
The vicar of St Cuthbert’s Church, which has members from all over the world, was keen to welcome new residents and told how a Slovakian baby named Peter, born to a migrant family, was baptized using an interpreter.
Gulnaz Hussain from the Pakistan Community Association announced their move to the Firth Park Hotel, where they’ll have a room for community use. She stressed they have been supporting the Slovakian community with advice for some time, and the centre needed to be recognized as a resource.
Cllr. Steve Jones said the work by the Council needed to continue: “We will keep working hard in Page Hall. We need to keep the pressure up.”
Useful numbers
Street cleaning, graffiti, street lighting: Streetforce 273 4567
Dumping, fly-tipping, public health issues: Environmental Enforcement 203 7410
Neighbour disputes: Mediation Sheffield 241 2771
Anti-Social Behaviour: 101
Children not in school: 273 6462
Concern about private rented accommodation: 273 4680
If you’re not sure who to call, or you feel you no one has responded to your reported concern, contact the Area Panel on 276 9134.