Dore to Door internet edition

News & Comment - Winter 2002

Grave mistake - A blot on the landscape - Cards for good causes - Golden triangle - Did you know - Letters

Grave mistake

Council workmen have lowered 47 headstones in Dore Churchyard on safety grounds, following the death of a child under a falling headstone elsewhere in the country. Two headstones were broken in the process. Responsibility for the maintenance of closed churchyards rests with the Parks and Woodlands section of the Council. It seems no specific notice was given for families to correct the problems beforehand.

One of the charms of old graveyards around the country has always been the leaning gravestones, which in many cases have been that way for centuries. Now it seems we can look forward to flattened headstones in graveyards everywhere.

Presumably councils fear being sued if something happens. Sadly this is the price we must pay in a society where whenever something goes wrong we must find someone else to blame and sue?

A blot on the landscape

Many of the problems and frustrations we experience about planning applications and inappropriate development are shared with other areas of the City.

A recent letter published in the Sheffield Telegraph was from a Ranmoor resident concerned about a proposed block of flats for a site on Carsick View Road, Ranmoor. This is one of a growing number of planning application proposals in and around the Ranmoor area that would seem to be totally out of scale and character with their surroundings and the landscape.

The writer asked: "When will developers start taking the ‘character’ of the local area into consideration when drawing up their plans? When win they start talking to and involving the local residents so that we can arrive at better solutions that utilise the spaces that we have in and around Sheffield in a more effective way, that can meet the needs and requirements of the community and the objectives of the Government without ruining the landscape and destroying the character of the locality in the process?"

Good question. Without doubt the planning process and inappropriate development are the most common cause of concern locally, yet politicians at all levels fail to listen or act. We urgently need a planning system based on community requirements within a wider city and national framework!

Cards for good causes

The Sheffield Charity Christmas Card Shop can be found in the Cathedral. The shop is open from 10am to 4pm, Monday to Saturday. On sale are cards from both national and local Charities. For information call Mary Watson on 236 5666.

Golden triangle

Dore featured as a sought-after suburb in a Times article during August, being described as part of a golden triangle in south west Sheffield, where land and houses are at a premium. Prices quoted include one new house at £650,000.

Nice as it is to live in a desirable area, such publicity, also reflected in television coverage, has its down side as Doremouse suggested in our last issue. Sadly his forewarning about the inevitable invitation to burglars came all too true at the end of the first week in November when the retired owner of one Dore Road property was attacked after answering a knock on his door. He was faced by a gang of 3 or 4 youths demanding money. The pensioner suffered a bruised hip and suspected broken rib while being pushed around by the gang.

Did you know

Now that the firework season is over perhaps we can return to some relative peace and quiet. I for one enjoy fireworks, from the small family display in the back garden, to the large public displays. But there is a time and place for everything.

Each year the November 5th celebrations seem to stretch over a longer period. Fireworks are also increasingly heard at parties and celebrations at other times in the year, to the disturbance of neighbours and the terror of pets. Also the noise level seems to increase each year with explosions to almost World War II proportions. Surely it is time to limit the period over which domestic displays can be held and to ban the larger fireworks from them.

Further roadworks on Causeway Head Road seem to be the latest excuse for delaying the much needed crossing outside the shops. What next I wonder?

Is there really no way to improve the working relationship between the Council and residents. Usually it is not much we ask for. Take parking restrictions. In common with Totley Rise and the top of Twentywell Lane, the local shops we badly need to keep, are handicapped by a lack of local parking. The limited space there is, is often taken all day by local residents, people using buses into town or even in some cases by shop workers themselves. Difficulty in parking leads to dangerous situations with cars hanging around for a space or still worse customers driving elsewhere.

The answer is simple, in the form of a limited waiting period during shop opening hours. But in the greater scheme of things: golden routes and high profile roadworks, nobody on the council’s highways team seems to have thought of this. Perhaps we could get it included in the proposed Dore Traffic Scheme. But then on past form will this ever come to pass?

Doremouse

Letters

Dear Sir,

Totley Library will be receiving 8 personal computers for public use later this year. These can be used by anyone, adults or children, to learn how to use computers, do word processing, etc and there will also be Internet access. Time on the computers will need to be booked in advance. Usage is free, though there will be a charge for any printouts.

These computers are being provided for all the libraries in Sheffield under the Governments New Opportunities Fund, which is making computers available in public libraries throughout the country. This is to enable everyone to have access to a computer and to the Internet.

This is a very exciting development for the Library and we are all looking forward to it. We don't have a date for installation yet, but it should be before the end of the year. The staff are having basic training in how to use them, but we're not experts, so please be patient with us. We expect demand to be high.

Pauline Rosser

Community Librarian

Dear Sir,

Who lifted the Verger’s bollards?

During Wedding services on the 25th, 26th and 27th of August, 7 traffic bollards were stolen during the services, from outside the Parish Church.

These are supplied by Sheffield Police particularly for the use of Funeral Corteges and Wedding cars etc. It would be considered so inappropriate, if you in your coffin had to be carried half a mile to your funeral service, or if your daughter, in her wedding dress, had a long walk in the pouring rain. So please be considerate and return these. Just drop them over the graveyard wall. Thank-you.

Paul R Cobbold

Parish Church Verger