Ben Curran

Residents in Walkley, Langsett, Upperthorpe and Netherthorpe should have already had a letter from one of the Council’s Energy Advisors.

It’s still not too late to take advantage of the free scheme. This scheme provides residents with free cavity wall and loft insulation - which can save you a lot of money on your heating bill.

All you have to do is contact the Council to take advantage of this scheme. You can do that by clicking on this link. 

The Woodland Trust is giving away 250 free tree planting packs for community groups across the country.

You can apply for 105 trees to plant a hedge or copse or 420 trees for planting on an acre of land.  For more information click here.  The Woodland Trust run similar projects from time to time and also have lots of other information about planting trees in your local area, which is always something to encourage.

If you know of anyone else who you think might be interested, then do please pass on the details.

As you can imagine, it’s been a very busy few days and I apologise for the delay in getting the results posted. The result in Walkley Ward was as follows:

Name: CURRAN Ben

Party: Liberal Democrats

Votes: 3,760

Name: LEDBURY George Roy

Party: The Conservative Party Candidate

Votes: 747

Name: RATCLIFFE Richard John

Party: UK Independence Party

Votes: 405

Name: WALSH Catherine Anne

Party: The Labour Party Candidate

Votes: 3,470

Name: WILSON Jim

Party: Green Party

Votes: 794

Electorate: 14239

Turnout: 63.7%

 I wanted to post my letter to the Star here. It is in response to a previous letter by an ex-Labour Councillor.

Unfortunately, Labour are campaigning in Walkley and promising local people the earth. Their PPC Paul Blomfield was Chair of the Sheffield Labour Party whilst they took money away from Walkley and, in November’s Council meeting, Labour Councillors  continued to pledge to take money away from Walkley Ward so they would have more money to spend in their favoured areas.

Here is the text:

It is a bit rich of ex-Labour Coun Veronica Hardstaff to talk about fairness (Apr 27). Under Labour, money was funnelled from communities like Netherthorpe, Upperthorpe, Langsett and Walkley to fund projects in their favoured areas.

The Lib Dems created Community Assemblies to ensure money is spent in every area and people have a greater influence on how it’s spent.

Unfortunately, Labour insist on having more for its favoured areas and asked the council for an additional £138,000 for these areas.

Labour may call that fair but I certainly wouldn’t.

The Lib Dem run Community Assembly recently gave £29,000 to Walkley Community Centre to upgrade it’s boiler, fully insulate the building and provide funding towards the development of the derelict building next door into two flats which would secure Walkley Community Centre’s financial future.

I was pleased to have the opportunity to meet with the Chair of Walkley Community Centre, Sam Charlesworth, to hear just how important this funding is to the community centre.

The Labour Government has proposed cuts to a number of adult learning centres in Sheffield which could force them to cease providing adult education. One of these is the Walkley Centre on South Road.

These cuts are completely unfair. At a time of economic crisis, many people who lose out on work turn to facilities like these to improve their prospects through education.

We have set up a petition against these cuts. Please sign it here