West Park Centre - Demolition Teams on site now

Cardiarms · Post by **Cardiarms** » Mon 18 Nov, 2013 6:50 pm

There's also shennigans about allotment rents. The proposal is to raise rents from about £40 to £100+ 'to cover the shortfall and end the subsidy'. When you look a the 'shortfall' you find it includes £50k of proposed improvement money but no identifiable projects or commitment to maintain this level of spending in years ahead. Also, the improvement money only goes to the minority of council run sites, not majority of self managed sites, so the majority of plot holders are paying for an undefined future investment programme that they wont benefit from.

raveydavey · Post by **raveydavey** » Mon 18 Nov, 2013 9:21 pm

jonleeds wrote: Ridiculous moves like this are being made all over the country like the closure of the Don Valley Stadium and moving Sheffield athletics to some unsuitable 3rd rate venue all in the name of 'cost cutting'. Thing is if they are cutting all these costs then surely they ought to start cutting the taxes we all pay on everything from fuel to council tax, VAT etc? With respect, the Don Valley Stadium should never have been built in the first place. The whole fiasco that was the World Student Games would have bankrupted Sheffield if they hadn't somehow managed to get a government bailout. Then they were allowed to do the same thing again with their Supertram, which was also built using money they couldn't afford to repay and ended up being sold off for a fraction of it's price to get it off the books. Then there was the National Museum of Pop Music. Or Sheffield Airport. I could go on, but it goes to show our South Yorkshire counterparts seem to get things done...

Jogon · Post by **Jogon** » Mon 18 Nov, 2013 11:08 pm

mark1978 wrote: The problem with that is that it wouldn't have been "untold millions" - LCC quite deliberately inflated the figures for the necessary repairs so they could retrospectively justify shutting it down. It would have been....................................................................................One of the campaigners for the building has kept a blog of the various wranglings over the building's future since its closure. It's interesting reading. See http://victoriajaquiss.blogspot.com Had a look, sorry.National Union of Teachers mentioned.

mark1978 · Post by **mark1978** » Mon 18 Nov, 2013 11:33 pm

Sadly the place has been used as a political football by all parties for years when they could have been doing something worthwhile with the place.Actually there was virtually no support within the Labour group for the building's closure or demolition, with the exception of the crooks at the top. Good old Bernard Atha, in particular, has been extremely critical of what's happened. However, the leadership (including the man who shut the building initially, Richard 'Trolleybus' Lewis) have been keen to get rid of the building at any cost - hence the decision not to have an open debate on the matter, and to push the decision through with a three-line whip. Democracy, eh?

Cardiarms · Post by **Cardiarms** » Tue 19 Nov, 2013 8:41 am

Jogon wrote: Had a look, not that interesting Victoria writes:-'about me - music teacher, member National Union of Teachers...' Bit new labour-ish who weren't exactly friends of west park!http://leedsschoolscampaigner.blogspot.co.uk/ That's a bit unfair, she seems to have her own thoughts and opinions, similar to those expressed here and I can't see what point you're trying to make.

Dalehelms · Post by **Dalehelms** » Tue 19 Nov, 2013 1:42 pm

Bang out of order, Jogon. I assume that you don't know Victoria. If you knew her you wouldn't have posted as you did.

jonleeds · Post by **jonleeds** » Thu 21 Nov, 2013 2:52 pm

Now now! No need to be getting personal folks! Obviously this is a sensitive issue and so it should be but there is no reason to start character assassinating people...

Jogon · Post by **Jogon** » Sat 23 Nov, 2013 8:25 pm

Cardiarms wrote: Jogon wrote: Had a look, not that interesting Victoria writes:-'about me - music teacher, member National Union of Teachers...' Bit new labour-ish who weren't exactly friends of west park!http://leedsschoolscampaigner.blogspot.co.uk/ That's a bit unfair, she seems to have her own thoughts and opinions, similar to those expressed here and I can't see what point you're trying to make. CardieI'm not trying to make any point really other than we're in hock and cannot afford everthing and all causes are good causes when seeking tax funds.The weakness in my argument here is that LCC seems intent on blowing many millions on a Tram P'raps you're right. I'll revisit earlier and amend, throwing in an apology. I may not agree with what folks say but I usually support their right to say it.To declare an interest, my family used the West Park place for music. V convenient too, but there are loads of other local schools which could provide a venue:- West Park, the one on butcher hill, Ireland Wood, Holt Park etc etc.So the allocated funds more than adequate as, I'd expect, no new build required.

Post by **tyke bhoy** » Sat 23 Nov, 2013 8:53 pm

Well done Jogon. Agreed on LCC but the campaigner for keeping the centre open didn't deserve your casting of asparagus even if I too probably would disagree with her political alignment

Jogon · Post by **Jogon** » Sat 23 Nov, 2013 8:59 pm

I'll donate some more books to the charity shop.