Maybe just maybe that extra layer of of red tape may throw us some crumbs just maybe. Maybe just maybe Sir Steve doesn't want to be mayor of Sheffield ( because thats what the Citeh region is imo) That's all maybe's we just don't know . Obviously there is no neither option on the ballot because the money will be withdrawn and nobody gets owt. One things for sure going on past ventures is that Sheffield will promise everything and deliver nowt . Our Town has been on a downward spiral since the inception of SYorks imo.
As an outsider to this, voting for a Yorkshire deal seems barmy. Putting aside the fact that it doesn't exist at the moment, people's key reason for not voting for the City deal is that they think Barnsley will be shafted. True, they probably will to some extent with Sheffield getting the key benefits but there's not that many smaller places then to have to think about so Barnsley will get a look in at times. Sheffield wouldn't be able to keep all the money without at least making an attempt at sharing it out. If you join a Yorkshire deal, then Sheffield, Leeds and Bradford are all going to get the good stuff and then there are loads of smaller places to be considered which could get the scraps instead of Barnsley. No-one is going to spend a single second thinking about Barnsley what with all the other places too, at least with the Sheffield deal you'll be thought about some of the time. (I've not voted in the poll as it doesn't affect me and I don't want to skew results).
Don't forget the 400% over budget that the Parkgate - Meadowhall train tram has cost (£75 million), that's going to take up a significant part of any City region cash. As for One Yorkshire, population wise it would be bigger than Scotland and Ireland, surely giving the region more clout than self seeking Sheffield. (And maybe this is the reason the Tories are against it - they would have to listen to a One Yorkshire (significant Tory votes) but will ignore Sheffield City Region (minimal Tory votes).
In truth this all went t**s up when Sheffield's leader decided they didn't want Meadowhall to be the HS2 station....up to Julie Dore's intervention Meadowhall was the place agreed by all including MP's and even Sheffield's own Chamber of Commerce and every S. Yorks council Cllr Dore claimed that they preferred a city centre station, despite being told by Sir David Higgins from moment one that it couldn't happen as it slowed the train too much . Not content to just push the positive case for the City Centre, they produced a very dubious report that tried to undermine Meadowhall, including a geology report from an underqualified source...Hs2 themselves were clear they could build anywhere no matter what the geology...this gave Higgins an opportunity to save money....Sheffield has ended up with only standard speed into the City Centre and South Yorkshire has ended up with no station, just the destruction in building the line, my own town of Mexborough takes the hardest hit in the whole of the UK (as far as I know) with over 200 homes set to come down. What was possibly significant was that the day after Higgins dropped the South Yorkshire station, Sheffield announced a £300m Meadowhall extension. The top and bottom of it is the Cllrs of all parties and political persuasions in Barnsley and Doncaster know they and the people outside Sheffield have been royally shafted for Sheffield's botched attempt at pure self interest.....why vote to risk that again.
Central Government have forced this vote,it's got nothing to do with the local councils. If you want to have a go at anyone,then criticise Sheffield who continually act Unilaterally, rather than our Council who are carrying out the wishes of LOGOC.
The Sheff City Region deal should shouldve been resigned to history months ago.. it's only Sheffield council and rotherham who are in it .. 5 of the 7 councils have left it ..it's also due to The Tory Govt who are all of a sudden pushing the Sheff Region and going against a united Yorkshire Devolution for whatever reasons .. This org is promoting the Yorkshire Devolution https://mobile.twitter.com/Yorkshire_Party https://yorkshiredevolution.co.uk I don't think any was pleased about that result ... plenty in Sheffield were hoping for the 're opening of the Victoria station .. In fairness the HS2 is for benefit of London not North.. they need to sort railways out up North rather than the hs2 white elephant
There was never a hope for Victoria Station...Hs2 made that crystal clear from the first moment . Anyone from Sheffield Council who denies that is, to say the least being disingenuous. Cllr Dore seems to have thought that the Great City of Sheffield could impose their will on Hs2 Ltd...what she failed to appreciate was that HM Govt were by now alarmed by the massive increase in costs, largely due to tunnelling down south. Rubbishing the 'chosen' option gave Higgins the opportunity to say that Meadowhall was no longer the best option and also save a billion or so which he grasped with both hands The Victoria station area was part of Sheffield's, 'Grey to Green' regeneration scheme of 2014 which openly( if you look hard) linked Hs2 to that aspiration...my view is that they childishly thought they could sell a huge acreage that Hs2 would cover, leaving a much smaller area for them to redevelop. What really irks us in Mexborough is that part of Higgins justification for moving the route from Meadowhall was that there would be fewer properties demolished...in 2015 he told Parliament they could expect around 650 nationwide by choosing the Meadowhall route...yet we have 200 plus in the firing line on the new route....so are they saying Mexborough should accept a third of the national demolitions? and that the leafy Home Counties can have tunnels...we couldn't make the figures stack up and asked for fine details of the actual route , it now turns out that Higgins compared the Mexborough route , not to the actual Meadowhall route evisaged, but to a thing called the 'revised Meadowhall route'..not the real route but a phantom route which they categorically refused to tell us exactly where it goes. If the above sounds like a social media rant based on half truths it is not, it is factual and I can post it with confidence that neither Sheffield City Council or Hs2 Ltd will or can challenge it. In my view both parties are disgraceful, disingenuous, and beyond contempt...I think I am right in saying Doncaster and Barnsley voted unanimously ...across the political spectrum to reject the SCR option...when Labour, Tories and Independents are in agreement about Sheffield, that tells a real story.
Why on earth would anyone commit to this railway knowing its going straight into private hands, fecking ridiculous
The reason the south gets tunnels and up here we have our houses knocked down is because is because the London centric Conservative Govt literally couldn’t give a toss. hs2 is a remarkably bad idea and if it achieves anything will make the north south divide worse.
