Act today to stop the barriers

28th September 2009

East Midlands Trains has now applied to Sheffield City Council for Listed Building Consent to install ticket barriers, which would prevent free access across the bridge.

Please now object by:

Step 1 going to this page of the Council web site
Step 2 select whether you are 'local resident' or 'live outside area'
Step 3 click 'submit comments' button and follow the instructions from there.

The deadline has been extended to 19th October.

Here is some sample text that you are welcome to use:


I object to the planning application to install ticket barriers at Sheffield station for the following reasons:

1. Public access.

Sheffield station is an important historic listed building, which deserves to remain open to the public. the proposals would fundamentally alter its character, the barriers, screens and cctv would not be in keeping with the architecture of the building. They would break up spaces and floorscape of the public areas and restrict peoples movement, all important to the appreciation and enjoyment of the station. All these things would significantly reduce public use.

2. Safety and security.

The station footbridge is a safe secure and accessible route from the tram stop into the city centre for local people and residents. East Midlands Trains would be forcing people to use a badly lit, inaccessible and unsafe footbridge that would risk public safety.

3. Breaking up Sheffield's integrated transport.

Ticket barriers would remove the direct link between the tram and the train station, creating inconvenience for passengers. Train users would have to arrive at the station much earlier to buy their tickets before travelling. This would add to the existing queues and congestion.

4. Barriers put the interests of a private company, ahead of the public interest.

East Midlands Trains' profits should not be put before the public interest. EMT should protect their revenue by putting more ticket inspectors on trains, not by punishing Sheffield residents.

The application on the Council website is here

http://tinyurl.com/yb9ttd4


Residents against Station Closure feel that the submission disregards the huge level of public concern and anger which has been expressed since the beginning of this process. It is also misleading and of poor quality. You can find more information on the Facebook group, "Keep Sheffield Station open to the public"

Alternatively write quoting the reference 09/02887/LBC to Howard Baxter, Sheffield City Council Planning Division Howden House 1 Union Street Sheffield S1 2SH.

The following is Councillor Creasy's objection letter.

Dear Howard Baxter

Please consider the following objections and add them to the Planning on Line website as a Councillor comment.

1.The station has been designed, originally and throughout subsequent alterations, to allow the free flow of users from one side to the other. The whole of the public realm works leading down from Millenium Square, through Howard Street, to the station and the proposed development of Park Hill flats and the associated new park has been about making the connections across the Sheaf valley. This works at a visual and practical level. People can enjoy the views across the station in either direction and they can easily get from one side to the other. The plans and elevations show that the gates will be an ugly addition to the restored station forecourt, but they also damage the concept of a station which connects two vibrant areas of the city.

2. They will be particularly difficult for people with disabilities and to anyone accompanying them. A friend or relative helping an elderly person onto their train will now have to have a pass or a platform ticket or get special dispensation as a helper. Those with learning disabilities or memory problems will have one more thing to cope with as they enter the station.

3. What arrangements are there for bicycle users? I frequently park my bike before coming back into the forecourt to buy my ticket. It is quite hard to get out a purse and ticket while holding a bike. These seem like small annoyances but will multiplied tens of thousands of times during the lifetime of the barriers.

4. Above all, this is unecessary. There are other means of reducing ticketless travel, for instance having more staff on the trains. The Planning Board, the council and national government should be sending a clear message that we do not want this part of our heritage - free access through a listed building - restricted. It is the terms of EMT's franchise and government dikdat over gating and surveillance which needs to be changed, not our railway station.

Cllr Jillian Creasy, Central ward, Green Party