Minutes:
A question was received from Mr Nigel Slack who addressed the MCA as follows:-
“The Mayor has expressed his commitment to Arts, Culture and Heritage with his proposal to appoint an Arts, Culture and Heritage Commissioner for the city region and by appointing a Project Director to kick start this proposal.
The University of Sheffield however, seems not to share the Mayor's commitment. In May the University decided to close it's Archaeology Department. This at a time when there is already a crisis in the availability of these highly skilled jobs. The demand for archaeological expertise to service major infrastructure projects has grown and it has a major role in ensuring our culture and heritage is not lost to uncontrolled development. From iron age sites to Victorian industrial heritage, new infrastructure and developments are threatening historical sites.
The number of graduates entering the profession has been in decline and Brexit will make it unlikely that external candidates can be recruited to fill the roles needed. Archaeologists are one of the 'Skilled Worker Shortage List' professions identified by the Government. Commercial archaeology units cannot recruit fast enough and the University's excuse that the demand for the subject is declining has been described by one commercial archaeology unit as “Absolutely False” & “Total Garbage”. (https://digventures.com/)
The University is putting a world renowned department in jeopardy for the sake of it's big business agenda. The department provides expertise across the country, from Stonehenge to our own Sheffield Castle and it's loss would diminish the standing of the University as a seat of learning and damage the reputation of the city of Sheffield and the City Region as a centre of the knowledge economy.
What steps will the Mayor take to challenge this decision, in line with his commitment to the Arts, Culture and Heritage sector?
What will the Mayor do to tackle one of the underlying causes of this issue, the Governments slashing of Humanities Education funding by 50%”.
In response, Mayor Jarvis MBE stated that he understood that the review into the department had caused concern, and he had personally sought reassurances from the university in relation to their plans. He had been reassured that the university was committed to retaining areas of strength in their archaeology, training and research, and aimed to build upon them by aligning them better with other parts of the university. The University of Sheffield had a long track record of supporting the arts, culture and heritage in the city and increasingly across the region. They continued to be an exceptionally powerful advocate for our arts and culture offer and made an enormous intellectual and capacity building contribution to large and small arts and culture organisations, and acted as a sponsor to many of the brilliant independent festivals that make the city such a vibrant place to be. However, he would keep a close eye on the issues raised.
A question was also received from Mr Nick Hall as follows:-
“Will you oppose planning application 20/02550/FUL building a road across the TPT/NCN 67?
The developers commented “a pedestrian/cycle priority crossing would not be suitable in this location due to the proximity of the roundabout junction and the anticipated movements associated with the future development. Any delay associated with the crossing to users of the TPT/NCN would be minimal.
If the crossing will be too busy for pedestrians/cyclists to have priority, the delay and increased hazard to vulnerable road users will not be minimal.
Please demonstrate SCR's commitment to sustainability by prioritising walkers and cyclists and over motorized users”.
In response, Mayor Jarvis MBE stated that this related to a planning matter which was for the determination of a local council. Therefore, he strongly recommended that Mr Hall raised his concerns directly with the local council. In relation to the MCA’s commitment to active travel, he believed that its action spoke louder than words, with 50% of the Transforming Cities Fund schemes focused on active travel and a major programme of investment in place to deliver active travel interventions. He believed that South Yorkshire was increasingly at the forefront of the active travel agenda, to which he was proud that the MCA had led on.