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Please Sign This Petition


duckweed

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One last push please Folks, sign the petition, make a donation if you are willing/able, let 'em know at least that we disagree with the decision.

This is just wrong. We may well lose the fight, but please let's go down fighting.

RichardB

Bloke and Re-enactor and sometime SheffieldHistory poster (been having a hard time, hope to be back fully funtional sometime soon).

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"Sheffield seems to do this non preservation thing more than other cities. Take Cambridge for example where a state of art shopping centre is built behind the original high street facade of shops. Fantastic. Why some authorities and not others. There's bugger all made of the fantastic riverside workplaces and silversmiths places. If they were in putney, converted apartments of said history would cost millions. Short sighted."

From France.

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It isn't just a Sheffield thing and the present government's new policy of making planning decisions weighted in favour of developers does not help. There are problems in Oxford, Manchester, Hull, and London to my knowledge. Rich developers are employing the same legal company and are getting listed buildings and valuable greenbelt and protected wildlife areas trashed in the name or progress.

The problem is that there are only organisations like the Victorian society there to stop them and are entirely voluntary organisation with no money for fancy lawyers. At the same time the present governments is dismantling English Heritage so the whole listing system and protected buildings is also under threat.

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Recent Email

As you may have heard, very sadly the hearing at the court of appeal was not successful. Perhaps the only hope now is that the governors of Sheffield University stop and think again about what is happening and the amount of distress this will cause to the local community. There's not a lot that can be added here. We have to take from this what we can, move forward and know that something like this can never ever be allowed to happen again. As you will see from SAVE's press release at the foot of this email, some progress in the interpretation of planning laws was made.
In less than one week members of the public created a fund of donations and pledges totalling £3756. Sheffield University were aggressively litigious and there were genuine fears of large costs being awarded against SAVE and VS. In the end, the strength of support from the community encouraged SAVE to hold their ground and their legal team went on to succeed in negotiating no more extra costs for SAVE and VS on the day.
For that you should be proud – so much better to be able to say we did try everything, to see something like this through to the end and not stand down. Although there were no extra costs in the Court of Appeal, SAVE and VS were hit with £10,000 costs incurred the week before at the first High Court Hearing. if you could chip in to help with that, it would be very much welcome. It would give these organisations the confidence to know that, where necessary they can take legal steps to defend our heritage again and we will be there standing behind them.
You can donate from our website here (paypal link at the bottom of the article):
More information here:
Really sorry it could not have been better news....
Nick Roscoe, on behalf of the Campaign to Save the Grade II listed Edwardian Jessop Hospital building
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The strange thing is that SAVE's lawyer managed to make an important point in law about assessing the damage the demolition will cause to the surrounding area and the community and the planning committee definitely did not assess this, but nevertheless they didn't get a judicial review. The whole planning procedure was questionable to say the least and yet no one will let SAVE and the Victorian Society argue this.

I certainly think that the University has caused a major rift between the Community and themselves and the new building will be a continual sore re that relationship. I don't understand why they don't understand that. Many people within the University are shocked at the Engineering dept's attitude and are concerned that they will lose community support which will make things very difficult for them.

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Where the university is involved they'll be after the land grab, Castle Market area will be among their grab, it'll be,

"nothing worth preserving we may as well turn it into student accommodation"

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People have short memories and people are, in general, easily led by the well publicised need for jobs. The University played this part of their hand well although I have never heard our University use the argument before. Anyone standing in the way of jobs ...whether real or ethereal...is nowadays classed as being "agin 'em". How real was the loss of jobs, or indeed, students, given the need for a redesign?

It is a black day for a City with an already alarming lack of listed buildings ( I exclude the monstrosities behind the Station which would be better demolished, crushed and made in to a large scree garden!)

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We have a 1'000 listed structures in Sheffield. Far more than Leeds. We have a range of heritage sites within the city boundary from Bronze Age to Art Deco. There are buildings that should be listed and are not. Jessop is important in that it was in the forefront of women's medicine and also had the stated aim of free medicine for all. A surgeon in Jessop together with a tool maker designed forceps which were curved to fit the cervix. He was cited by Lister as one of the most important obstetricians of the age. The significance of the forceps was that before that women often died from tears made by ill fitting forceps. A small thing but the design is still used and has in effect saved millions of women's lives. The other fact is that so many people from Sheffield are in existence thanks to Jessop. It is not that one wing is destroyed but that the whole majesty of the building will be obliterated from view.

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I doubt they will change their mind but worth signing if only to show wealth of feeling against it. I expect they will demolish quickly to stop arguments.

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I suspect you will be proved correct. I wonder, how many local petitions with just a few thousand names ever change the attitudes of the "Big Battalions"?

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I post here and in full, a further email, received today.

Update on SAVE Jessops Campaign

Dear All

The new petition has exploded to 2540 signatures in three days. This is really turning up the heat on Sheffield University. If you haven't yet, please sign here:

http://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/don-t-undermine-the-listed-buildings-system-save-grade-ii-listed-edwardian-jessop-hospital

Yesterday things were curiously quiet around the building (we have a number of members of University staff keeping an eye out for us) - could it be that our plea is having an effect? We reminded the University that English Heritage had not been consulted to record the building. English Heritage duly relieved the University of that responsibility but the University have said they will make their own records of the building. Better than nothing, but a completely unsatisfactory state of affairs when we know the only reason English Heritage won't do it is because that department no longer exists (funding cuts...).

We don't know what the University are thinking, but one thing is clear: It isn't too late for Sheffield University to change their mind. If the building was preserved then all the work up to date would be necessary anyway. There would be a delay developing new designs, but that's about it. It would actually be the biggest PR boost the University could imagine - to stop, listen and respect the wishes of the local community would forge the way ahead for partnership with the community. To continue with demolition on the other hand would surely be a PR disaster and inflict damage on community relations that would never truly heal.

Please keep on doing your stuff - please forward this message on to your friends and colleagues and once you are onto the 38 degrees page please share the petition on Facebook and Twitter - very powerful tools.

Sorry to keep pestering, but it's the University we are lobbying now, not Eric Pickles - and they need to know this issue is just not going to go away!

http://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/don-t-undermine-the-listed-buildings-system-save-grade-ii-listed-edwardian-jessop-hospital

Nick Roscoe on behalf of the Campaign to SAVE Jessops Edwardian building


This message was sent by Nicholas Roscoe using the Change.org system. You received this email because you signed a petition started by Nicholas Roscoe on Change.org: "Rt Hon Eric Pickles, Secretary of State: Save Sheffield's Grade II Listed Edwardian Jessop Hospital building." Change.org does not endorse contents of this message.

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The University might have found it easier to do their own recording of the building if they hadn't shut down ARCUS because for the first time in its existence it failed to make a profit.

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My sources tell me they seem to be making ready for demolition so if you want to add your voice do it now. At least if we can make the Council and University see that this is going to be a permanent thorn in their flesh it may think them reconsider. I am not hopeful but I have signed nevertheless and asked as many contacts as I can re social media.

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I wonder what world Sheffield University live in. Given that there is yet another article published in criticism of the Jessop Demolition http://intbau.org/ another prestigious organisation which has Royal Patronage. There has already been Guardian article attacking, alumni organisations, English Heritage, Victorian society, Architectural journals, even Private Eye. I think an engineering department that is unable to find solutions is not impressive. One that disregards the local community is not giving out a great image internationally and I know for a fact that campaigners are from a wide world community. What students will say when they see this eyesore of a block is what idiot designed that and why did Sheffield let them?

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Richard Hawley was born at Jessop and his mother worked there for a number of years. Helen Sharman astronaught also born there and David Blunket. I would suppose the campaign has already asked them.

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Basically they are demolishing soon. There will be about a week to strip away the asbestos before demolition workers allowed on site. Unlikely to just blow up building as too near to other buildings. More likely to knock down with demolition ball and such like after having totally stripped interior. They are not going to delay because they will want major disruption over by October when students come back. No point in asking students to boycott as they don't even make their final decisions re Universities till 12th August and Jessop will be long gone by then.

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The big battalions usually win and, from the contents of a message I have just read, it seems the University doesn't care about anything other than their business plan...which involves the building of a classical piece of future mediocrity!

Our Council has lost all of the little amount of credibility they had left.

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Plus the legal system which is supposed to have checks and balances against this happening. Don't think that this is just Sheffield. This is happening all over the country. This in spite of the new government saying it was putting local planning decisions into the hands of the local people. All purely rhetoric. It is about money.

Even with Sheffield University there are inequalities smaller departments being over-ruled by the Engineering department which is far from increasing jobs is about to shed jobs in administrative and library staff. Some architectural students have questioned the new buildings structural integrity though in fairness I don't know if there is any foundation in their fears. The Archaeology and History departments have not wanted the demolition. Both students present day and past have signed the petition against the demolition. So I wouldn't put the whole University into the same box as the Engineering department. Money talks and the Engineering dept has the most money. A dept built on the blood sweat and tears of people like Jessop.

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I have spent more years than I care to remember questioning the Council's decision to agree to close Sheffield's nascent small airport for no obvious benefit ...after £ millions of Public money had been spent on the project.I have written thousands of words, addressed the European Parliament, appealed to Councillors, Officers, MP's, the Ombudsman , the Audit Commission as well as the Government....to no effect. Finally, a ***** has appeared in their well rehearsed defence of the indefensible!

Like Hammerson's with their Sevenstones and other decisions the Council has made, one suspects the truth will out, eventually, and Jessop's is just another example of a council which is, to coin a phrase, "Unfit for Purpose"!

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