Uncertainty regarding a Red Lines project – which would see no stopping on two major Sheffield roads – has continued after Labour and the Green Party argued on whether it had been ‘scrapped’.
BBC Radio Sheffield announced on Twitter that the plans for ‘red lines’ on Ecclesall and Abbeydale roads had ‘been SCRAPPED’ on 2 March at 7.42am.
But Green Party councillor, Douglas Johnson, retweeted three hours later saying: “er…this isn’t true.”
This led to confusion throughout the community, with the user @RTticking asking: “Then why are they saying it on Radio Sheffield, and there’s an interview with a councillor”?
The original proposal for the ‘Red Line Project’ was for the yellow lines to be replaced by red lines on Ecclesall and Abbeydale roads. This would mean no parking, stopping or loading from 7am to 7pm.
It also meant the council would be able to implement CCTV legally, catching motorists illegally parking without using an attendant.
The plans led to concern from local businesses and pressure groups such as ‘No to Red Lines’ being set up. They put pressure on the majority Labour party, who announced the plans were scrapped.
Jill Jiannotta, business owner on Ecclesall Road who owns ‘More Posh Than Dosh’, as well as an online journalist from Sheffield, said there would still be a long process to go through before the plans were finally scrapped.
She said: “As far as Labour is concerned it’s gone, scrapped forever… this backed the Greens into a corner politically”.
“The leader of the biggest party should not have said it’s scrapped, instead he should have said ‘as far as Labour are concerned, we have no plans whatsoever and if we have overall control in May, we will assign it the bin’… I think he did it for a bit of impact, he should have known better.”
In May, there will be local elections which could change the composition of the chamber, allowing the Greens to potentially push through the project.
One thing that remains certain is the anger over the project, and how local businesses believe it would leave Ecclesall Road ‘derelict’, and the plans are ‘unrealistic’.
Ms Jiannotta said: “A lot of people think it’s over, jubilation of the local press has given them this feeling. They are probably right that it will be scrapped, but there’s a long bureaucratic process to go through.
She added: “If it comes to spraying red lines outside my shop that’s when I’ll wind my business down and go because there will not be a business.
“This is a little community shop that’s been here since 1997, it’s served Ecclesall Road really well, if it goes people will be devastated but it cannot exist with the red line project.”
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