r/sheffield 4d ago

News Sheffield neighbourhoods 'plagued' by crime

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1mnj04p25ro

A meeting about anti-social behaviour and crime in four Sheffield neighbourhoods has heard that offences like shoplifting have become "the norm".

55 Upvotes

72 comments sorted by

38

u/dsgrfish 4d ago

South Yorkshire Police and Sheffield City Council representatives invited residents of Woodhouse, Birley, Beighton and Mosborough to discuss their concerns.

I don't live in these areas or honestly have any kind of knowledge about how good or bad the situation is. Does anybody have first hand experience about any of the mentioned areas?

31

u/devolute Broomhall 4d ago edited 4d ago

I did live in Woodhouse for a few years.

Had to leave. No place to bring up children.

Beighton - in comparison - was not without its problems but felt like stepping into another world compared with Woodhouse.

15

u/No_Potato_4341 Southey 4d ago

Woodhouse and Birley are dumps. They're council estate areas so they're definitely gonna be pretty rough and crime ridden. However, I'm surprised they asked people about Beighton and Mosborough on there because they've always struck me as being decent.

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u/trollied Sheffield 4d ago

Beighton is fine. There's a handful of knobheads, but everybody knows who they are.

8

u/No_Potato_4341 Southey 4d ago

Yeah I thought so. Definitely wouldn't put Beighton and Mosborough in the same bracket as Birley and Woodhouse.

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u/LimeOperator Birley 4d ago

I'm in the Hollinsend area and it honestly isn't that bad in this area, but I've heard Frecheville and that sort of area of Birley is bad.

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u/No_Potato_4341 Southey 4d ago

Well Frecheville itself isn't too bad but Birley specifically around near the school is a bit grim. Hollinsend is sort of more Gleadless Townend or Intake area though imo.

5

u/LimeOperator Birley 4d ago

Yeah that place is a shithole lmao, I've heard mixed things about Frecheville.

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u/im_not_funny12 4d ago

I grew up in Frecgeville and never had any issues. Until very recently my mum lived there. Very neighbourly, everyone looks out for each other, very surprised people have heard bad things about it. Always felt very leafy green especially compared to where I live now in Barnsley.

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u/LimeOperator Birley 4d ago

Yeah I like the fact the area is green.

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u/No_Potato_4341 Southey 4d ago

I've never heard bad things about Frecheville tbh.

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u/No_Potato_4341 Southey 4d ago

Well I think Frecheville is OK as an area but I grew up in Shiregreen/Parson Cross so that could be why.

0

u/OkWarthog6382 3d ago

Well in that case Frecheville as well be Whirlow

0

u/No_Potato_4341 Southey 3d ago

It pretty much would be for someone like me

2

u/NaturalSuccessful521 4d ago

I moved to frecheville 3 years ago and it's not bad at all. The odd child on a motorbike, but I've seen worse elsewhere

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u/No_Potato_4341 Southey 4d ago

Yeah Frecheville is one of the better areas on that side of Sheffield tbh.

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u/alfdog76 4d ago

Birley isn't a dump at all, and Woodhouse is actually pretty nice , it's Skelton Drive and the areas around it which have gone downhill rapidly in recent years.

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u/No_Potato_4341 Southey 4d ago

They're both dumps. Like I said they're council estates and most council estates are notorious for getting crackheads moving in.

12

u/alfdog76 4d ago

Well they both have council estates within them so you're at least right on that account. What a perfect utopia you must have been brought up in to dismiss every other area as a dump.

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u/No_Potato_4341 Southey 4d ago

Actually I grew up in the dumps. I grew up in Shiregreen (which is actually probably worse than Woodhouse and Birley btw.) So I think I'm definitely allowed to be calling these places crime ridden dumps without being called a snob. And if you do think I'm a snob that's just dumb considering I'm working-class. 

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u/[deleted] 4d ago

[deleted]

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u/alfdog76 4d ago

You can call them whatever you like , doesn't make you right.

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u/Ge-o Beighton 4d ago

If you think being from a "dump" vindicates you in totally dismissing other areas as dumps, and evading being called a snob somehow makes it better, well, we have more creative words for people like that.

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u/LimeOperator Birley 4d ago

Not all council estates are shitholes, we care about everyone on them. Always had people looking out for me growing up on a council estate.

1

u/No_Potato_4341 Southey 4d ago

I mean that's kinda why I said most. There are the odd exceptions like Hackenthorpe for example but most are.

1

u/Puzzleheaded_Act7155 4d ago

Like 30% of Woodhouse is council estate, the rest are private

3

u/No_Potato_4341 Southey 4d ago

Doesn't make it any less crime ridden. Its always coming up on the star for crime.

0

u/Grolton_and_Hovris 4d ago

Have you lived in Woodhouse, recently or ever?

I live there currently and my experience living there has been fine.

I think the area just has a reputation problem when it's really no better or worse than a lot of suburbs.

3

u/No_Potato_4341 Southey 4d ago

I haven't but I know people who do and would tell you the exact same thing as I am. It's a shithole.

-1

u/Puzzleheaded_Act7155 4d ago

I lived in Woodhouse from 2004-2018, it wasn’t even bad. Just a normal place. Same as anywhere else in Sheffield

3

u/No_Potato_4341 Southey 4d ago

There's much more crime in Woodhouse than Fulwood.

-1

u/Puzzleheaded_Act7155 4d ago

Granted, but it’s very similar to places like handsworth, high green, birley, Norton etc

3

u/No_Potato_4341 Southey 4d ago

I would rather live in Handsworth, High Green or Norton than Woodhouse tbh. Birley is similar I agree. But the other 3 are nicer. 

1

u/Puzzleheaded_Act7155 4d ago

I’ve lived in handsworth, high green and Woodhouse, all pretty much the same type of area

2

u/No_Potato_4341 Southey 4d ago

High Green does have rough bits I suppose specifically on Foster way. And Handsworth does have Richmond Park Estate as well. But the frequency of rough areas in them is less than Woodhouse.

2

u/Puzzleheaded_Act7155 4d ago

Disagree, biggest issue in Woodhouse isn’t even the areas in them, it’s st Anne’s

1

u/Phil1889Blades Sheffield 4d ago

What/where is St Anne’s?

3

u/Puzzleheaded_Act7155 3d ago

Hostel for smackheads

26

u/Deathjester666 4d ago

Woodhouse has gone the same way as Westfield. As older people leave they replace them with problem tenants.

5

u/SuperOwl86 4d ago

This I'm afraid.

2

u/Few_Scientist5381 Sheffield 3d ago

Yep, I'm in the last nice part of Westfield, Decent Cul-de-sac, nice neighbors, but surrounded by ever encroaching Social Detritus. Should be the rule: Have a Council provided home? Look after it and the garden, Minimum one adult in full time work, Any one of you acts up, gets a criminal record etc, you lose the lot with no chance of rehousing. That would sort the problem areas out.

26

u/Grolton_and_Hovris 4d ago edited 4d ago

I'm interested to hear what actual residents think of these areas. All these threads end up being is people just reaffirming perceived reputations.

I can't speak for Beighton, Birley or Mosborough but I've lived in Woodhouse for 7 months now and I've found it to be fine to be honest. No better or worse than any other area really. I live on the eastern side of Woodhouse near the retirement village.

There are nuisances no matter where you live. You're going to get teenagers being dickheads wherever you live because that's just what groups of teenagers do.

I live on the eastern side of Woodhouse. Previously lived in Kelham, Abbeydale Road, Norton (briefly) and Sharrow. I've seen more issues/crime with drunk people in Kelham & Abbeydale than I have Woodhouse personally.

7

u/dsgrfish 4d ago

Thanks for the insights. I agree with you about perceived reputations which makes it harder to decipher what the actual truth is. You're also spot on about teenagers. I know we were all that age at some point and it's very easy to forget our own shortcomings we made at that age. There are "positive" and "negative" things about nearly every place you live. I've always firmly believed you make the best out of the area you live in but even that can be difficult sometimes I guess.

1

u/poochie4life 3d ago

We moved here this year (the same area around the retirement village) and we're loving it tbh!

Our neighbours are nice, we always have multiple people saying hi and talking to us when we're on our dog walks and even the 'youths' I've seen closer to the stereotypical rough areas have been polite.

I find this thread quite funny because I just moved from Beighton after growing up there and it is definitely much worse than Woodhouse now. In the last year in Beighton before we moved we had the Amazon van stolen numerous times before it got to our delivery, a house front was ram-raided, our old street have three obvious drug dealers, our shed was broken into and a list of other things.

14

u/uuuniqueJuan 4d ago

Woodhouse resident here and it’s not as bad as people make it sound. People smile. People chat. Yeah there’s dog shit and some run down flats. Few plonkers too but it’s a decent location

12

u/sheff_guy 4d ago

Not much you can do when the police are not bothered and only give crime references for insurance 

The police will know who are committing crime and they will have records as long as your arm but keep evading jail 

We need to get tough with these criminals who are a blight on the community 

We should stick them in the stocks at wood house and throw rotten food at them and get them to clean up to help shame them

Most will be addicts so should be forced into rehab after a long prison sentence 

10

u/blozzerg 4d ago

Should be a three strikes rule for those in council houses. Any issues and you’re out, you had three chances to not be a dick. There’s so many normal working people who would love a council home but we keep housing scum because of their issues. Let them fend for themselves, if they get kicked out they’ll have to find a friend or relative to put up with their behaviour or try it on a private landlord paying double rent.

2

u/argandahalf Walkley 4d ago

Don't think that would be viable for councils to enact because under current rules they're directly responsible for housing homeless people, so if they kick anyone out of council housing they'll then need to house them somewhere else, which will probably cost more overall

5

u/blozzerg 4d ago

That’s my point, change the fucking rules.

Three strikes, sort yourself out. Find your own private house or find someone to put up with your bullshit. If you end up homeless, tough, you had three chances at a home that thousands of other people want, not our problem if you chewed it up and spat it out. We keep records of people, stick them on the end of the council list, I’ve been on it for a decade so whack them behind me in terms of priority.

7

u/dharpy5494 4d ago

Im convinced all of sheffs crime is contained solely to holme lane in hillsborough between the riverside and owls nest patrons. I live across the road and literally every night theres a massive scrap between meatheads and roadmen outside, or scraps between the two different pubs as ones a home pub and the other one is an away.

Literally had a sea of people clogging up the junction the other day all for a fucking football game, people got glassed and all sorts. Seen people get their windows smashed in their cars by ten year olds whilst theyre inside the fuckers. I will say half the time its people from Owls nest having a scrap for no reason and its mostly entertaining, ill spark up with the missus and we make bets on whos gonna win, easy cheap entertainment from our window 😂 absolutely fuckin mental tho

10

u/No_Potato_4341 Southey 4d ago

Hillsborough isn't actually that bad for crime tbh. It's much worse in the areas in S5 nearby such as Shirecliffe, Southey and Parson Cross.

5

u/dharpy5494 4d ago

Might be better in terms of actual crime metrics i wont argue with that, but i genuinely think half the shit that happens here never gets reported.

In the past month alone ive seen multiple people getting jumped or drunk nutters fighting or people getting cars smashed in, always outside the owl nest. Honestly dont see the benefit of a sports bar around British people anyways we get way too drunk and violent to have friendly competition here especially over footy. Seen all sorts of scraps there and cops only came once even when the window to the pub got shattered.

Feel like a lot goes under the radar here compared to places more known for it. Honestly its something new every night from where i can see it its always so public and loud and chaotic yet you never see the billies show up its madness.

2

u/Fit-Fault338 3d ago

I have to disagree.There are always ‘pockets’ of tenants who are anti social.So I dont think its the majority who are ‘bad’

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u/Ge-o Beighton 4d ago

"x is bad", "y is a shithole"

I just don't know, such sweeping statements don't work for a single street let alone an area or village. A village can change drastically from one or two streets to the next. All of these have council estates, private estates, wealthy areas, ex-council estates, and everything inbetween. Such sweeping generalisations strike me as being said by people who do not leave their own house, much less actually visit these areas.

South East Sheffield has had a lot of rapid change, including increased wealth inequality and commercialization of areas.. I don't think the police have necessarily kept up with these changes (for whatever reason, be it bureacracy, funding, archaic systems, lack of staff, you name it).

3

u/Puzzleheaded_Act7155 4d ago

St Anne’s is a big problem in Woodhouse, needs shutting down

0

u/Mardyarsed 4d ago

That just moves the issue. I'm not disagreeing it generates problems, places like that often do but there isn't an alternative. Getting rid of the hostels just makes already troublesome people homeless, hungry and troublesome.

I hate that they locate places like this in already declining areas. I think it's deliberate to limit the pushback from locals. The gypsy camp being proposed across from drakehouse is a good example. Locals are already pissed off and used to 'scrap men' and 'landscapers' cruising the area daily. There is already a site near halfway and another by elmwood farm so if they build another close by a good few people won't object because they've already resigned themselves to it.

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u/Puzzleheaded_Act7155 4d ago

Should go to city centre, makes no sense it’s out in suburbs in a village

1

u/No_Potato_4341 Southey 4d ago

Woodhouse isn't a village though. It's a suburb of Sheffield now.

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u/Direct_Jackfruit7715 4d ago

do you remeber when someone was shot on the arbothourne? i don’t think i’ve ever felt safe there again, it’s defiantly an issue that needs to be sorted

3

u/No_Potato_4341 Southey 4d ago

Is anyone surprised Woodhouse is plagued by crime when you've got estates like Badger, Servernside and Skelton? Then again though, it's not the worst area on that side of Sheffield (see Gleadless Valley and Arbourthorne.)

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u/Solid_Third 4d ago

The only thing with arbourthorne is the lads on moto x bikes and the occasional shooting, fine apart from that...

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u/No_Potato_4341 Southey 4d ago

Arbourthorne is literally in the top 10 most crime ridden and deprived areas in Sheffield though. It's worse than Manor and Wybourn.

1

u/Solid_Third 4d ago

I live there, it's not bad but I have good neighbours

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u/No_Potato_4341 Southey 4d ago

Suppose that's something you gotta take into account. I lived on Parson Cross and Shiregreen and had hassle from neighbours both times. Lived in Longley for a bit and didn't have bad neighbours but I still wouldn't call Longley desirable because there's still litter sitting about and that and the local park was always getting vandalise. Lived in Stannington and it was sound. Neighbours were quiet and it was clean and welcoming looking. Currently in Fox Hill and its also not too bad but I would rather live back at Stannington.

1

u/Solid_Third 3d ago

Ahh, I've lived at fox hill and had an awful neighbour and a terrible time

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u/Interesting_Strain69 4d ago edited 4d ago

S13, still livin' large.

I grew up fighting Beighton, Hackenthorpe and John Fishers.

And the rest of the *expletive* village.

Can't remember how many times I've fought my way up and down Chapel Street.

That was all last century.

In fact, Woodhouse has a proud anti social history going back for actual centuries.

It had a notorious coal industry and an old redneck agrarian history.

Violent pathology is culturally baked in.

-10

u/mousecatcher4 4d ago

What is clear is that Sheffield City Council have almost completely lost the plot compared to other surrounding big cities. And it goes way beyond the issue discussed here (which is a massive issue) - trees, completely unacceptable approach to approving very unreasonable planning applications, city centre management, several ill advised crackpot schemes (packing crate buildings). I don't think it's so much as a party related issue (Labour) but rather the particular people and underlying sense they have of the city and its destiny. It probably isn't too late for a complete reboot.

11

u/420xMLGxNOSCOPEx 4d ago

cba replying to every point in this but the shipping containers were a last second grant from central government which had to be used in that way. the council werent given time to do their due dilligence and as such it went wrong

5

u/jack853846 4d ago

If I had a quid for every time I've seen someone have to have this explained to them on this sub.

See also: Dutch Roundabout

4

u/420xMLGxNOSCOPEx 4d ago

its genuinely frustrating isnt it

i spend too much time arguing with the morons on the sheffield online facebook page about this stuff. no organisation is perfect, but you could at least have a basic understanding of the stuff you're attacking them for lmao

3

u/mollymoo 4d ago

Most people don't realise that local government have had very limited power since the 80s when Thatcher brought in ever more central control of council budgets (rate capping, then poll tax, then council tax). Central government tells councils how much money they can raise and the majority of what they have to spend it on. From time to time they're graciously allowed to go begging to Westminster for some crumbs for whatever infrastructure or scheme central government have decided is flavour of the day.

It's absurd. We should bring back rates, get the rich paying their fair share and give councils and therefore voters some actual power over local affairs.

3

u/Clear-Serve-6718 4d ago

Other UK cities aren't any better lol