DIY Masterplanning

Spital Hill and Woodside were again under discussion at a community conference on 28th July 2005 at Shiloh Church.

Two new project groups are being set up, one to work on the new housing proposals for Catherine Street/Woodside and one for Spital Hill. Local people who live or work in the area can join the groups. People voiced concerns that the Council wouldn’t take any notice of what these groups said. Councillor Jackie Drayton said they would be taken very seriously; they would be chaired by a Councillor and report directly to the Area Panel. However she did admit that ultimate decision making powers would still rest with the Council Cabinet.

Supermarket search

The Council is doing a physical feasibility study on sites around Spital Hill, including the Ellesmere old people’s home site. They are going to talk to supermarket chains and carry out independent market testing. Current thinking is the supermarket will be around 12–16,000ft2 – this compares with the Infirmary Road Tesco (45,000ft2), the average Morrisons (70,000ft2), Netto or Aldi (20,000ft2). A local shopkeeper asked about the Hartnells site on Saville Street; where there is current planning permission for a 20,000ft2 supermarket. The planners are looking into this, but think that the site owner has no real plans to build and is only trying to increase the value of his site. While this is going on shopkeepers and businesses on Spital Hill are left in limbo, a number said outside developers were hassling them to sell and that the former betting shop had recently sold at auction for £175,000. All seemed agreed that a decision on a supermarket needed to happen fast. The Council promised to report back to the next Spital Hill project group meeting in September 2005.

Chance for local shoppers

These groups are only going to be successful if local residents attend and make their views felt. There was a distinct shortage of residents at the meeting. The Spital Hill proposals look like they will be decided by the two most vocal groups of people present at the meeting; the all-male owners of the businesses, whose views will be reasonably clouded by personal financial issues; and the serious environmentalists who think all supermarkets are bad things that harm the environment. Local people need to come to these meetings and say what sort of shopping centre they would use.

To do this for the Spital Hill Project Group, contact Rob Slow on 261 7216 or rob.slow@sheffield.gov.uk and for the Burngreave Housing Project Group contact Caroline Stiff on 261 7216 or caroline.stiff@sheffield.gov.uk.

by Clare Burnell