Story: Lisa Harrison
Roe Lane Community Centre is to be demolished as part of the expansion of St Catherine’s School. This will allow the school to expand without taking from the school field. The plans now include a multi-use games area which would enhance sports provision on school grounds.
The community centre will be relocated into a purposebuilt space within school grounds, sharing the school’s main entrance. As well as enhancing storage provision for the various groups that use the centre at present, the new space will be more than twice the size of the current community centre. However, school and community space will remain separate and secure.
With building work scheduled to begin in July this year and finish in September 2009, some local residents are concerned at the provision of community space in the interim. Various ideas are being discussed to allow for this, including use of the school’s hall whilst building work is being carried out, but nothing has been confirmed at this stage.
The school expansion, including the issue of the community centre being demolished, will dominate the agenda at the next general meeting of Firshill TARA. Local residents around St Catherine’s School are being strongly encouraged to attend this meeting to get their points of view across. The meeting will be held at Roe Lane community centre on Firshill Crescent on Monday April 7th at 6.30pm and is open to all.
The planning application is available for people to comment on until 16th April at Sheffield City Council’s website (http://www.sheffield.gov.uk/planning/), or in person at Howden House in the city centre. There are two applications for St Catherine’s (08/01070/RG3 and 08/01072/RG3) and one for the redevelopment at Pye Bank School (08/01077/RG3).