Stocksbridge appears to be the next area for commercial property regeneration on Sheffield City Councils hit list.
The council has backed plans for a £46 million mixed use commercial property development in Stocksbridge, North Sheffield.
Stocksbridge Regeneration Limited, set up by Barnsley developer Dransfield Properties, will be undertaking the work.
Dransfield Properties, say the scheme will bring ‘a 63000sqft food store, further retail units of varied size, café and restaurant units, serviced office space available for local businesses, comprehensive landscaping and pedestrian links.
Amanda Holmes, spokeswoman for Dransfield Properties said: ‘We are delighted to have this confirmation from Government Office which gives the development the green light…This is a major investment in the town which will bring new shops and facilities into the area. The next stage is to set up a steering group to work towards delivering the scheme and we would hope to be on site by 2010/2011’
Stocksbridge is an area in North Sheffield that, since the decline of the British manufacturing industry, has been desperate for some for some form of commercial property development. Some years ago, the valley bottom of the town was almost entirely occupied by steelworks, whereas today, just one remains.
Despite this, the scheme has come in for criticism from some local residents. With one posting in the Sheffield Star’ letters page, ‘we all know that Stocksbridge is desperate for regeneration and needs an identity for being on the map, but we need to ask ourselves this, do we really think that Stocksbridge should be known for its retail park and nothing else.’
Whilst naturally, any planning development is initially looked upon with suspicion, people in areas crying out for commercial property redevelopment, must realise they, themselves must adapt.
The halcyon days of British industry are long gone and we must all move forward together into an age of, hopefully, commercial prosperity. Sheffield City Council, should be commended for driving this scheme forward in the city.
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