Castlegate and some areas around it have been in decline for many years, partly due to relocation of large retailers and the poor quality of the local environment. Yet it remains a main gateway into the City Centre, linking most central hotels in Sheffield, Victoria Quays, the Wicker, arts organisations, and other businesses in the Riverside Business District to the rest of the City Centre.
Sheffield City Council secured funding from the Levelling Up Fund (LUF) in October 2021 to transform the Castle Site, which was once home to Sheffield Castle and Castle Market. It is currently boarded up and in a derelict state. The proposed vision and concept design will create a new exciting public space in Castlegate, that focuses on heritage, culture, and sustainability.
With the grant available to SCC, we plan to transform the Castle site with an extension of ‘grey to green’ type planting, footpaths, a community events space, lighting, a de-culverted River Sheaf, and other essential infrastructure needed to unlock the future commercial development of small parts of the site.
A planning application will be made in early 2023 and the project needs to be completed by spring 2024 (grant requirement).
It is important to highlight that, although the Council has an initial estimate of the cost of the proposed interventions in the ‘Concept Plan’ vision for the site, we will not know if we can afford everything until we procure the works next year. Similarly, regarding the maintenance costs for the new space (which will need to be funded by the Council as they are not included in the LUF grant), this is still to be calculated. We will update the costs as the project progresses and make any changes to achieve a balanced budget.
If you would like to be kept informed of progress on the project, please provide your contact details on the online survey (below)
KEY DATES:
We welcome your views on the ‘Concept Plan’ for the new public space to inform the on-going design process.
To help you contribute to the process, we have included as attachments below the proposed concept plan as well as a presentation on the full proposals for the Castle Site with the Levelling up grant the Council has secured.
We have also provided you with a ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ list to help answer any questions you may have.
Finally, you can let us have your views and comments as well as your contact details (if you would like to be kept informed of progress) on the attached survey.
CONSULTATION ARRANGEMENTS
You can give us feedback on the Concept Plan for the new public space, either online (here) or in person as indicated below:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/458336515857
or alternatively
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/458342072477
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIlduChrDkjE9DCMp_c1niZS6bd3zucwM8R
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