Sheaf Square: Regeneration plans for 'forgotten' land outside Sheffield station to be decided

The future of a 'forgotten' Sheffield city centre site which is one of the area's most visible eyesores is finally set to be decided.

The large empty plot of land outside Sheffield station, between Sheaf Square and the Porter Brook, has been disused for more than 15 years, other than hosting the occasional fairground.

It is the first thing many visitors to the city see and has been described by Sheffield Liberal Democrat leader Shaffaq Mohammed as a 'forgotten piece of land' which stands as an 'admission of failure'.

When HS2 was expected to come to the city, plans were drawn up for an expanded Sheffield Midland Station, which included shops and other businesses on the empty land, with a new footbridge connecting it to the other side of the railway line, beneath Park Hill flats.

Council proposals unveiled in 2021, as part of the £1.5bn Sheaf Valley Redevelopment Framework, showed two office buildings on the plot, with shops underneath and a large footbridge again linking the two sides of the railway tracks.

When the doomed Container Park shipping container complex was unveiled at the top of Fargate last year many people said the land outside the station would have been a more appropriate setting.

Now Homes England, the trading name of the Homes and Communities Agency, which owns the land, says a decision on the site's future is expected soon.

It told The Star: "This area needs regeneration and has a large amount of unrealised development potential. Whilst the 2002 improvements to the station buildings and public realm provides a very high-quality arrival point, there are opportunities to transform this important gateway to the city centre."

It said that since the completion of a 'Development Framework' in 2020, it had been working with partners including Sheffield City Council, Network Rail and South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) on regeneration proposals.

A project board was established over the summer just gone and Homes England said this board had 'set up a number of workstreams to progress activity'.

Homes England added: "Partners are currently working together to assemble a Strategic Outline Business Case which will be ready for spring 2024."

The Star has asked Homes England how much money is available, what the timeline is for the project and when people can expect work to begin. It has yet to respond. Nor has it replied when asked what options are being considered for the site.

It is not known at this stage whether any of the £36bn promised to improve transport in the north when Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced the northern leg of HS2 was being scrapped could be spent on the scheme.