Ownership found!

It seems that the City Council does indeed now own the land bordered by Granville Road, Fitzwalter Road and Claywood Road. The Duke of Norfolk's estate sold it to them at the end of March this year. Hopefully Green Estates will soon be able to organise a clean up, now this has been established.

Who owns this triangle of wooded land?

The small triangle of land surrounded by Granville Road, Fitzwalter Road and Claywood Road has recently suffered from fly tipping. Some concerned residents have also noticed used syringes amongst the litter, police no parking signs and bags full of rubbish. I wrote to Nick Robinson, who looks after the Duke of Norfolk's estate, to ask if it would be possible for him to organise a clean up. He tells me the land was sold to the Council. So I wrote to Green Estates and they tell me that the land does still belong to the Duke of Norfolk's estate! Apparently Sheffield City Council are regularly sending him enforcement notices. I will write back to Mr Robinson again and see if he has changed his mind!

Urban Splash's plans for Park Hill

On Tuesday I went to the event at Park Hill Community Centre to see the latest plans for the redevelopment of Park Hill. Things are now moving quickly and it seems work will probably begin in the winter of this year.

The main change was to the car park. The large cylinder between the two blocks has now gone, and the building has been lifted off the ground to create a more open feeling. From a Green point of view though the car park is really a backwards step. Nowhere in Sheffield has better public transport access than Park Hill. It is close to the main railway station, the tram stop and buses. We really should be

encouraging the new residents to manage without a car, not provide a massive new multi storey car park. I think it should house a car park for the new car sharing scheme, so that cars can be loaned by the hour when people need them. The car park building has been improved slightly since the original plans, and now curves along Duke Street-but it is still a very imposing building that will cut out light to the centre of the complex.

The best new feature was the new pedestrian route from the flats to the station. Going down the hill at a steady gradient of 1 in 20, the new well lit path will be much easier to walk up and down than at present. To facilitate this there will be a new bridge over the current cobbled path, which will remain. It is thought that about 10% of the trees may need to be felled, but these will be replaced with oak trees and colour will be added with spring bulbs.







This is the car park seen from the centre of the complex. Under the car park is the new Grace Owen Nursery, with large outside play area. The new ethical shop is on the left. As the markets are now being moved to the Moor, this new shop is absolutely vital for the local community, and we must ensure that the dream becomes reality. Also under the car park are community recycling facilities.

Another new feature that I was not at all impressed with was a new road through the centre of the complex, from South Street to Duke Street. This will be like a "homezone", so the road surface will not be well defined and will be designed to ensure that pedestrians have right of way. However, I am not convinced it will not be used by speeding cars or motorbikes, causing safety and noise problems.


This is the new look to Park Hill. I was assured that the insulation will be of the highest quality and that the new windows will dramatically improve the buildings energy efficiency.






I still remain very disappointed that there are no plans for any renewable energy generation. There is still talk of a green roof, but this didn't feature on the plans on Tuesday. No mention was made of finance or the proportion of affordable housing that will be available to tennents.

Previous articles about Park Hill

Park Hill plans

Plans for Park Hill lack long term vision Oct 2005

Greens welcome "new life" for Park Hill, but ask "Where is the renewable energy?"

Park Hill tour

Well, the election's now all over, but it's going to be a very interesting year for Sheffield Green Party. The Council now consists of 41 Labour, 39 Lib Dems, 2 Greens, 1 Conservative and 1 Independent, so no one has overall control. Labour will need support from the small parties to be able to get things done. Jillian was on the Politics Show this lunchtime explaining that the Greens will work with anyone who is willing to adopt our policies! For the full results, see the Sheffield Green Party website.

In Manor Castle I was disappointed to see my share of the vote go down slightly, and the LibDems overtake me, pushing me back down to third place. This would not have been so bad if it had been done by positive campaigning, but (see previous article) much of their leaflet was very misleading. It's a shame that some people believed what they said.

The last few days of canvassing threw up some interesting issues- I met someone who is keen to start a Friends of City Road Cemetery group, so if you would like to get involved in this please let me know and I'll pass on your details. People were concerned about fly tipping around the allotments near Skye Edge, so I have asked the Council to clear this up. Apparently there are some allotment holders who are not very considerate about when they have bonfires, so if this is you, please think about the neighbours washing and other people who are out to enjoy the fresh air! Problems at a local school need following up, and one resident was very cross with me for supporting the redevelopment of Park Hill. It's all very well for the Lib Dems to say knock the whole building down, but it is a listed building, so it's not that easy. I have just heard that the latest consultation about the flats and Sheaf Valley Park is to be this Tuesday at Park Hill Community Centre. It is from 12.30 to 7.30pm with presentations at 1pm and 6pm. Very little notice has been given by Urban Splash, so please try to get along if you can.

Residents on City Road are fed up of it being a clearway, so they can't park cars outside the house.

By far the biggest talking point on the doorstep continues to be the 5 way junction between Stafford Road, Fitzwalter Road and Glencoe Road. I gather there was an accident there recently- if anyone saw what happened please tell me about it. Residents have been cross about this junction for many years now, yet the Council still says it can't afford to do anything about it unless someone is killed. I don't think alterations need to be very expensive- there is enough room to paint a mini roundabout on the road. One resident even suggested making our own!