Campaigners call for river restoration in £1.5bn Sheffield regeneration plan

Simon Ogden, chair of the Sheaf and Porter Rivers Trust, said they would like to see light wells installed in culverts on the Sheaf which would encourage fish and wildlife and increase awareness of ‘Sheffield’s hidden river’. The Sheaf goes underground for more than a kilometer under Midland Station.

The Porter Brook is ‘brutally canalised’ on its approach and there are ‘obvious opportunities’ to restore it along the lines of Matilda Street park a short distance upstream, he added.

But the current Master Plan ‘says nothing about what is planned’.

The trust spoke out after Sheffield City Council unveiled ambitious plans to transform the area and make the most of HS2 when it is due to arrive in the 2030s.

The scheme involves closing the dual carriageway on Sheaf Street and moving it behind the station, where it would replace tram tracks.

Park Hill Roundabout would be closed, a pedestrian bridge would link Park Hill and Howard Street and hundreds of offices, flats and homes would be built.

Mr Ogden said: “The original construction of the Midland Railway line continues to have an enormous impact on the River Sheaf in particular, with substantial canalisation where it runs next to the river and complete culverting for over a kilometer under the Midland Station. It also impacts on the Porter Brook where it approaches the station.

“We feel strongly that if HS2 in whatever form is to be accommodated in Sheffield, or other major reshaping of Midland Station and line is planned, investment must seek to repair some of that damage as part of the environmental mitigation measures.

“In particular, there are obvious opportunities to restore the brutally canalised section of the Porter Brook along the lines of the popular Matilda St park a few hundred metres upstream. The current Master Plan shows the Porter but says nothing about what is planned.

“The extensive reshaping plans should include the installation of light wells into the Sheaf culverts which could start to encourage the passage of fish and other wildlife and increase public awareness of Sheffield’s Hidden River.

“We are already in advanced discussion with the station and rail authorities about a pilot project on Platform 5.

“There may also be opportunities to enhance public access and river stewardship along the Sheaf where it is obstructed by railway bridges and embankments such as at Myrtle Road, Archer Road and Little London Road and we will be raising these ‘missing links’ as more detail emerges of any track changes.”

In October, The Friends of Sheaf Valley Park criticised a council claim that moving the dual carriageway would improve air quality, calling it ‘deeply damaging, retrogressive and contradictory to the council’s own transport, carbon and air quality targets’. They also said South Street Park would be ruined.

A Sheffield City Council spokeswoman said: “There is nothing new to update on this, work is still continuing on various details of the proposals.”

The 20-year plan would be Sheffield’s biggest ever. It was approved by Sheffield City Council in March and is set to go out for public consultation.

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