Comment - don’t let cynics be right about the fate of new inner city park in Sheffield

True to cynical form, virtually everyone who hears about the £5m new park at Castlegate predicts it will be overrun by beggars and drug addicts.
By David Walsh
Published 28th Feb 2020, 16:00 BST
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They seem to think the Grey to Green scheme will be a paradise for undesirables from the minute it opens, to the exclusion of everyone else.

The main focus of the £5m EU-funded project is Bridge Street, sandwiched between the river Don and the old Castle Market site. It has been closed to traffic and should be a lovely, riverside green space in a pleasant setting with views of historic buildings and Lady’s Bridge.

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But although it is undergoing rapid transformation, Castlegate still has its fair share of problems, as a stroll through it on any given day is likely to demonstrate.

Bridge Street and part of Blonk Street, Castlegate, are being converted into a park.Bridge Street and part of Blonk Street, Castlegate, are being converted into a park.
Bridge Street and part of Blonk Street, Castlegate, are being converted into a park.

So what’s to stop it all going wrong?

It’s a good few years ago now, but the Peace Gardens used to be something of a no-go area, even during the day.

Then they were done up, cameras were installed and city centre ambassadors and, latterly, BID street rangers, were tasked to patrol it. At one time it was covered 24 hours a day.

The other big factor was people, who now flock to the gardens to eat lunch, meet friends, go for a stroll or, if they’re young, play in the fountains.

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The Star Business Editor David Walsh.The Star Business Editor David Walsh.
The Star Business Editor David Walsh.

An undoubted success story - but the same can’t be said of every revamped green space in the city centre. Devonshire Green is popular but plagued by anti-social behaviour sometimes, as shopkeepers in the area attest.

Interest in Castlegate is running at record levels and it can rightly boast of being one of Sheffield’s top up-and-coming areas, with a thriving tech and digital scene and several arts, leisure and education enterprises. Residents are moving in in droves.

After a few years in the doldrums it now seems set for an exciting future.

It would be a tragedy if that were blighted by trouble and the authorities must take successful strategies used elsewhere and work together to make the new park as welcoming as possible.

Money must be spent, and resources focused, so it gets off on the right foot from the day it opens. Otherwise the millions that are being poured into it will have been shamefully wasted.