Meadowhall: Planned leisure hall downsized and delayed to help Sheffield city centre
Meadowhall has drastically reduced the size of a planned leisure hall again - and pushed it back to 2029 - to help Sheffield city centre.
Bosses want about 50 per cent less space than in the £150m scheme unveiled in 2020.
Co-owner British Land did not comment on the revised planning application.
But a document states: ‘This reduction in floorspace, together with the condition proposed that will push back the opening of the bulk of food and beverage floorspace until the end of 2029, means that the potential effects on planned investment will not be significantly adverse. The delay in delivery will assist in the continued delivery of city centre schemes’.
It adds that after discussions with planning officers the development ‘has been revised in agreement’ with the council.
The changes come after a senior council chief made a formal complaint about the plans stating they would create a ‘gross oversupply of leisure’ at Meadowhall and harm the city centre, where £480m of taxpayers’ cash is being ploughed into a major regeneration scheme.
It is the third version of a leisure hall after a £300m project was approved in 2018. It was shelved in 2020 due to uncertainty from Brexit and the economy and replaced by a £150m proposal.
It is believed the centre lacks the range of leisure and catering necessary to make it ‘successful and sustainable’.
Now plans for an even smaller development could go before the council’s planning board on September 13.
The revised application states the reduction in retail will ensure it ‘complements rather than competes’ with shops that could open in the Heart of the City scheme or elsewhere in the city centre.
It is estimated the plan will create up to 850 jobs - down from 1,560 - add £71.5m to the economy and create 310 construction roles a month.
Plans also show the Source Skills Academy building on Meadowhall Way ‘repurposed’ for a mix of leisure and food and beverage uses.
Meadowhall lost several large stores last year including Debenhams, TopShop and Miss Selfridge. But 25 smaller shops opened in the same period.
British Land is also moving into warehousing at Meadowhall. It wants to build four new logistics buildings that could provide jobs for 700 on its River Don District site on Weedon Street.