Seven-year timeline of proposals and patience in campaign to restore Sheffield's Five Weirs Walk
Campaigners are hoping Sheffield City Council produces a plan they can get behind
Supporters of the Five Weirs Walk continue to grow in number despite the need for patience.
The famous route has been closed at Washford Bridge near Attercliffe Road for seven years since a storm in 2019.
In 2022, after public protest, the council’s private sector contractor Amey was asked to provide an estimate for repairs.
It came back with a ball-park figure of £1.5m based on a “highly engineered sheet-piling approach requiring pontoons,” according to Simon Ogden, former secretary of the FWW Trust.
This proposal was dismissed as unaffordable and went nowhere, he added.
In 2024 there was delight when the charity responsible for the National Cycle Network, Sustrans (now Walk Wheel Cycle Trust) came up with funding for an alternative feasibility report.
It included a substantially lower cost of less than £1m, despite further winter damage and significant inflation in construction prices since 2022.
It was delivered to the council in November 2025.
However, up to May 2026, Mr Ogden said there was no response from officers “despite many reminders.”
Earlier this month, The Star contacted the authority and Mr Ogden said he then received an email, six months after the report was delivered and “seemingly due to media enquiries.”
He hopes that it heralds the start of a new era of progress on the route.