Government to provide Sheffield City Region bosses with £1.2m for HS2 growth plans

The Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership, made up of the nine local authority areas of Sheffield, Rotherham, Barnsley, Doncaster, Bassetlaw, Bolsover, Chesterfield, Derbyshire Dales and North East Derbyshire, is to be provided with an initial £625,000.

It will then receive a further £625,000 when the HS2 route through South Yorkshire is confirmed.

A report to the Sheffield City Region Combined Authority said the money would help with preparing a growth strategy ‘in order to take full advantage of the economic benefits of HS2’.

The first part of the money will be focused on ‘maximising Sheffield City Region-wide benefits’, with the second part available for ‘station master-planning’.

It is currently uncertain whether South Yorkshire will have a dedicated HS2 station after the idea of building one at Meadowhall was scrapped, partly over cost concerns.

HS2 bosses are currently considering whether to build an HS2 parkway station for the county between Doncaster, Rotherham and Wakefield.

Separate to the growth strategies, Sheffield City Region is commissioning a £40,000 report into ‘possible mitigation measures’ on the currently proposed route for the county, looking at locations in Doncaster and Rotherham.

It said: “This will include looking at minor route or design amendments to reduce the number of properties affected and the scale of the impact.

“The study will be commissioned from consultants in early December and report back by early February so that its findings can be used to inform the SCR response to the HS2 route consultation.

“It is estimated that the SCR HS2 Mitigation Study will cost up to £40,000. This cost can be accommodated from existing transport budgets.”

A Government ‘command paper’ on its HS2 plans said: “The Secretary of State is today confirming that £625,000 of UK Government HS2 Growth Strategy funding has been made available for the Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership.

“The Government plans to make a further £625,000 available following confirmation of the route in South Yorkshire. We will work with local authorities to release these funds.”