Historic Sheffield works decision delay

A verdict by councillors on whether a 200-year-old building should be knocked down to make way for new housing has been delayed.
Creevela Works, Parsonage Cresecent, Walkley.Creevela Works, Parsonage Cresecent, Walkley.
Creevela Works, Parsonage Cresecent, Walkley.

Sheffield Council’s planning committee had been recommended by officers to approve proposals to demolish Creevela Works, in Walkley, and build a block of six apartments in its place, at a meeting on Tuesday.

But members voted to defer the decision in favour of making a site visit to see the building - on the corner of Parsonage Street and Parsonage Crescent - first-hand.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Residents and ward councillors have raised concerns around parking and traffic issues. There were over 30 objections before the meeting.

Opponents to the scheme say Creevela Works is one of the oldest buildings in Walkley, and have called for it to be converted rather than demolished completely.

Former Walkley councillor Veronica Hardstaff, who is among the objectors, said the works had also been fenced off for several months, with construction materials left in the yard outside.

“Residents have had to look at an eyesore,” she said.

Planning permission for a different project was allowed in 2000, she added.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“If the owners had gone for the original plans, to provide two or three flats within the existing building, and extend it a little bit, everyone would have been happy. People could have been living in those dwellings for the last 15 years.”

As the building is not listed, and does not sit within a conservation area, it ‘does not have any protection’, Ms Hardstaff said. “It’s one of the very oldest buildings in Walkley. People value it.”

The building once formed part of a farm. It is unoccupied, but was previously used by the applicant, cladding firm Clear Line, as an office and depot. The application will go before the committee again following the site visit.