Meadowhall site still up for sale

Outokumpu wants to sell 50 acres next to Meadowhall, at Junction 34 of the M1. The firm had a shortlist of three bidders in October but the deal has stalled.

The giant site off Shepcote Lane in Tinsley was once home to more than a dozen buildings where thousands worked.

The buildings were razed in 2011 and the site cleared – although a huge clean-up is needed to remove heavy metals and acids.

In October, Richard Waugh, Outokumpu company secretary, said they had decided to sell to raise money and allow redevelopment.

He added: “It’s been on the cards for a while, we’ve had a lot of interest.

“It’s a major industrial site at a gateway to Sheffield next to the M1 and with its own railway line.”

Possible uses include distribution or manufacturing – it is close to the planned Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District centred on nearby Sheffield Business Park.

But any development will be closely scrutinised by objectors who raised concerns over air quality and traffic congestion from a new IKEA.

Its application to redevelop the former Tinsley Wire site off nearby Lock House Road, was granted in 2014.

The Outokumpu site was developed in the 1950s by the British Steel Corporation for the cold rolling and cutting of stainless steel into sheets of metal.

It became British Steel Stainless after privatisation in the 1980s. It became Outokumpu in 2002.