“Block H for heritage?”

“Heritage group praises council.” There’s a headline for you! What’s brought about this sudden excess of goodwill? Can it really be the latest proposals for Heart of the City II? Why aren’t we protesting about good buildings being knocked down, as usual? Has the current crisis made us forget our lines?

The reason is that the usual script has been torn up. The dark days of the misconceived Hammerson scheme are behind us. Rather than everything on Cambridge Street below the Sportsman being worthy only of demolition, now it is “some of the most interesting architecture in the city centre”. The city centre has a great deal of interesting architecture, of course, but we can only agree with the council that, with the right vision, this will be “one of the most rewarding blocks”. When we read of “sympathetic restoration… along Cambridge and Wellington Street”, or that “historic buildings… will be kept with internal adaptations and reconstruction”, we have to applaud. That’s why when asked to contribute to the council’s press release we praised their enlightened and forward-thinking approach, and called it a project to be proud of. We don’t use those words lightly. We’d really like to be able to use them again.

For that to happen, the council has to carry on doing the two things that it did differently. The first is that they saw the existing buildings as an asset, something that gives this area bags of ready-made character that will make it somewhere that people will want to spend time in. Every building has a Sheffield story that deserves to be heard, from the rebellious spirit of the Primitive Methodists, to the dark and duplicitous doings of the notorious gangs, to skilled workers plying their crafts and slaking their thirsts. That’s character that cannot be bought, and when it’s gone, it’s gone for good.

The second is that they talked to heritage campaigners while drawing up their plans. They consulted. They listened. It’s simple, really. Find out the value of what you’ve got from the people who know, then plan what to do with it. There’ll be much less argy-bargy than if the plan comes first, followed by a rubber-stamping exercise.

So for now, we’re smiling. That doesn’t mean that we’ve had the last word. The proposals for what is known as “Heart of the City II Block H” are now out for public consultation, and people should make their views known (and this being Sheffield, I’m sure they will). This scheme is, although I hesitate to say it, about more than heritage. It aims to use heritage to create progress. Coronavirus means that there’s no drop-in exhibition, so it’s all online at https://www.heartofcity2.com/public-consultation/ until April 14.