What residents really want to see change in multi-million pound Gleadless Valley regeneration
Gleadless Valley was thought of as bold and pioneering when the 4,600 home estate was built in the 1960s.
A multi-million pound regeneration of Gleadless Valley will include 1,100 new homes plus new shopping areas, parks, a renovated community centre and new mental health centre.
The project has been hailed a “blueprint” for neglected council estates in the north by Matthew Nimmo, the recently appointed head of Gleadless Valley regeneration programme at Sheffield City Council.
Gleadless Valley was thought of as bold and pioneering when the 4,600 home estate was built in the 1960s, within the leafy suburbs of southeast Sheffield.
But it has since suffered a range of issues from fly tipping to serious crime, and is one of the city’s most deprived areas.
Through the next 10 years, Sheffield City Council plans to turn the estate into a “successful suburb”, featuring 12 “major projects” including more solar panels and energy efficiency in homes, four new parks, new play provisions, a network of woodland walking paths, a new community orchard and increased public transport.
Residents can expect upgrades to their homes, with a £30 million programme to refurbish more than 200 flats and maisonettes across the estate with new insulation, decorating, windows, gardens or parking spaces.
Further plans include £4.3m for insulation and low energy heating for existing homes, and in the future, an estimated £16m will be allocated to solar power.
The Star headed to Gleadless Valley to hear from residents what it's like to live in the area and what changes they’d like to see.
Connor, 23, has lived in Gleadless his whole life and his mum Sarah has been here for 25 years. They describe it as “strangely quiet” and “quite diverse”.
Sarah said: “It’s cheap, convenient, lots of interesting people. Not many places have got a library, so we’re lucky that way, and the community centre. It’s very green.”
However, they both agree “it has its downs”.
Connor explains that growing up in Gleadless Valley, there wasn’t much to do.
He said: “You wouldn't hang out round here, you'd go to Heeley or Meersbrook. You wouldn't hang out in Gleadless Valley.”
As a teenager he would go to Cat Lane Wood to run up and down the hills, go on tree swings, find random things or just chill out.
But other people he knew from school would go to the woods to set things on fire.
Sarah added: “Not a lot of kids go to school round here. It’s half term now, but you can come next week or the week after and it'll still be honking with kids.
“There’s no youth club or anything. Have a drink in the park, that’s about it. There isn’t anything.”
Sarah and Connor told The Star that they don’t feel safe in Gleadless Valley after dark, as there’s no lights and it gets “pitch black”.
One time, they found someone dead outside their house.
Sarah said: “It does change when the sun goes down. If it got dark I'd run out of oxygen before coming to these shops. I'd willfully sit in the dark, rather than come here in the dark.”
Connor said: “It's not terrible for living and going to the shop, but I wouldn't hang about.”
Though she is not directly involved, Sarah has noticed a sense of community in the area, with gospel singing, volunteer work, and craft sessions for younger children.
Asked about the regeneration project, Sarah said: “You can’t polish a turd but you can roll it in glitter.”
A father with young children told The Star he has felt things improve in Gleadless.
He said: “People used to talk about this area a lot that it’s so dangerous to be here, but now it's actually chilled out now, it has calmed down. I don’t know if they’ve moved certain people out, but it's good.
“It's good if you've got a family, there's a lot of families round here.”
“I like the trees, I’ve got a dog, there's more space for dogs. If you're an animal person it's good.”
Asked what he’d like to see out of regeneration, he said: “More parks for the kids.
“Most of the kids hang around in the shops round here. If they do something else, swings for the kids, for the community as well, as long as that changes that'd be wonderful.”
The Gaunt shopping precinct will soon see a reopened and renovated Newfield Green Library and Terry Wright Community Centre, alongside a £5m Neighbourhood Mental Health Centre, as part of a national NHS pilot.
The new mental health centre is aimed to be a “one stop shop” of support in the community, open for residents to walk in at any hour of the day.
Mel Mahmood, team manager at Mental Health Matters is looking forward to the centre officially opening soon. She said: “I know it’s going to make an impact.
“The hope is that people will feel safe and comfortable here and want to come and enjoy it.
“There’s been a lot of cuts as we know and we’re hoping to fill those gaps and to prevent people from going to hospital, or having to go into another system, they can come here instead.
“I think we are going to be the blueprint for how hubs continue from this day forward, so it’s exciting.”
A Sheffield City Council spokesperson said: “The council has committed a minimum of £42m to the programme but is working with partners to secure the significant external investment needed to deliver the vision in full.”