Park Hill Sheffield: Urban Splash respond to residents group's open letter slamming car park plans

The developers behind the transformation of the Park Hill flats in Sheffield have responded to an open letter slamming their car park plans as "regressive".

Yesterday, members of the Save Our Spaces campaign - who are residents in the area - shared an open letter to Sheffield City Council leader, Tom Hunt, calling on him to stop Urban Splash's plan to pave over green space to build car parks.

In response to the letter, which claimed the spaces were used daily by residents for family picnics and sports games, a spokesperson for Urban Splash said: "Urban Splash and Places for People have transformed Park Hill, creating new homes, workspaces and more green space than ever before. The result is a community of residents and businesses who care about the place where they live, work and play. 

"Like many other mid-century Brutalist buildings, Park Hill has undergone sensitive and sustainable redevelopment. Concerted efforts by the delivery partners and planners have enabled a viable solution evolving the building into somewhere that benefits people, place and planet.

"Now, as our community grows, we are exploring parking provision, taking many views into consideration as we try to meet the needs of residents, businesses and visitors. We are planning meetings with people in the community and have offered all residents an invitation to respond to a survey.

"Park Hill has significant amounts of purposeful green space for a city centre development, and the proposed 124 new homes in the next phase will include a garden area, increasing the green space further.

"That said, we understand resident concerns. This is an engaged community; we know how much residents care and that is why we are spending this time listening. Doing so, will help us find a solution that both addresses demand for parking while preserving as much green space as possible, ensuring we deliver the right balance for Park Hill."

In the letter, Save Our Spaces offered a number of alternative options they claim will meet the parking requirements of residents, without paving over community spaces.

It suggested reinstating parking on Rhodes Street, as well as making existing car parks "residents and their visitors only".