Sheffield conservation areas expansion call as more historic buildings included in protected zones around city centre
Sheffield councillors have backed a call by heritage campaigners for more areas around the city centre to be protected by conservation areas.
A meeting of Sheffield City Council’s planning and highways policy committee yesterday (October 14) voted to accept proposed changes to the City Centre Conservation Area and Kelham Island Conservation Area.
They also agreed to ask colleagues on the transport, regeneration and climate policy committee to look at starting work on creating new conservation areas for The Wicker and Victoria Quays within 12 months.
The boundary changes include important buildings and spaces such as the Old Town Hall on Waingate and the Castlegate area, Millennium Galleries on Arundel Gate and Devonshire Green to the City Centre Conservation Area. Changes to Kelham Island now include the Coal Drops on Wilson Street and parts of Neepsend including the Cannon Brewery.
The name Kelham Island and Neepsend Conservation Area was adopted in recognition of its importance in the city’s early working history.
The designation of a conservation area recognises its historic or architectural importance and property owners must ask for special planning permission to make changes.
Cancelled
Robin Hughes spoke on behalf of Hallamshire Historic Buildings, The Victorian Society South Yorkshire, Sheffield Conservation Advisory Group and the Castlegate Partnership.
He thanked the council planning team for winning funding to look at designating a larger area after consultation on Castlegate was “abruptly cancelled” six years ago. He also praised the detailed process which took place.
“Even so, there is widespread and profound disappointment that after huge voluntary effort by stakeholders to develop proposals collaboratively the outcome is little different to the council’s pre-consultation report.
“Many stakeholder suggestions are dismissed for less than convincing reasons. This disappointment is felt by all the organisations for which I speak, as well as ward councillors and the Member of Parliament for Sheffield Central [Abtisam Mohamed].
“A significant opportunity is missed by not designating The Wicker and Victoria Quays.”
He added: “Officers acknowledge the historic significance of both the Wicker and Victoria Quays but claim that their character is ‘distinct from the City Centre ConservationAarea’. This is strongly disputed.
Decay
“The Wicker document lays out clear historical connections across multiple themes and eras with the adjacent Castlegate area, which officers do not consider ‘distinct’ from the city centre.
“These areas urgently need designation to avoid a repeat of the decay and destruction caused by the six-year delay in Castlegate.
“This also supports integration and access to resources in an area strongly related to and used by black and minoritised ethnic communities and their businesses and serving nearby areas of deprivation.” He said that the City Centre Conservation Area risked “becoming a ‘Swiss cheese’ of holes with less positive sites cut out.
“There is a large hole around Westfield Terrace exactly where unsympathetic development could do the greatest harm. It contains 20th and 21st century buildings which are of merit; others less good could easily be replaced by something worse.
“It also contains the listed portico of the former Mount Zion Congregational Chapel, where formerly enslaved African American Moses Roper made campaigning speeches.
Pioneering
“Another hole at Snig Hill contains early council housing at Corporation Buildings and pioneering music venue the Black Swan, where The Clash first performed. These are all the heritage of ordinary people, which in a diverse city should be celebrated.
“We believe that the real issue is of limited resources. The elastic will stretch as far as Castlegate but extend it further and it may snap.”
Central ward councillor and Castlegate Partnership member Douglas Johnson also spoke to the committee. He said: “This is very good news on the face of it – extending the conservation area to include Castlegate is something we’ve wanted to do for many years.
“This involves an emormous amount of work by officers.”
Coun Johnson said it was “regrettable” that The Wicker hadn’t been included because heritage buildings in the area deserve attention. He felt it had been discounted because the area looks a bit shabby.
The area includes key historic transport links that helped to build the city and bring trade, such as the old Victoria railway station and the canal network at Victoria Quays. Now shops offer goods imported from around the world, reflecting this history, said Coun Johnson.
Funding
Planning services officers Neall Bower and Harshada Deshpande pointed out that the funding only covers a boundary review of existing conservation areas. A second phase will review Ranmoor, Endcliffe, Norton and Oaks Park.
Coun Andrew Sangar welcomed the inclusion of Castlegate but saidthere is a good case to look at The Wicker and Victoria Quays.
Coun Marieanne Elliot suggested asking for the transport, regeneration and climate policy committee to consider the proposals within 12 months.
Couns Henry Nottage and Tony Downing supported the idea.
Council heritage champion Coun Janet Ridler said: “The planning department have done an excellent job of driving this review forward. It is a really positive reflection of how the council, Historic England and other partners are working together to get heritage at the heart of what we do in the council.”
She said the review recognises the historic importance of the Old Town Hall, “which is a building of concern to many of us”. She said that its inclusion could bring benefits, including funding opportunities.
The Old Town Hall has once again gone up for sale, as reported by the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
She added that The Wicker and Victoria Quays should be looked at concurrently with the review process, “without delay”.