Welcome for Sheffield long-awaited Gleadless Valley regeneration scheme relaunch
A new plan for revitalising the rundown Gleadless Valley in Sheffield backed by community groups has been praised by council leader Tom Hunt and community leaders.
The Vision for the Valley was launched this week, eight years after Sheffield City Council launched its £90m Gleadless Valley Masterplan, which ran into problems over rising costs and was subsequently relaunched in 2024.
Residents were left feeling frustrated and cynical that the promised rebuilt or renovated council homes, new green spaces, employment opportunities and other improvements would never actually materialise.
Now the scheme is being pushed forward by the Gleadless Valley Regeneration Board. This brings together the council with community leaders.
The board has an independent chair, communications company managing director and Sheffield Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Alexis Krachai. Board members also include representatives from the Gleadless Valley Tenants and Residents Association (TARA), ward councillors and council leader Tom Hunt, senior council officers and Heeley MP Louise Haigh.
Board members say that this is a plan drawn up with the community, in order that it addresses their priorities.
Partnership
Coun Hunt said: “I think over the past year we’ve done a lot of work listening to residents and working with a wide range of groups and organisations in Gleadless Valley who care deeply about Gleadless Valley to ensure that the new vision we’re putting forward has been fully designed in partnership with the community.
“What we’ve heard from community members is that they’ve felt listened to.”
Coun Hunt added: “It is a big step change from the approach being taken in the past. It’s very much been shaped by community members and organisations.”
The vision is very practical, he said, and also involves short-term actions such as dealing with anti-social behaviour, fly-tipping and parking issues.
“Over the next decade we want to be seeing 1,100 new homes alongside upgrades,” said Coun Hunt. He said that houses will be better insulated and some will have solar panels fitted, in order to make them warmer and cheaper to run.
The plans also involve creating 9,000 square metres of commercial and community space, as well as upgrading or creating four parks and improvements to public transport.
Hallmarks
Coun Hunt said: “These are all hallmarks of what you need for a successful, thriving community and the approach we’ve taken is ambitious but realistic.”
Mr Krachai said that he joined as independent board chair in January and has spent a lot of time listening to people about what they want to see from the plan.
“I’m very confident about the vision that’s been realised over recent months, for the very simple reason that it isn’t another council plan. It’s far more reflective of the views and ambitions and intent of a whole lot of different partners – local community groups, charities, volunteers and councillors representing the views of Louise Haigh.”
He said that there have also been conversations with funders such as Homes England and the Big Lottery.
Mr Krachai stressed that it’s a realistic vision of what can be delivered, adding: “We’re asking the impatient to be patient.”
He said that issues which are being tackled remain standing items on the board agenda to ensure that actions are followed through consistently.
Facelift
“One of the big projects is the big facelift,” said Mr Krachai. We’re spending up to £40m on improving council properties. We’ve been really clear that we’ve got to get that money out the door and impact on people’s properties.
“There’s a high level of ambition in this plan but also a really important of realism. As a board we’ve been very clear that not everything that needs to be done and we want to achieve is fully funded.”
Board member and TARA chair Matt Lawton said that the new Vision for the Valley – a name local people came up with – is different because of the level of community involvement. “Before it was Sheffield City Council saying ‘that’s what you’re going to have and that’s what it’s going to be’.”
Mr Lawton said it’s important that the council has put together a wrap-around team to get issues tackled in the area. He said that creating jobs locally is important, as well as improving the bus network.
Impressed
He has been involved with work to create a new outdoor arts space at Spotwood and had been impressed to visit Heeley People’s Park and take some ideas from how Heeley Trust had created the space. “It was quite inspirational walking around there.”
The TARA will be partnering with energy firm Eon to create an eco hub as part of the refurbishment of the TARA offices. Mr Lawton said that 10 houses could potentially turned into show homes to let people see how fitting extra insulation, air source heat pumps and PV solar panels could make their homes more comfortable and far cheaper to run.
Mr Lawton said the project has opened a lot of doors: “We’re doing all this and it is really challenging but it’s really satisfying at the end of the day.”
Reflecting on the progress made, he said: “The wheels are moving and everything is moving forward.”
To find out more about the plans online, go to https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/news/2025/vision-valley-sets-out-ambitious-joint-approach-regeneration.
The council’s website says: “Community engagement remains ongoing, and residents are encouraged to share their views and help shape the future of their neighbourhood further.
"To have your say, email [email protected] or visit the dedicated Have Your Say page for Gleadless Valley.”
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