Showing some love for new '˜pocket park'

The council has granted permission for Love Square, at the bottom of Snig Hill on the corner of West Bar and Bridge Street, which will feature colourful wildflowers and a temporary café made from shipping containers.

In a report, council officers said: “The proposed use will also bring some much-needed activity and animate the street scene in an area which has recently been the subject of substantial highways redevelopment.”

The first phase of the Grey to Green project – brightening up the roads from West Bar to Castlegate with trees and landscaping – was completed earlier this year.

Plans for Love Square were first announced in 2014, when the project was shortlisted for lottery funding through the Grow Wild programme.

The scheme, led by Professor Nigel Dunnett of Sheffield University’s Department of Landscape, lost out to Manchester and Liverpool.

The university is working with Urbo Regeneration – the firm behind the £250m West Bar Square development of offices, shops and apartments.

The café is planned to open this summer. It will be clad in timber with windows looking out over the park and habitats for insects and birds.

Love Square is intended to be a temporary feature while West Bar Square is built over a 10-year period. Contractors were on site clearing the patch of land this week.