Tramlines: Call to move music festival to Attercliffe after Hillsborough Park left trashed

Calls to move Tramlines to Attercliffe have been welcomed after Hillsborough Park was "trashed" and left fenced off for weeks by the rain-soaked festival.

Businessman David Slater said the Arena car park and Don Valley Bowl were “the only viable option if we can’t rely on the weather.”

He spoke out after Hillsborough Park was turned into a mudbath when the popular three-day event was hit by torrential rain. Grassed areas have been fenced off all summer for reseeding.

Mr Slater, who owns and lets properties in Attercliffe, wrote that he had tried to have a walk in the park but had hit a metal fence at every turn. And he feared Tramlines would have to close if it happened again.

He added: “Tramlines works for Sheffield and brings cash to the economy so it needs to be the best it can be. A sludgy field in Hillsborough three years running will in my opinion kill it.

“So my suggestion: use every inch of the Sheffield Arena and its car park, Don Valley Bowl and the Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park. If it rains we have the hard surface of the car park and we could even use the Arena itself. The Bowl can be utilised for a smaller stage.

“Maybe Hillsborough Park can hold more people in one place but the East End has everything. Hotels, access to the motorway, tram stops, cycle routes, security, parking. We could even put a small campsite on Flame Hill. It’s a destination waiting to happen.

He added: “I'm confident that with the right planning an east end festival would be bigger and better than anything that we have had before. With everything else that's going on between Junction 34 and Castlegate it's an option that shouldn't be ignored. It's a shame Hillsborough Park just got trashed.”

Hillsborough resident John Highfield's bitter response showed the depth of feeling in the district.

He wrote: “It’s not a shame, it’s an outrage and a tragedy. I’m so pleased the people of Ecclesall, Norton, Nether Edge and Millhouses had the chance to have a great weekend without their public spaces being trashed.

“The people of Hillsborough are proud of their park and it is well used. Not this year. Let’s imagine what the response would have been if Endcliffe Park had been trashed (and that's the only appropriate word). It makes me sick to my stomach to think how Sheffield Council could think it appropriate to allow this to happen!”

Neil Walton, managing director at Premier Spray Finishing, added: “I used to walk my dogs every day in that park, it’s an absolute travesty what has happened to it. It’s always waterlogged in any case it was on the cards something like this should happen. It is high time the venue was moved.”

Luke Green agreed: “I was aware of the damages caused but recently, when walking through the park to attend a Sheffield Wednesday match, I was shocked to see the full extent. I am in full support of the 'Tramlines to the East End of Sheffield' movement.”

Sheffield City Council was contacted for a response.