Transformation of Meadowhall continues – with up to 5,000 new jobs

A major new development near Meadowhall has been given the green light by councillors but there are concerns about the increase in air pollution.
Graphic showing the Meadowhall Way developmentGraphic showing the Meadowhall Way development
Graphic showing the Meadowhall Way development

British Land, which co-owns Meadowhall, will create a hotel, offices, shops, bars and restaurants, a gym and a car showroom on land at Meadowhall Way, Meadowhall Drive, Carbrook Street and Weedon Street.

Developers expect to create a monthly average of 170 full time jobs over the ten year construction period. The completed development may support between 3,090 to 4,810 new permanent jobs.

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The scheme, covering 17 hectares, will compliment nearby industrial sites by giving booming businesses potential to expand while also offering space for new firms.

Planning officers say the development will “marginally worsen” air quality and queuing at junctions but these will be significantly outweighed by the benefits.

Councillors approved the plans but raised concerns about an increase in air pollution and traffic and Coun Robert Murphy voted against the scheme.

Coun Roger Davison said: “We do need to do something about the air quality in that area as people are already suffering.

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“It certainly looks a lot nicer down Attercliffe than 50 years ago and people wouldn’t recognise it now but in those days you could see the smoke – now we have unseen pollution. We really have to tackle this and I hope we can take measures, not just mitiage it but reduce it.”

Coun Andrew Sangar said the council needed to do more: “It’s important to bring derelict sites back into use and there is already approval for development on this site but the city needs to do more about air quality. We can’t expect every planning application to solve this problem on their own, we need to do more as a council.”

The scheme was welcomed by Coun Peter Price. “The whole area has been transformed since I was a lad, all you could see back then was smoke. We have another hotel here so we must be doing something right to attract all these visitors.”

Highway officers say existing public transport will be able to cope with the extra people and there are specific measures to provide cycling and walking facilities.

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British Land will spend £15 million on upgrading two roundabouts near Meadowhall to improve traffic flow.

An original planning application included 800 residential units and was aimed at accommodating the relocation of HSBC offices from the city centre and creating a new community.

But HSBC is now remaining in the city centre so the proposals have been altered. The residential units have been removed entirely and the employment uses are more mixed including non offices, general industry and warehousing.