Renew Tour of Sheffield: Revitalising places with community at the heart

“I want kids from this estate to look across the city and see a real, achievable future before them, a future that with investment in their roots, can give them hope to grow.”  

Lara Joyce, Secretary, Gleadless Valley Tenants and Residents Association (GVTARA). 

That’s what regeneration is about, the people and the community. This came through strongly in our Renew inquiry tour of Sheffield earlier this month. The tour was hosted by Great Places, Places for People, Sheffield City Council and Urban Splash who showed us around various regeneration sites and talked through the projects.  

We started the tour with the Gleadless Valley. The Vision for the Valley sets out a long-term plan to transform Gleadless Valley into a thriving neighbourhood with improved homes, local services, community facilities and green spaces. This part of the tour was led by Matthew Nimmo, Head of Project Delivery – Estates Regeneration, Sheffield City Council; Alexis Krachai, Independent Chair, Gleadless Valley Regeneration Board and Lara Joyce, Secretary, Gleadless Valley Tenant and Residents Association. 

Importantly, the vision is built on the principle of community power. “… local people are the true experts in their communities.” The GVTARA plays a central role in shaping the future of the Valley. 

Attendees visited the Gaunt Neighbourhood which is one of a network of local centres identified in the Vision as essential to day-to-day life, providing access to services, community facilities and social space within walking distance of homes. We also stopped at Herdings which is identified in the Vision as a priority for more comprehensive regeneration and investment to make a great family neighbourhood with a park at the heart.  

From this view point Lara talked about what can be seen by local residents including the Peak District, iconic sports grounds and two well-respected universities. Lara made the point that through meaningful regeneration, residents in areas in Gleadless Valley can look across the city and see a real, achievable future before them, a future that with investment in their roots, can give them hope to grow. (You can read her article about Gleadless Valley on the Perspectives page of the Renew website). 

Park Hill, the largest Grade II* listed building in Europe, is being transformed through a long-term regeneration programme led by Urban Splash. Great Places has been involved in the project since 2004 and delivered 94 affordable homes as part of Phase 1, which completed in 2013. Sian Stanhope, Development Manager, Urban Splash, Nick Cumberland, Director of Programmes and Business Development, Great Places and Nilam Buchanan, Managing Director- Central and North, Places for People, led this part of the tour.   

Established in the 2010’s, a joint venture between Urban Splash and Places for People has delivered 455 homes, alongside student accommodation and commercial space. The regeneration has focused on building a diverse and inclusive community through a mix of housing, workspaces, public spaces and shared amenities. Great Places remains involved in Park Hill and is currently delivering 30 affordable homes as part of Phase 4. What Park Hill demonstrates is that, with the right vision and investment, historic buildings can be renewed and repurposed without the need to demolish them entirely. 

 Our Executive Director (Policy & External Relations), Patrick Murray said: 

 “On this tour we saw the power of community-led regeneration. But also, what struck me across both Gleadless Valley and Park Hill was the powerful original vision of the innovative architecture of the places and how, yes regeneration does sometimes mean replacing out-of-date buildings, but it also sometimes can mean careful re-use, creating great places and homes out of the assets that are already there and in doing so bringing new life into communities. 

It’s not easy, and Park Hill is at the end of that journey while Gleadless is just beginning but with the dogged determination of those involved it is possible. There’s no doubt we can make it all much, much easier to do though with the right policy framework.”
 

Earlier in the day, the South Yorkshire Housing Partnership meeting took place at South Yorkshire Housing Association’s head offices.  

Thank you to everyone who took part in the tour, the Renew Report can be downloaded here.