‘More archaeological finds than originally expected’ have led to an extension of the Castlegate regeneration project budget and completion date.
On-site work to regenerate Castlegate into a thriving area of Sheffield city centre has been going on since January of last year.
The Transport, Regeneration and Climate Policy Committee meeting that took place yesterday noted the strategic importance of a new park in the centre of Castlegate from community, health/wellbeing and environmental perspectives.
The current budget for the project is £21m which is made up of funding from LUF (Levelling Up Fund), SYMCA, Environmental Agency and UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
The meeting heard that costs have increased beyond the approved budget. However, given the unforeseen nature and scale, the council is proposing to identify SCC additional sources of funding to bridge the gap.
The budget is set to increase by £5m.
Aureos (formerly Keltbray) was appointed as a contractor to deliver the full project in October 2023 and had an expected completion project date of February 2026.
Due principally to the extension of the ongoing archaeological investigations and reporting, the council is currently working to a revised completion date of late 2026.
Principal Development Officer, Lucia Lorente-Arnau said that it is important to note the ‘extensive and exciting’ progress on the Castle project with ‘much greater archaeology finds than originally expected’.
“The archaeology is clearly an asset to the park, however it has led to a major park redesign,” she added.
Sheffield City Council and Wessex Archaeology recently won the Current Archaeology Magazine Award for Rescue Project of the Year for their work on this project.
The castle, known as the ‘birthplace’ of Sheffield’s city centre, dates back to the 11th century and the council plans to keep this piece of heritage at the forefront of renovations.
Last week, Ashley Tuck, Lead Archaeologist at Wessex Archaeology said: “We look forward to continuing to support the council to realise its vision, which places the heritage of our great city at the heart of regeneration plans for Castlegate.”
The council meeting report stated: “The ambition is for the new park to become a thriving, vibrant and well used park in the years after it opens.”
