An additional £5 million will be needed to complete a regeneration project at the former Sheffield Castle site in the city centre.
The Gateway to Sheffield regeneration project, was announced in 2021 and aimed to turn the existing ‘sea of concrete’ that was castle gate into a thriving and connected area of the city.
Principal development officer, Lucie Lorente- Annua, said at a meeting of Sheffield City Council’s Transport, regeneration and climate policy committee on April 30: “This will provide a place making catalyst in terms of economic, environmental and social elements.”
The budget of this project was initially forecast to be £21 million but due to complex redesign issues regarding introducing an 8 metre high tiered element on the flat site, the budget has been forced to increase.
Castlegate is regarded as an area of anti-social behaviour, retreating retail and vacant land in the heart of Sheffield, however the completion of this ‘grey to green initiative’ is hoping to provide a significant event space, exhibit the archaeology found and create a happy and green area for Sheffield’s community.
Councillor Alex diamond, said: “Green space will be key to ensuring the health and wellbeing of projected 20,000 new residents and existing city centre residents.”
This project is hoping to celebrate the historical archaeological beauty of Sheffield’s history, found in the site of where one of the biggest castles in Northern Europe once stood.
Through this regeneration, many important structures of archaeological importance were excavated including one of the oldest cementation furnaces in yorkshire.
Councillor Lorente-Annua, said: “This is a story of how a medieval castle became a thriving and industrial city in the north of England.”
This project has created huge interest at local, regional and national levels, with one notable goal of the project being to introduce a fish pass containing salmon in the River Sheaf which will flow alongside the new development.
Councillor Alex Diamond, said: “Sheffield should have an ambition to have rivers that are clean enough to swim in.”
The inspiration for this project stemmed from the success of similar ‘grey to green’ regeneration works which include the restoration of Kelham Island, which was voted by The Sunday Times as the best places to live in 2023.
Despite the continued support and success of previous similar projects, the calls for increasing costs to regenerate Sheffield’s castle site has caused its completion date to also be postponed from February 2026 to the end of 2026.
