Consultations

Sheffield City Centre and Kelham Island Conservation Areas – Area Appraisals, April 2025

The Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 requires local planning authorities to identify the historic character of an area and/or the impact of development or threats to their special architectural or historic interest. The Conservation Area Appraisals are a vehicle for this. See www.sheffield.gov.uk/news/2025/historic-and-iconic-sheffield-sites-proposed-conservation-areas-review-begins

The Hunter Archaeological Society made the following Response to the Conservation Area Appraisal

We welcome the well-presented proposals for boundary extensions to cover Neepsend and Moorfield Flats in the Kelham Island Conservation Area (CA), and Castlegate, Fitzalan Square, West Street and Norfolk Street in the City Centre CA.  We note that some of the details for the boundaries are still being refined. We support the boundary extension to include the whole of the Millennium Galleries, and the opportunity for improvements to the streetscape further up West Street.

We recognize the arguments behind including Castlegate within an enlarged City Centre CA and welcome the regeneration opportunities this should bring to a less well-maintained area. This does carry some risk that development proposals for some lesser buildings may be overlooked due to the greater pressures imposed on planning officers by the scale of the new CA. Whilst this would have been avoided had it been a separate CA, we accept that is unlikely to happen. 

While the Consultants have rejected including Victoria Quays and the Wicker, we believe there are strong arguments in favour of future recognition of both as CAs, given their importance to the historical development of Sheffield. There is also a case to be made for protection of a significant part of as yet undeveloped Attercliffe, but as that was not within the current review remit this will have to await potential consideration sometime in the future.