Rotherham Council has identified a number of sites that could build on the foundations of a reinvented town centre, with more new multimillion pound developments and regeneration projects.
A number of new residential developments and a new theatre are posiibilities.
The Rotherham town centre masterplan of 2017 confirmed the need for more housing and leisure uses as a way to develop economic vitality, bringing more life, activity and spending back into the town centre and moving away from the traditional retail market. It also highlighted the need for derelict and long-term vacant sites to be brought into public ownership.
The council has been successful in acquiring a number of sites and securing funds from various regional and national pots. Its most recent major housing development was the £30m+ "Trilogy Collection" - Westgate Riverside, Wellgate Place and Millfold Rise - that has seen 171 new homes built in partnership with Willmott Dixon.
The cinema and hotel have also recently opened as the anchor tenants at the Forge Island development, which the Council has fully-funded having acquired the site of a Tesco supermarket.
A recent council report confirms that the next phase of development is underway and involves Snail Yard, where a temporary pocket park is replacing a demolished former Primark on the High Street, but the long term aim has always been to use the site for development, potentially for residential.
Work is also underway at Westgate and Sheffield Road to address the river wall and carry out work to Water Lane that will enable future phases of housing where, as part of the £31.6m Town Deal programme, government funding is being used to continue the development of a Riverside Residential Quarter.
And on Corporation Street, burnt out buildings are being demolished to make way for a potential £6m residential led mixed-use development.
As for future phases, the council reports highlights a number of sites:
- Riverside Residential Quarter Phase 2
- Bailey House
- 2 Corporation Street, former Mecca Bingo
- 30 – 32 Corporation Street, former Lloyds and NatWest Banks
- The Statutes
With £3m coming from the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA), Rotherham Council has set up a £600,000 "Feasability Fund" to develop the "first stages of planning and feasibility for a programme of interventions which seeks to secure a future for these sites and meets the Council’s longstanding aims for regeneration of the town centre as a vibrant and successful place."
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The projects will be designed to build on the mixed use, commercial and residential offer in the town centre and will tie in to the Council's place-based investment strategy that was signed off in 2023.
For the town centre, the strategy includes things like a new £28m theatre and town centre health services to go alongside the £47m Forge Island lesiure scheme and the £31m revamp of the markets and new library.
The strategy also includes residential developments earmarked for The Statutes, where Rotherham Council acquired the site of the former Magistrates' Court, and on parcels of land acquired along Sheffield Road.
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Lorna Vertigan, Head of Regeneration at Rotherham Council said: "The Council’s success in securing public funds and its own investment in the town has attracted private sector interest in investing in the town’s future. This is increasingly resulting in Rotherham being seen as a place to do business.
"A cluster approach is considered necessary to create a sufficient quantum of development potential to tackle viability, and to create a greater sense of place in the town centre.
"Now is the time to capitalise on this interest and the strong progress made to date, to bring forward ambitious plans that will create a new community in the town centre, bringing with it a sense of place and long-term positive legacy for the town centre.
"A programme of redevelopment is to be scoped, which will ultimately see the regeneration of town centre sites to create a mixed use, commercial and residential offer. Bringing in a new community which supports and builds on the momentum of Forge Island and other regeneration interventions to bring greater footfall and end users.
"Over the last two years the Council has taken a key step in realising its vision for growth by securing a number of stalled, underutilised and derelict sites in order to bring them into positive use. This funding allocation will accelerate the first stages of planning and feasibility for a programme of interventions which seeks to secure a future for these sites and meets the Council’s longstanding aims for regeneration of the town centre as a vibrant and successful place."
The next steps involve working up planning applications and a procurement business case to appoint a developer for the first phase of sites - Snail Yard, Riverside Residential Quarter and Corporation Street.
A previous tender exercise for the £6m scheme on Corporation Street received no interest, likely due to the smaller size of the scheme.
Images: RMBC / Google Maps
A number of new residential developments and a new theatre are posiibilities.
The Rotherham town centre masterplan of 2017 confirmed the need for more housing and leisure uses as a way to develop economic vitality, bringing more life, activity and spending back into the town centre and moving away from the traditional retail market. It also highlighted the need for derelict and long-term vacant sites to be brought into public ownership.
The council has been successful in acquiring a number of sites and securing funds from various regional and national pots. Its most recent major housing development was the £30m+ "Trilogy Collection" - Westgate Riverside, Wellgate Place and Millfold Rise - that has seen 171 new homes built in partnership with Willmott Dixon.
The cinema and hotel have also recently opened as the anchor tenants at the Forge Island development, which the Council has fully-funded having acquired the site of a Tesco supermarket.
A recent council report confirms that the next phase of development is underway and involves Snail Yard, where a temporary pocket park is replacing a demolished former Primark on the High Street, but the long term aim has always been to use the site for development, potentially for residential.
Work is also underway at Westgate and Sheffield Road to address the river wall and carry out work to Water Lane that will enable future phases of housing where, as part of the £31.6m Town Deal programme, government funding is being used to continue the development of a Riverside Residential Quarter.
And on Corporation Street, burnt out buildings are being demolished to make way for a potential £6m residential led mixed-use development.
As for future phases, the council reports highlights a number of sites:
- Riverside Residential Quarter Phase 2
- Bailey House
- 2 Corporation Street, former Mecca Bingo
- 30 – 32 Corporation Street, former Lloyds and NatWest Banks
- The Statutes
With £3m coming from the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA), Rotherham Council has set up a £600,000 "Feasability Fund" to develop the "first stages of planning and feasibility for a programme of interventions which seeks to secure a future for these sites and meets the Council’s longstanding aims for regeneration of the town centre as a vibrant and successful place."
Advertisement
The projects will be designed to build on the mixed use, commercial and residential offer in the town centre and will tie in to the Council's place-based investment strategy that was signed off in 2023.
For the town centre, the strategy includes things like a new £28m theatre and town centre health services to go alongside the £47m Forge Island lesiure scheme and the £31m revamp of the markets and new library.
The strategy also includes residential developments earmarked for The Statutes, where Rotherham Council acquired the site of the former Magistrates' Court, and on parcels of land acquired along Sheffield Road.
"A cluster approach is considered necessary to create a sufficient quantum of development potential to tackle viability, and to create a greater sense of place in the town centre.
"Now is the time to capitalise on this interest and the strong progress made to date, to bring forward ambitious plans that will create a new community in the town centre, bringing with it a sense of place and long-term positive legacy for the town centre.
"A programme of redevelopment is to be scoped, which will ultimately see the regeneration of town centre sites to create a mixed use, commercial and residential offer. Bringing in a new community which supports and builds on the momentum of Forge Island and other regeneration interventions to bring greater footfall and end users.
"Over the last two years the Council has taken a key step in realising its vision for growth by securing a number of stalled, underutilised and derelict sites in order to bring them into positive use. This funding allocation will accelerate the first stages of planning and feasibility for a programme of interventions which seeks to secure a future for these sites and meets the Council’s longstanding aims for regeneration of the town centre as a vibrant and successful place."
The next steps involve working up planning applications and a procurement business case to appoint a developer for the first phase of sites - Snail Yard, Riverside Residential Quarter and Corporation Street.
A previous tender exercise for the £6m scheme on Corporation Street received no interest, likely due to the smaller size of the scheme.
Images: RMBC / Google Maps