Council has £4m to spend on heritage and public spaces in Rotherham
A NEW programme of work to improve public spaces and preserve heritage – bankrolled from a £4m fund – is being drawn up in Rotherham and residents have a change to help shape it.
The Our Places Fund has £2m from Rotherham Council and £2m from South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority.
Cash has already been earmarked for Maltby and Swinton. Maltby High Street is set for a facelift with new paving, green spaces and better signage, while Swinton will see improvements at Swinton Precinct.
The second phase will now focus on Swallownest, with public space improvements around Mason Avenue and Gray Avenue in response to resident worries around anti-social behaviour. Work could include removing overgrown shrubbery, creating new pathways, repairing and repainting railings, and additional lighting.
In Rawmarsh, locations across High Street and Haugh Road in Rawmarsh and Broad Street in Parkgate will benefit from public space improvements. This could include new seating and fencing.
Honouring Rotherham’s history and heritage, areas around cenotaphs, memorials and monuments will be enhanced in Greasbrough, Dinnington, Treeton, Wentworth and Thrybergh.
Drop-in events will give people the chance to share their views on the proposals, with the first at Wentworth Mechanics Institute on Thuesday January 22.
Others follow at St Leonard’s Church, Dinnington, on January 26; Treeton Village Community and Resource Centre on January 27; Thrybergh Parish Hall on January 27; Rawmarsh High Street Centre on February 4 and Aston-cum-Augton Parish hall on February 5. All are 3pm to 6pm. Another session, from 3.30pm to 6.30pm takes place at Greasbrough Library on January 29.
Residents can also review the suggested improvements and take part in the consultation online from 15 January to 12 February at www.rotherham.gov.uk/consultations.
Council leader Chris Read said: “We promised residents that we’d invest in our places, and this latest stage of proposals sets out where improvements are set to be made.
"People tell us they want cleaner, safer, more welcoming places to live, and these improvements will make a genuine difference to day‑to‑day life.
“In public consultation last year, we heard how residents wanted us to prioritise war memorials and places marking our heritage in order to boost their pride in our communities, so it’s good to be able to propose five such sites in this latest stage of the work.”