Sheffield councillors back 5,000 Rotherham jobs plan

Solidarity between the city's Labour councillors and their brothers and sisters in Rotherham saw plans for a massive office campus and hotel on the Waverley site get their blessing on Wednesday.

In a rare show of unity, Sheffield councillors rejected planning officers' recommendations and backed Rotherham's scheme for up to 5,000 jobs.

Veteran Labour councillor Peter Price summed up the planning board's feelings up when he said: "I think to turn this down in the current economic climate is a mistake.

"Rotherham has suffered from what we have done just a few yards from their boundary at Meadowhall and wrecked their town centre.

"To say we're going to be holier than thou is a mistake and I think we owe it to the community and we should support what they're trying to do." 

After much soul searching, Sheffield's planning board voted by 3-0 to call for the plans to be approved, subject to certain conditions being met.

All three Labour councillors-though sharing concerns about transport, education and air pollution-supported Rotherham, while both Liberal Democrat members abstained after favouring a neutral stance.

The Advertiser revealed last week that Sheffield councillors would be urged at the meeting to object formally to Helical Governetz's application to provide 60,000 sq m of office space on the Waverley development site.

If approved, the office campus could be the base for thousands of Government jobs, with predictions ranging from 3,000 to 4,900 employees.

But Sheffield planning officers said that the project-a key aspect of the £100 million-plus UK Coal-led scheme-was contrary to national and regional planning policies and insisted that more suitable sites were available in Sheffield city centre.

Plans for a 120-bedroomed hotel were also criticised by the Sheffield officers, who had been asked for their views on the plans as the development site is close to the border between Rotherham and Sheffield.

While supportive of the overall Waverley Community scheme, they urged councillors to object to the office part of the plans and recommended that they call on their Rotherham counterparts to follow suit.

Up to 3,900 new homes are planned for the site and planning documents said that almost 500 new jobs could be created, on top of those to be based at the proposed Government campus.

One of the key issues is the effect on traffic in areas such as Handsworth and Woodhouse Mill and junctions on the M1, notably the Parkway junction 33.

Concerns have been eased by widening parts of the Parkway roundabout with the M1 at Catcliffe, construction of a Waverley link road and the introduction of a fast bus service between Sheffield and Rotherham and a park-and-ride system.

Another contentious point is the possible cost of building a new secondary school, which will be needed around 2018.

It was revealed that Rotherham has already been asked to fund a third of the cost-some £7 million-for a school to take account of changing population.