999tigger Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 Thanks BB for some sanity and calling it how it has been. If people read up on what happened, then the withdrawal of successive amounts of funding, hit Hammersons on the bottom line and turned it from a maybe into a no or at least was the proverbial straw. Projects up and down the country collapsed, including Leeds. What is baffling is how Hammersons were able to unravle themsleves from commitments so easily, which must have meant their involvement was only preliminary or very loose. Cant say I was enthused by the project in the first place. They do have quite a bit of scope for a large retail development though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roosterboost Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 I believe he blames the council, the rest he just moans without understanding the economics of the situation and the way Sheffield has developed. He likes to slate and moan Sheffild , the city centre in every post, but doesnt actually use them himself and never has. Hi there stalker. Not got a life yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
999tigger Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 So just who do you blame and why? Suely if you want to discuss a subject then your reasoning amounts to more than moaning. Persuade the board with the benefit of your knowledge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tzijlstra Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 You are right in some aspects, when planning was approved in 2006 Labour was in control of the council. By the time Hamersons revealed the name of the New Retail Quarter in 2007 no party was in overall control but by the time plans were firmed up in 2008 the liberals took control and remained in power until 2010 and Paul Scriven was still leader with no overall control until 2010. It was on his watch that things started to fall apart, it was also the time of the world’s financial meltdown but I don’t blame him for that. Another factor to put in to the story is, according to Wiki, “On 17 June 2010, the Coalition Government, just weeks after its formation, announced the suspension of £12 million of central funding toward the project.” The time line given by Wikipedia is: The Outline Planning Application was approved by the Council in August 2006. The Secretary of State confirmed by letters dated 25 September 2006 and 9 October 2006 that he did not wish to intervene, and that the decision as to whether to grant outline planning permission and the associated listed building consents would therefore remain with the Council. The Section 106 Agreement was completed in November 2006 and outline planning permission and associated listed building consents were issued that month. In October 2007, developers Hammerson unveiled the official marketing name for the New Retail Quarter as Sevenstone] The branding was welcomed by business and political leaders in Sheffield. In March 2008, a three-day public exhibition displayed the plans for Sevenstone in Sheffield City Centre. Local press described the reactions of Sheffield citizens to the plans as 'mixed'. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Retail_Quarter#Concept_and_original_scheme I miss the aspects where I wasn't right , but thanks for looking it up, you are a gent! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mecky Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 Not sure I quite get this - surely the whole point of this new development is to provide exactly the kind of high-quality retail space needed for what you describe? And given how far behind in terms of quanity and quality of shops Sheffield is compared to it's peer cities, I would say expansion at this point is a must. When it makes financial sense, the private operators and council will make their car parks free. You may well find the organisation who eventually operator any new shopping centre may operate a parking validation scheme. No, it'll just be more steel and glass all done on the cheap. Regarding expansion, the council are struggling to fill the existing units without even a thought of how they'd fill new units Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roosterboost Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 No, it'll just be more steel and glass all done on the cheap. Regarding expansion, the council are struggling to fill the existing units without even a thought of how they'd fill new units Hopefully a new retailer will emerge with a string of 50p shops and there will be an increase in betting activity on when the Moor Market will close. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewC Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 I'm afraid that I agree with Mecky. The city centre doesn't need to be any larger. It needs quality shops and not poind shops. Stores not betting shops. There is no point having a strung out city centre where folk have to walk past boarded up buildings between shops. Sheffield is struggling to get any decent names to invest. Filling the city with rubbish won't encourage them, although free parking might. The existing units aren't suitable/good enough quality for most of the retailers I think you're after. That's exactly why Scottish Widows are flattening most of the Moor in their plans, because existing buildings and retail units aren't right for modern retailers. No, it'll just be more steel and glass all done on the cheap. Regarding expansion, the council are struggling to fill the existing units without even a thought of how they'd fill new units I don't necessarily disagree with your suggestion the architecture might be poor. But, where are the empty, suitable units that they aren't filling? Most of any empty units in Sheffield are little decrepit things, or in wholly unfashionable areas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaferSheff Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 Here's a very interesting development in The Star yesterday. http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/business/business-news/500m-retail-development-will-transform-sheffield-1-7008518 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
999tigger Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 Here's a very interesting development in The Star yesterday. http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/business/business-news/500m-retail-development-will-transform-sheffield-1-7008518 He did not reveal the names of the six group members, the five major companies involved, the financial backers, or any stores he said had expressed an interest. Sounds to me like they are a bit worried their bid isnt going to win so they are trying to pre empt the Council and get some public backing. The Council have the bids in and are meant to be announcing it this month as to who they have chosen.Not sure a few mysterious expressions of interest is going to sway much. Am sure most retailers will say we are interested if you provide the right shop at the right price. I like the fact theres a local connection and we assume a genuine interest in providing whats good for the city, but then the architects for the new market spouted a lot of rubbish and its clear that the building is not ideal. We will know soon enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonny5 Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 Here's a very interesting development in The Star yesterday. http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/business/business-news/500m-retail-development-will-transform-sheffield-1-7008518 :hihi: "growing frustrated with the rate of progress", SCC dragging their feet? Surely not!! To be honest they've no chance of working with the council. SCC have their favourite 'partners' and no bunch of upstarts are going to be allowed on the gravy train. Especially not now that they've been to the press. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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