Sheffield Forgemasters seeks permission for huge expansion near Meadowhall
The site covers over 7 hectares between Five Weirs Walk, Carbrook Street and Weedon Street.
Sheffield Forgemasters may use a huge bit of land near Meadowhall to expand its business.
Members of Sheffield City Council’s planning committee will discuss a proposal that would see new industrial buildings, a security building and fencing built with additional service areas and other associated works to be completed on a piece of land between Five Weirs Walk, Carbrook Street and Weedon Street.
The site, divided into Plot 1 and Plot 2, totals approximately 7.54 hectares in area.
Plot 1 is more than 6ha in size and is cleared brownfield land where a thick mosaic of overgrowth had established but has recently been cleared alongside dense boundary vegetation.
The Five Weirs Walk (FWW) pedestrian and cycle trail, which leaves the River Don at Janson Street, rejoins the river via a link from Carbrook Street between the main part of Plot 1 and the Gripple site.
Plot 2 is also cleared now.
The site has been acquired by steel firm Sheffield Forgemasters Engineering Ltd (SFEL) “for incorporation into their expansion project”.
SFEL now seeks an entirely new full planning consent for the redevelopment of Plots 1 and 2 as a wholly industrial development, with a large new machine shop building, a saw building, and associated works including parking, access and a security building
A document added: “The majority of Plot 1 would be occupied by the machine shop building, which would run parallel to the River Don with a substantial footprint of 275 metres by 110 metres.
“The building would have three adjoining structural bays with shallow pitched roofs and an overall height of 36.5 metres (measured to the ridges of the ventilation pop-ups).”
Adjacent to the machine shop building, to the northeast, would be a smaller saw building which would operate as a ‘fourth bay’ housing 15% of the machines in the new facility.
The third and final proposed building would be a single-storey security building positioned adjacent to the main site entrance off Carbrook Street, finished in metal rainscreen cladding and perforated trapezoidal cladding, with an expanded metal mesh plant screen.
Plot 2 would be used as a surface-level staff car park, with 175 parking spaces.
There were nine letters of objection submitted to the planning department.
People raised issues with blocking off the cycle network, traffic, noise and more.
The planning committee will meet to discuss and decide on the scheme next Tuesday (February 11), with officers recommending it be approved.