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**Heeley
Millennium Park
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Park Planning Stage
1995-96
The following section
contain extracts from the original 1996 proposal to create a
park and to set up a mechanism to seek money to fund its
construction and long-term management. The extracts have
been edited where appropriate to bring the information in
that report up to date, so that what is set out below can be
of direct use to other Trusts wanting to build a Park (a
copy of the original report is held in the Heeley
Development Trust offices and can be read there).
Many
of the aims set out in the original plan have already been
achieved by the year 2000.
Use the
Menu on the right to access to information which interests
you.
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Summary
of what the community planned in the mid
1990s
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Residents,
community associations, schools, religious
organisations and the business community of Heeley
and Sharrow wished to design, construct and manage
a new park in Sheffield to celebrate the coming
millennium. It was to be called the Heeley
Millennium Park. Encouraged in particular by
the success of the Heeley City Farm in transforming
an area of derelict land into a well used city open
space, a local Steering Group was formed by the
interested parties. The Group envisaged
that:
- the Heeley
Millennium Park would link together fragmented
and under-used green spaces into an active and
attractive community managed amenity. The Park
would stretch across the hillside above the
River Sheaf, from Heeley
City Farm
at one side of Heeley to Albert Road (an area
designated by Sheffield City Council as a pocket
of Acute Poverty) at the other.
- the Park
would build on the success of existing community
projects, including Heeley City Farm, Lowfield
School Wildlife Garden and Alexandra Road
Community Gardens.
- complementary
sites would be developed as part of the project
and include Anns Grove School playing fields,
land in the centre of the Tillotson Road housing
estate, the Heeley Churchyard project and the
land at Lowfield.
- the Park
would establish natural links with other sites,
including the proposed River Sheaf Walkway, the
Sheffield Round Walk and Cat Lane Woods. There
would be good pedestrian and cycle links with
these projects.
- all the
land in the project was designated as green
space in the Sheffield Unitary Development Plan,
but no resources were available for any
developments. Sheffield City Council Recreation
Department estimated that, on the proportion of
open space per head of population, the area
needed a new park.
- the project
would provide a wonderful opportunity for
partnership between local schools, churches and
religious associations, community groups,
training organisations, the City Council, the
business community and local residents. Already
the Heeley Millennium Park Steering Committee
had conceived of the idea of the Heeley
Development Trust to further develop community
enterprise and self help within the
area.
- road safety
and the improvement of community and personal
safety were priorities in the planning process.
The Park would provide a more attractive
environment for local businesses.
- initial
ideas were prepared by children from local
schools. A local Landscape Architect and a
Landscape Architect from Sheffield City Council
developed these ideas to produce the
plans.
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Background
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Location
A mile from Sheffield's centre, Heeley and Sharrow
stretches up the western banks of the Sheaf Valley.
The area has the ingredients of a typical inner
city community - a mixture of Victorian terraces,
small housing estates, rented Council and Housing
Association homes and a multi-racial population.
Throughout the 1980s and until the late1990s the
area also had relatively high
unemployment.
History
Part of the ring of development which spread round
Sheffield City Centre at the end of the nineteenth
century this site was previously covered by a dense
network of Victorian workers housing. The land was
cleared in the early 1970s when a broad swathe of
housing in Heeley and Sharrow was demolished for
the building of a major road. Local people
protested strongly about the poor environmental
conditions this would create but, although the road
was cancelled, they were too late to save the many
good homes in this part of Heeley from demolition.
This belt of derelict land was then grassed over by
a City Council unable to afford any alternative
development of the site, although subsequently some
new low rise medium density housing was erected to
the south of the open space on the flattest part of
the cleared land.
Over the following decades this site was
incorporated into city planning documents as part
of the city's green structure. However, despite
this label no money was made available to make it
into a proper public open space. All the city could
afford was to mow it. The main users of this open
windswept northwest facing slope were dog walkers
and people passing through - it always appeared to
be a bleak wasteland forgotten by the city - a
space with no real function. In this derelict state
its characteristics did nothing to improve the
quality of life of the local people.
In 1980 Heeley City Farm was born out of the
determination of the local people to create
something on the empty land which would make the
area a place for residents to be proud of. Four
acres of the demolition site were transformed into
what has now become one of the country's most
successful community based projects. With the
creation of the Heeley Millennium Park, local
residents, community associations, religious
organisations and the local business community all
saw themselves as taking a further leap of vision
and imagination.
Hardly any new
parks have been created within Sheffield in the
past century. The Heeley Millennium Park was
intended to be a modern park and the first
conceived, designed and managed by a local
community.
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The
benefit to the community
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The
Sheffield Regeneration Strategy
The City of Sheffield is undergoing a
transition from a northern steel-producing city to
a modern, multi-industry and service providing
centre. The regeneration plans produced by
Sheffield 2000, the Sheffield Economic Regeneration
Committee and the City Liaison Group, all emphasise
the importance of a green, clean and pleasant
environment to change the image of Sheffield, both
to attract new businesses and industry to the area
and to persuade existing enterprises to stay put. A
new park and associated jobs, training places and
volunteering opportunities would contribute to this
strategy.
The local
business community
One border of the proposed Heeley Millennium
Park is designated for light industry. Several new
companies have recently located in the area
including a car showroom and a map making company.
Many existing adjacent buildings have been
converted to manufacturing and business units,
including two old chapels/churches. Representatives
of the local business community have no doubts that
improving the local environment will attract even
more businesses.
The half dozen pubs which flank the borders of the
proposed park have a strong sense of their local
historical identity in the community. The White
Lion is already a designated Tetley Heritage Pub.
The Shakespeare Hotel boasts a fine collection of
pictures and mementos of Heeley's long and
fascinating history. The Earl of Arundel owns
Sheffield's last remaining horse pound and houses
the Vaux Brewery dray horses on their regular
visits to Sheffield. In addition, The Sheaf View, a
pub which sat empty at the edge of the Park for 8
years, has now re-opened. Combining a walk through
the Heeley Millennium Park and a visit to Heeley
City Farm with a drink and perhaps a meal would
attract new custom to our local pubs.
The local
residential community
Recent studies by the Sheffield City Council
Recreation Department and Parks Regeneration
Project have highlighted the importance of parks
and managed open spaces to the community especially
to parents and young children and those with little
disposable income. The new park would be an
invaluable resource for local people.
Public
support for the formation of a Steering Committee
and the Park
A consortium of leading community
organisations, youth clubs, training groups,
schools and local businesses formed the Heeley
Millennium Park Steering Committee.
Postgraduate students from Sheffield Hallam
University were commissioned by the Steering
Committee to carry out a survey of attitudes to the
proposed park. There was general support from all
sections of the community, although concerns were
expressed about possible vandalism and maintenance.
As part of this survey a series of successful
public meetings were held. There was, and still is,
general support for the project at the
meetings.
Projected
numbers of visitors and users and the catchment
area for the Heeley Millennium Park
The local schools have 1,600 pupils, all
potential users and beneficiaries from the Park.
Disabled access would be provided throughout the
Heeley Millennium Park, wherever possible.
Heeley City Farm already welcomed over 100,000
visitors in the mid 1990s; this level of popularity
has continued.
It was estimated, when the Park was first
envisaged, that the Heeley Millennium Park would
double the number of visitors to the area,
particularly because of the complementary nature of
the two attractions. The Heeley Millennium Park
aims to become a major attraction for the people of
Sheffield and the surrounding area.
The Park will occupy 20 acres in inner city
Sheffield. As well as the benefit of daily use to
local people, the Park is designed to become part
of the overall Sheffield tourism and visitor
strategy.
Environmental
benefits
The Park is intended to enhance the local
ecology and create a green corridor for wildlife by
the planting of native woodland trees and shrubs
and wild flowers. Children's play grounds,
recreation areas, a circular walk and eventually a
link to the River Sheaf will be constructed.
Improvements to existing open space such as school
grounds, Heeley Churchyard, Alexandra Road Gardens,
Lowfield School Wildlife area and Heeley City Farm
are also to be undertaken.
It was always an aim of those involved in making
the Park that the local children should be
encouraged to maintain, develop and take charge of
their special play area, as part of growing up as
responsible and valuable members of a community.
From the start the Park was to be an integral part
of local school life. Already local school children
have planted over 1,000 trees and 2,000 bulbs,
including trees they grew themselves from locally
harvested seeds.
The
complementary sites
The initial consultation work and resultant
designs, costings and feasibility work concentrated
on the main park site. A similar process, followed
by further design work has been carried out for the
complementary sites identified in this report,
namely:
- Lowfields
open space
- Tillotson
Road open space
- Anns Grove
School playing fields
- The Heeley
Churchyard Project
Jobs,
training and volunteering opportunities created
It was always intended that a number of
temporary jobs could be created during the
construction phase. Within the legal constraints of
contract allocation, work was to be allocated to
contractors already employing or prepared to employ
local people. By 1999 a Park Ranger was appointed.
When the Heeley Development Trust started it was
planned to create 60 new jobs within the first 7
years and to offer 200 training places and 400
volunteering opportunities each year.
It remains difficult to calculate the indirect
benefits. However, there is no doubt that more
visitors mean more business for local pubs, the
Heeley City Farm cafe and garden centre and other
local 'leisure related' businesses and that the
area is a more attractive place for new small-scale
industries in which to locate. Unemployment in the
District has reduced in recent years.
The Heeley Development Trust has offered training
opportunities for students at the Sheffield
Universities, and been associated with the
development of further vocational training projects
based at Heeley City Farm (National Vocational
Qualification - NVQ Horticulture) and in developing
training schemes for people undertaking
environmental improvement and landscape maintenance
work. Every week local people can be found working
in their park - planting bulbs, shrubs and helping
to make the pieces of landscape art, which are an
increasing characteristic of the Park.
The development and maintenance of the Park have
encouraged volunteering, both by local people and
people from all over Sheffield. Heeley City Farm
has had a tradition of involving up to 100
volunteers in any one week and this helped kick
start volunteering for work in the Park. For many
people, whether unemployed or under employed,
volunteering offers fulfilment and a stake in their
community.
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Development
History
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A brief
resume of the development of the project to
date:
- End 1994:
idea of the Heeley Millennium Park floated
within the Heeley community.
- 23/1/95:
Launch meeting of Heeley Millennium Park and
formation of steering committee. Inclusion of
the under-used open space around Lowfield
Primary School in the plans.
- 14/3/95:
Public meeting unanimously supports the idea of
the Heeley Millennium Park.
- Mid March
1995: Consultation with Sheffield City Council
Planning, Housing and Road Safety
Departments.
- End March
1995: Submission of proposal form to the
Millennium Commission.
- Submission
of application form to the Millennium
Commission. Placed on B list.
- May 1995:
Report back by Sheffield Hallam University
students.
- June 1995:
Serious fire at Heeley City Farm. Resolution by
the Heeley and Sharrow communities to rebuild
Heeley City Farm and pursue bid for Heeley
Millennium Park.
- 24th
June1995: Exhibition of Heeley Millennium Park
at annual Heeley Festival.
- September
1995: Formal involvement of Sheffield City
Council Design and Building
Services.
- November
1995: Resubmission of bid to the Millennium
Commission (failed).
- 1996:
Heeley Development Trust
established.
- 1996-98:
Applications for SRB, ERDF Obj2 and English
Partnerships - successful (in the
end).
- 1998: Phase
1 construction.
- 1998-99:
Phase 2 - main building phase.
- 1999-2000:
Phase 3 begins.
- 1999-2000:
Applications for SRB , ERDF and Sheffield
Employment Bond (successful); Yorkshire Forward
and Environmental Action Fund
(unsuccessful).
- 2000
onwards: Building up the maintenance of the
Park, securing sustainable future funding;
developing the satellite sites.
EC
procurement regulations
Sheffield City
Council Design and Building Services have extensive
experience in the procurement of contracts and are
fully conversant with all relevant British and
European legislation. They would advise the project
on appropriate procedure.
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Intended
sources of funding
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Sources of
funding
Support from
the business community
The Heeley business community is represented on
the initial Millennium Park Steering Committee.
Local business have traditionally supported
community projects like Heeley City Farm and local
schools such as Anns Grove School.
Trusts and
charities
Community groups such as Heeley City Farm and
Sheffield Environmental Training have considerable
expertise in raising money from Trusts and
Charities, both local and national.
Community
fund raising
The local community has traditionally been very
responsive to local needs and self improvements.
The annual Heeley Festival brings over £10,000
to local charities, community groups and other
worthy causes. The Heeley Millennium Park was to
receive a share of this income. Individuals and
groups within the local community indicated an
interest in fund raising for the Heeley Millennium
Park.
Government
and European capital funding
Approaches were made to the Government Office
for Yorkshire and Humberside (for European Regional
Development Funding), SRB/City Challenge and
English Partnerships (now called Yorkshire Forward)
for capital funds to improve unused and derelict
land, promote community capacity building and
tourism development.
Estimate of
value of volunteer time
From the experience of Heeley City Farm and
Sheffield Environmental Training the Heeley
Millennium Park could realistically expect an
average of 5 volunteer days per week for 40 weeks
each year.
Average
annual volunteering:
5 volunteer days per week x 40 weeks x £46
per day = £9,200 (cost estimated by Rural
Action).
Estimate
value of steering/management committee time
The initial Steering Committee and the
subsequent Implementation and Management Committee
would contribute an average annual contribution (in
kind) of:
10 members x £10 per meeting x 10 meetings =
£1,000
Earnings
from training
Sheffield Environmental Training already ran an
Environmental Conservation (National Vocational
Qualification level 2 and 3) course. A major
element of the course is practical work experience.
It was estimated that the Heeley Millennium Park
could provide 20% of the work required by the
students to successfully complete the 12 month long
course. The total annual cost of the course is
£150,000. This is contributed by the European
Social Fund (ESF), the Further Education Funding
Council and Sheffield Training and Enterprise
Council. Heeley City Farm would run a National
Vocational Qualification in Horticulture from
mid1996. Similarly a major element of the course is
practical work. The Heeley Millennium Park could
provide 10% of the course work. The total annual
cost of the project is £100,000. This is
contributed by the European Social Fund and
Sheffield City Council.
Road
safety|
Costs were estimated by Sheffield City Council
Design and Building Services Department on behalf
of the Heeley and Meersbrook Road Safety
Campaign.
Single
Regeneration Budget
Heeley Millennium Park was one of the key
environmental projects in the Sheffield second
round bid for the Single Regeneration Budget (SRB).
In this bid a minimum of £250,000 was
allocated by the Sheffield SRB Unit for the project
from Sheffield's potential allocation over the 7
years from 1996 onwards.
Heeley
Development Trust
The partners in the Heeley Millennium Park
established the Heeley Development Trust to provide
capacity building resources and promote community
development, community enterprise and training
throughout the Heeley and Lowfield area. The Heeley
Development Trust was to act as the managing agency
for the Heeley Millennium Park. It was estimated
that initially 20% of the workload of the Heeley
Development Trust would be dedicated to the Heeley
Millennium Park. The Management Agency element of
Heeley Development Trust would have an annual
turnover of £50,000.
Note on
costs
Costs of
initial preparation of the bid
Costs were incurred in preparing the bid to the
Millennium Commission: £9,380 ( land
investigations and a sketch landscape plan by
Sheffield City Council, meetings of the Steering
Committee, time taken by Heeley City Farm staff -
John Le Corney and his colleague David Grey, plus
preparation of the report)
Capital
costs
Highway improvements and road safety measures,
construction of the main park and development of
the complementary sites were estimated by the
Sheffield City Council quantity
surveyors.
Professional
fees
Professional fees, including land and highways
design, architects and landscape architects,
quantity surveyors, clerk of works and
disbursements, were estimated as 12% of capital
costs.
Site
Manager/Development Officer
For the duration of the construction phase of
the project, a person has been employed to oversee
the construction work and co-ordinate volunteering
and fund-raising.
Salary (incl.
on costs): £18,000
Administration and running costs:
£20,000
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