WELCOME
Welcome to the website of the Sheaf & Porter Rivers Trust.
We are a registered charity, covering the Porter Brook from Hunters Bar down to Sheffield Station and the
River Sheaf from Millhouses Park to the confluence with the River Don at Castlegate.
This website is your place to hear the latest news from the Trust, learn about our many active campaigns to improve the rivers, find maps of the riverside walks, read up on our extensive research and during the summer months,
book our tours.
Key pages
Headline News
More Developer Manoeuvres at STEPS Rehabilitation
​
​
Planning Application 23/03638/FUL
​
Sir / Madam
​
The Sheaf and Porter Rivers Trust (SPRT) is writing to submit a further objection/comment to the planning application for an extension at the STEPS Rehabilitation Centre on Troutbeck Road (reference 23/03638/FUL). We are sending it in this format as the Council website will not accept attachments .
​
Positive Developments:
​
We acknowledge the applicant's recent submission of an Ecology Survey plus a covering letter that includes a revised plan (Revision M) depicting the approved 3-meter riverside path.
​
Outstanding Concerns:
​
However, we have concerns regarding the applicant's continued use of the "without prejudice" designation of the plan in the accompanying letter. This suggests they haven't yet accepted the Planning Committee's decision from October 17th, 2024, regarding enforcing the approved path width.
Additionally, the plan shows no setting back of the proposed new extension as required by the Environment Agency and supported by ourselves, forcing an unnecessary sharp bend and ‘blind corner’ in the riverside trail.
​
The trail is further diverted by the retention of a low wall to the west of the currently unauthorised Garden Room, creating another ‘blind corner’.
​
Furthermore, the applicant's claim that the Local Planning Authority (LPA) has mandated demolishing the garden room due to the "discharge of conditions" appears inaccurate. We are open to accepting the proposed layout, but STEPS's previous communication with the Planning Authority and with SPRT highlighted concerns about the potential structure required and consequent cost and tree removal issues to achieve it.
​
Ecology Report
​
The applicant cites the absence of records of any protected or significant species as noted in the ecologists report as indicating that the river bank here is of low importance, whereas it more probably reflects the lack of public accessibility to carry out surveys – one of the purposes of creating a riverside trail.
​
In addition the applicants agent dismisses the EA’s request for setbacks by conflating EA guidance on set-back for flood protection with that on creating/protecting a continuous river habitat corridor.
​
SPRT's Proposed Solution:
​
For the past two years, SPRT has consistently advocated for a simple compromise solution. This involves
​
a) removing the low wall and fence behind the Garden Room and
b) the setting back of the new extension with no loss of floorspace and perhaps one parking space.
A modest alteration to the Revision M alignment as sketched on the attached plan (see below) could then be achieved creating a smooth, consistent 3-meter path extension, aligning with the existing trail built by Adlington and eliminating blind corners and pinch points. This would also reduce the requirement for extended structures to support the trail with attendant cost.
​
Conditions for Approval
​
SPRT would be content with the application's approval, but only provided clear conditions are established:
​
-
Extension setback: The new extension should be set back by 4 meters, as requested by the Environment Agency and other objectors.
-
Garden room modification: The garden room should remain, but the obstructing low wall immediately to the west should be removed or moved.
-
Riverside path construction: The 3-meter riverside walk must be constructed as per Revision M, incorporating SPRT's suggested minor realignment, which we believe would be beneficial.
-
Path surface: The riverside walking/cycling path surface should be constructed using a sustainable sealed surface suitable for all types of bicycles and wheelchairs, including during wet weather conditions.
-
Completion and approval: Detailed plans for the riverside path must be finalized and approved by the Council and constructed at the same time as the proposed extension which should not be occupied until the trail is complete and available for use.
​
Conclusion
​
SPRT reiterates the availability of a straightforward compromise solution that aligns with the Planning Committee's recent decision on 13/02019/cond3 on 15th October 2024. We are encouraged by the applicant's apparent tentative adoption of this approach in their revised plan .
​
We agree with the applicant that this and related applications have taken far too long to resolve and urge the LPA to consider this application swiftly and implement the outlined conditions to ensure the project adheres to planning regulations and enhances public access to the riverside.
​
​
​
River Walk Planning Condition Upheld at Millhouses - Should it really require five years of continued campaigning by the trust and other local people to get the Council to enforce their own planning conditions ?
​On Tuesday 15th October, two Trustees of the Sheaf and Porter and a representative of a Millhouses, Ecclesall and Carter Knowle residents’ group successfully won support of Planning Committee to enforce in full a condition to complete a section of the River Sheaf Walk at the STEPS medical centre off Troutbeck Road.
​
The construction of a 3 metre wide riverside walk/ cycle way was a condition placed on the development of the ‘Jacobs Gate’ site back in 2013 but this condition has never been implemented or discharged at STEPS, although it has in the other two thirds of the site developed by Adlington Retirement Homes , leaving an isolated ‘path to nowhere’.
River Sheaf Wall Collapse
Oct 10th - Due to heavy rain undercutting foundations a riverside retaining wall has collapsed near Broadfield Road, badly damaging a pedestrian ramp and bridge to Saxon Road. The Sheffield Antiques Emporium building on Clyde Road has been affected and their upstairs showroom was briefly closed. Sheffield Council Highways and the Environment agency are assessing the situation. These ageing retaining walls, dating back to the 19th century are now regularly failing and causing a massive headache for riparian owners, the City Council and Environment Agency.
The Trust Celebrates Ten Thousandth Megatron Explorer
​
​
Trust Chair Simon Ogden greeted ten thousandth guest Jane Revill with a case of beers from the Triple Point Brewery, a founding Trust supporter, from whose beer garden on Shoreham Street the tours start and finish.
Simon Ogden (chair of the Sheaf and Porter Rivers Trust, Abtisam Mohamed MP (chair elect of the Castlegate Partnership) and Councillor Ben Miskell (Chair of the Transport, Regeneration and Climate Policy Committee) stand over the Sheaf Culvert at Exchange Street
GOOD NEWS FROM CASTLEGATE:
​
On Tuesday 27th August work starts on the long-awaited first step of‘putting the Sheaf back into Sheffield’ as part of the City Council’s project creating a new park on the site of the former Castle Markets in Castlegate.
The Trust has campaigned for several years to ensure the river is fully uncovered, restored and made visible and accessible. The ‘deculverting’ or daylighting exercise will open up the Sheaf at its confluence with the Don for the first time in over a century. It will then form an important feature in the emerging new park which will also exhibit remains of Sheffield’s thousand year history including its lost castle and later industrial, commercial and residential buildings from the city’s founding site.
The work will allow ‘re-naturalisation’ of the river including a new rock ramp fish pass over the 1.5 m high Castle Orchard Weir, a vital first step to restoring the biodiversity of the Lower Sheaf. Access for river stewardship, emergency services and for enjoyment of the river will also be facilitated although details are not yet finalised.
What’s Involved ?
Demolition will be carefully controlled by contractor Keltbray to avoid debris blocking the river channel or causing undue disturbance to the small bat colony which occupies the large adjoining culvert chamber known as ‘the Megatron’. Concrete slabs will be sawn into manageable blocks and craned out followed by supporting beams over several months in two phases.
How to follow progress?
The best way to follow the progress is to go to the 'Culvertcam' link on this website and installed by the Sheaf and Porter Trust .
Funding?
The Castle site reclamation and park construction is funded by a £15m grant from the Department of Housing Communities and Local Government plus contributions from South Yorkshire Mayoral Authority and the Environment Agency. Work on the whole park is programmed to be completed by Spring 2026.
Share your wildlife sightings
Please consider sharing your interesting river corridor wildlife sightings with us by sending details / photos on to our member John le Corney at johnlecorney@gmail.com
​