The Ashdell Campaign | Victory for the Ashdell Campaign!

3 August 1999
VICTORY FOR THE ASHDELL CAMPAIGN!

The University of Sheffield's plans to sell off and develop more green spaces around Stephenson Hall have been thrown out by Sheffield City Council.

The latest plans by Crosby Homes to develop land owned by the University of Sheffield around Stephenson Hall have been rejected.

Sheffield City Council rejected the proposals even before they reached the planning committee stage. This is excellent news, and means that all the threatened gardens and buildings are now saved from the bulldozer. Heatherleigh, which had been earmarked for demolition under the Crosby plans, will now remain in University use for at least another academic year. Perhaps this is the new Liberal Democrat-controlled City Council showing its 'green' credentials - although one would hope that the old Labour authority would have come to the same conclusion.

However, local campaigners cannot quite rest on their laurels yet. The future of Ashdell is still uncertain - it is still supposed to be being sold to Westbourne School, although no deal has so far been finalised. In the meantime, this listed building has now been empty for over a year, and is showing the signs of this neglect. The University must be held to account, for as long as it owns the building, it is responsible for its upkeep. Listed building legislation allows for Sheffield City Council and/or English Heritage to be brought in if things get any worse. As a last resort, the City Council has the power to carry out remedial works to ensure the building's good repair, and then bill the University. Of course, the best solution is to find a suitable and viable new use for the building as soon as possible, since it is widely accepted that the best (and most economic) way to maintain an historic building is to keep it in active use. An empty building suffers decay (and often vandalism) which is expensive to remedy, and also becomes more and more difficult to market as its condition deteriorates.

The Ashdell garden is suffering similarly, and the company that has looked after the Stephenson Hall grounds for the last twenty years has now been replaced with a 'cheaper' alternative. As a result, the Hall grounds as a whole look poorly maintained, and those around Ashdell are being ignored entirely. The grass in the Dell is reported to be eight inches high already.

So, what of the future? There seems little doubt that the cash-strapped University will come up with some other scam to make maximum profit out of its historic estate. Yet it is unlikely that the University will risk any more unpopular development proposals for a while. Even if it does, local people are now on their guard, and will not let any other plans sneak through without an effective and vocal campaign.

Latest plans involve the University's decision to investigate leasing off all its accommodation to private company for 25 years, so that in effect, it would relieve itself of all the residential, catering and conference services entirely, whilst retaining ownership of the estate.

This may or may not be a bad thing - a private company is perhaps more likely to recognise the marketing value and historic cachet of attractive buildings and pleasant, green open spaces.

Graham Soult
3 August 1999

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