Plans for city’s Old Town Hall approved

PLANS TO transform a Yorkshire city’s former town hall into a hotel and apartments have been heralded as a “golden opportunity” to bring the historic building back into use after two decades of dereliction.

Councillors have approved the proposals to redevelop Sheffield’s Old Town Hall, which was also used as the Crown Court, as part of a wide-ranging scheme to regenerate the Castlegate quarter.

While the decision was welcomed to revamp the Grade II listed building, campaigners expressed concerns the re-development will see fixtures and fittings removed, undermining the fabric of the Castle Street landmark.

The Friends of the Old Town Hall group has spent the past five years trying to find a solution that protects the heritage while bringing the site back into use.

Valerie Bayliss, a member of the group, said: “We are as keen as anybody to see this building restored and brought back into use.

“We fully understand bringing a building like this back into use inevitably involves compromise.

“What the council risks by accepting the proposals as they stand is losing precisely what makes the Old Town Hall worth keeping, and we believe that is too high a price to pay.”

The scheme is being overseen by a construction firm, Aestrom, and is set to see 12 apartments built. Former cells will be transformed into 12 “pod” hotel rooms and a souk market with 11 stalls is also due to be created, which will be open to the public.

Coun Roger Davidson, a member of Sheffield Council’s highways and planning committee that approved the plans, said: “The planners have worked well to do their best to preserve what is feasible and I think this is a golden opportunity that we cannot throw away and I think it’s very brave of the developers.”

The Old Town Hall is more than 200 years old, but has remained derelict for the past 23 years.