The Leadmill’s legal battle begins

Good afternoon readers — and welcome to our Monday briefing. 

This morning, a two-day hearing began at the Town Hall to determine whether the Electric Group will be granted a so-called “shadow licence” for The Leadmill. We’ve been following the hearing all day and will have an update for you in our members' piece this Thursday.

Our weekend read about The Leadmill was one of the most popular pieces we’ve ever published, being read by more than 22,000 people. Thanks for all your comments, tweets and shares. Tribune member Tom Scott declared Victoria’s piece to be “the best piece of writing there is on The Leadmill situation”, while reader Holly Williams said “this piece in my brilliant local newspaper the Sheffield Tribune is essential reading”. 

Sophie Wilson said it was an “excellent and well researched article” while John Mounsey said it was “quite possibly THE finest article to date by The Tribune”. You can still read the piece here, and you can help to spread it by sharing our tweet of the story here and our Facebook post here.

As you know, reporting like this takes time and costs money. Victoria has been working on this story for months, developing sources, sifting through documents and putting allegations to the people involved. If you think Sheffield needs this kind of journalism — if you think our city is better if it has journalists doing proper journalism rather than re-writing press releases sent out by companies and the council and the police — then please join us as a member today if you haven’t already. We strongly believe that rigorous public interest journalism enriches Sheffield, boosts our local economy and strengthens our local democracy by keeping you informed about what’s really going on. A membership costs just £7 a month.

In this week’s Monday briefing we return to the thorny issue of low traffic neighbourhoods. Three LTNs (or to give them their proper title “active neighbourhoods”) were set up last year in Nether Edge, Crookes and Walkley, and along the Sheaf Valley. Ever since they were set up, the schemes have been the subject of fierce local debate, with cyclists and motorists locking horns over whose interests should predominate. Councillors are due to make a final decision on whether the three LTNs go ahead on Wednesday. Which way will they turn?

As well as that, a new neighbourhood begins to open up in Kelham Island, we have some big news about Meadowhall, and the “Scottish play” comes to the Lantern Theatre.

Catch up and coming up

Last week we sent two great newsletters to our 1,614 paying members. In the first, Dan visited Park Hill’s new pub (and his new local) The Pearl, and compared the trendy new bar with the more traditional boozers of the building’s past. And in the second piece we spoke to Sheffield Labour Party insiders about the simmering internal tensions which led to the shock suspension of seven senior councillors this week. An extract from that second piece is below.

Asked to describe how the meeting went down, one councillor who spoke to The Tribune on condition of anonymity chose three words: “horrible, unpleasant, confrontational”. Labour members hurled accusations at each other about all sorts of things, they added. “There are some of the old timers who’ve seen councillors having shouting matches and going at each other hammer and tongs in the past,” the source added. “But even they say they’ve never seen it this brutal.”

This week we’ll send out two more including one about the new approach to supporting Sheffield’s addicts which is already saving lives. To help fund a new way of doing journalism in Sheffield based on subscriptions rather than clickbait and celebrity, please consider subscribing using the button below. It costs just £1.34 a week or 23p a day if you pay for 12 months up front (£70).

Editor’s note: After a quiet start to the month, The Tribune has had a great few days. Over the last week, more than 30 free subscribers have become paying members — welcome to you all. Stories like mine about turmoil within the Sheffield Labour Party last Thursday, and Victoria’s investigative piece about The Leadmill on Saturday, are only possible because of the financial support given to us by paying members. Please join them by subscribing today.

The big picture: Out of this world 🦖

Hundreds of people dressed as characters from Japanese anime films came to the Mercure Hotel over the weekend for the Sheffield Anime and Gaming Con. The two-day conference featured stars from the cosplay and gaming world, including voice actors, performers and singers. Participants also had the chance to play the latest video game releases, and take part in talent shows and lip sync battles. For lots more photos from the event, click here.

This week’s weather 🌧

Our weather forecast comes from dedicated Sheffield weather service Steel City Skies, who say this week will bring our first real taste of autumn this week with low pressure systems bringing regular bouts of showers or longer spells of rain. Some sunshine at times, too.

Monday 🌦 A bright start soon gives way to a cold front bringing a band of showers in from the west, along with gusty winds. Sunny spells, too with 19°C the high.

Tuesday 🌦 A wild day of strong southwesterly winds and frequent, blustery showers in between brighter periods. Fairly mild though with highs touching 20°C.

Wednesday 🌧 The low centres to the north with the next fronts sweeping in outbreaks of rain. Still windy from the SW with highs of 19°C at best, likely a tad cooler.

Thursday 🌦 A little less windy with a deep low to the west. A few heavy showers are likely but also drier and brighter periods, too. Cooler with 17°C the high.

Friday 🌦 A similar day, if a little cooler with winds from the northwest, with bright and breezy conditions along with scattered showers. Highs of 16°C.

Outlook: A brief ridge could settle part of the weekend down, but a new low looks set to influence from the west, likely on Sunday. A little milder, though.

To see the full forecast and keep up to date with any changes to the outlook, follow Steel City Skies on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

The big story: D-Day for LTNs

Top line: Councillors will this Wednesday decide whether two active neighbourhoods and a new active travel route will get the go ahead. The schemes were brought in last summer to encourage people to walk and cycle more in Nether Edge, Crookes and Walkley, and along the Sheaf Valley Cycle Route in between Abbeydale Road and Chesterfield Road. Now they have been in operation for a year, are we any nearer embracing the idea of active travel?

The active neighbourhoods (sometimes called low-traffic neighbourhoods) were set up by creating a series of “modal filters” on roads which were used as rat runs. These filters block motor vehicles but not other forms of transport, thereby reducing traffic within the neighbourhood. However, they have also been the subject of local opposition, with some drivers claiming they restrict freedom and create congestion on local and arterial roads.

The rollouts didn’t exactly go to plan. First, there were lengthy delays to the start of the trials, and then, when the filters were finally installed they were subject to repeated vandalism (as people took it upon themselves to move the planters and concrete blocks that restricted motor traffic). The Nether Edge active neighbourhood has also never been fully rolled out and the one in Crookes was repeatedly changed and drastically scaled back.

The impact of the trials has been monitored by the council over the past year. In a 2,000 page report to the Transport, Regeneration and Climate Policy Committee, they examine the data from the schemes in terms of their impact on walking, cycling and driving in the three areas, as well people’s perceptions of how they are working so far. While the officers recommended that all three should be approved, a final decision will be made by councillors.

• Sheaf Valley Cycle Route: Counters show there was a record number of cycle trips on the route in June and July 2023, with increases in total cycle trips of between 62-67% since 2021. Motor vehicle journey times on roads around the route have also increased, but this is modest (generally measured in seconds rather than minutes).
• Nether Edge: The number of motor vehicles in the area and the amount of through traffic has reduced, while the number of people walking and cycling in the area has increased (by 16%). Motor vehicle journey times along potentially impacted routes has increased but by a much smaller amount than feedback has suggested (5%).
• Crookes and Walkley: In Walkley, while the filters have pushed some traffic onto boundary roads, there has been a significant reduction of traffic using the residential roads within the LTN. In Crookes, where the scheme has been hugely scaled back from what was originally intended, data shows the LTN has had minimal effect.

What normally happens with low traffic neighbourhoods is that when they are first put in you get a lot of opposition which then calms down as people get used to it. There is some evidence that has happened here, although many in the Sheffield cycling community would probably say the council were too quick to scale the schemes back in the face of opposition. The fact that data now shows they are having the desired effect is a positive development.

But to give people a genuine choice of how to travel, the various LTNs in Sheffield need to be linked together. For example, the Nether Edge LTN may be working well, but will only be truly effective when it’s linked to the city centre. The same goes for the Walkley and Crookes LTN and its connections to Hillsborough. As The Tribune has reported before, the money is there. What’s needed is the political will to sell the schemes to a sometimes sceptical public.

As always, for much more active travel content, subscribe to David Bocking’s personal newsletter.

Our media picks 🎧

British Land and Norges put £750m price on Meadowhall 🏬 Property Week reports the huge news for that Meadowhall had been put on the market. The shopping centre’s joint owners, British Land and Norges (Norway’s sovereign wealth fund), value the 33-year-old site at £750m, which is around half of what it was thought to be worth in 2012. British Land paid Yorkshire developers Eddie Healey and Paul Sykes £1.2bn for the centre in 1999.

Canal Boat Diaries: Sheffield to Keadby 🛥️ Amid the wall to wall sport and reality television, sometimes a dose of slow viewing is what you want. In the first episode of series four of Canal Boat Diaries, Robbie Cumming sets off from Victoria Quays down the Sheffield and Tinsley Canal on a 300-mile journey around northern England. Even without the voiceover this would be an engaging watch, full of beautiful shots of one of Sheffield’s hidden gems.

Warp Films: 7 essential releases 🎥 With Dead Man’s Shoes back in cinemas, this list of seven of the Sheffield-based Warp Films’ best releases from when it celebrated its 10th birthday in 2013 is worth a read. As well as the pitch black Shane Meadows-directed feature, the list features Chris Morris’ Four Lions, Meadows’ follow-up This Is England, Richard Ayoade’s Submarine and Considine’s own Tyrannosaur. For a tiny indie film company, it’s quite a list.

Home of the week 🏡

This brand new one-bedroomed apartment in Kelham Island is part of the Citu’s new Kelham Central development and has a range of eco-features. It is on the market for £182,500.

Tribune Tips: If you want to tell us about a story or give us some information, please email editor@sheffieldtribune.co.uk. We are always happy to speak to people off the record in the first instance, and we will treat your information with confidence and sensitivity.

Things to do 📆

Music 🎸 Iconic Glaswegian pop rock band Deacon Blue are playing at Sheffield City Hall tonight (Monday, 18 September) marking thirty-five years since the release of their debut banger, Dignity. Tickets are already sold out, but a few extras almost always show up on community Facebook pages from last-minute cancellations. The first half of the show will be an intimate acoustic performance, with the second set turning electric to play their top hits.

Theatre 🎭 What would you be willing to do to achieve ultimate power? The Lantern Theatre in Nether Edge are currently performing Shakespeare’s classic story of ambition, power and tragedy, Macbeth. The supposedly “cursed” Scottish play is one of the bard’s most famous and tells the cautionary tale of a king’s meteoric rise and equally rapid fall. Doors open at 7.30pm and tickets are priced £11.50-£13.50. The show runs until Saturday, 23 September.

Literature 📚 Head down to the Treehouse Board Game Cafe on Tuesday, 19 September to join the Graphic Novel Reading Room, a free social event bringing people together through comic books. The event is the brainchild of Gabi Putnoki, who will be bringing along some of her vast graphic novel collection to the event for visitors to enjoy. Treehouse also has a full food and drinks menu to keep you going as you read. The event runs from 4pm-10pm.