Owls win praise for sporting vision in new plan

The club’s community programme has bought the 5.2-acre site on Penistone Road from City Estates and has drawn up plans with Axis Architecture for indoor and outdoor football pitches, a gym, dance and boxing studios, classrooms, a health centre, a pharmacy and a taxi office.

The site in question is the former Presto Tools industrial complex which has recently been vacated after Presto moved to a new base six miles north, in Chapeltown.

City planners in Sheffield are backing the scheme, which has been recommended for approval at a planning committee meeting next Tuesday.

A spokesman for Sheffield Wednesday said that, if planning permission is granted, the site will be “transformed from a near barren industrial area to an unrivalled, state-of-the-art community facility holding proud status as the biggest and best of its kind in the country.”

They added: “The proposals outline the build as a unique, family-friendly facility based on the fundamental foundations of social inclusion, participation, education, job creation, sport, health, leisure and wellbeing.”

Simon Torr, chief superintendent at South Yorkshire Police and chairman of the Owls’ community programme, said: “Sheffield Police fully supports the vision of the Sheffield Wednesday community programme. This facility will be a superb asset to Sheffield.

“It will help young people develop both socially and emotionally, aid vital communication skills and improve self-esteem, which in turn increases resilience, thus avoiding risks such as experimentation with drugs or involvement in crime.

“The primary aim centres on involvement in positive activities, leading to a reduction in anti-social behaviour and gang-related actions.

“In addition, the facility will provide alternative educational programmes designed to re-engage young people back into mainstream learning whilst maximising vocational opportunities.”

The new development would also provide additional facilities for North Anston-based Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice.

Chief executive of the hospice, Sarah Champion, said: “The Sheffield Wednesday community programme has supported the hospice for many years as they understand, and are committed to, the vital services we provide.

“The facility will provide a meeting space for our parent and grandparent groups, a superb activity centre for the siblings and will give us a vital increased presence in the community we serve.”

Should the application be successful, construction work will begin this summer, with completion set for the spring of 2013.

Advising that councillors should back the plans, which have received just one objection, city planners say in their report that “on balance, the benefits of the proposed development outweigh the policy objection to the loss of employment land”.