News: Riverside Gardens takes shape in Rotherham town centre

A transformational project is taking shape to create new public space near to Forge Island in Rotherham town centre.

A Rotherham Council scheme that has secured external government funding, work got underway last year on Riverside Gardens alongside improvements on Corporation Street.

Planning permission was approved in 2023 for a scheme using a mixture of soft and hard landscaping to create a gateway on an area extending from the demolished Riverside Precinct, covering the old abattoir site behind Market Street and passing the Old Market, Keppel Wharf and Westgate Chambers residential developments.

C R Reynolds is leading on the work which has a total budget of £8,425,749 in the council's capital programme. G & F Formwork Ltd has been on site recently creating the complex retaining walls as part of the design.

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Cllr. John Williams, Cabinet Member for Transport, Jobs and the Local Economy at Rotherham Council, said: "This is a big regeneration scheme that’s going to transform what was a previously underused area right beside the River Don, and we’re going to provide a new public garden and open space for visitors, shoppers, and residents to enjoy right here in the town centre.

"It’s a really exciting project. So what you’re going to see here is a brand new riverside walkway giving you new views overlooking the River Don and over to Forge Island. Throughout the site there’s going to be new planting, new seating, there’s going to be a children’s play area right at the top as well.

"The Riverside Gardens project is really important because regeneration isn’t just about big new buildings and infrastructure, it’s about improving and creating new public spaces for people to use and enjoy. So this new riverside walkway and public gardens is going to be here for visitors, for shoppers, for workers, for people who live and use the town centre to come and enjoy the new riverside views, to have better links to Forge Island and the rest of the town centre. And it’s just a really exciting example of the transformation that’s taking place across Rotherham town centre."

The 2017 town centre masterplan had the old abattoir site earmarked for a residential development in excess of 60 apartments. Housing plans here were also included in the 2020 hybrid planning application for Forge Island with developers including outline plans for later phases such as 50 riverside residential units on the abattoir site on the opposite side of the River Don to the cinema and hotel.

Images: Tom Austen

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News: Contractor lined up for delayed Rotherham public realm scheme

Rotherham Council looks to have found a way forward for a delayed public realm scheme having previously struggled to attract private sector contractors.

Planning permission was approved in June for Riverside Gardens - a riverside park alongside the Forge Island development.

However, Rothbiz reported last month that the scheme had been pushed back six months as a procurement exercise failed to secure anybody to carry out the work. The project has undergone a value engineering exercise and procurement has been carried out for the revised scheme.

Using a mixture of soft and hard landscaping, Riverside Gardens is creating a gateway on an area extending from the demolished Riverside Precinct, covering the old abattoir site behind Market Street and passing the Old Market, Keppel Wharf and Westgate Chambers residential developments.

It will offer residents a place to socialise and relax close to new amenities such as the Arc Cinema, a 69-roomed hotel, and a range of restaurants and bars on Forge Island, which is being delivered in partnership with nationwide placemaker, Muse.

Council papers show that the initial procurement excercise had four contractors interested but three dropped out during the process and the only one remaining came in "significantly over the advised cost." Issues include rising material costs and risks associated with the design.

Paul Woodcock, regeneration and environment director at Rotherham Council, said: "The tender was unsuccessful and is worth millions, smaller tenders worth thousands have also been unsuccessful. It is a very difficult market. We need to adapt to deliver schemes."

It now appears that the work required for Riverside Gardens has been wrapped together with other planned public realm improvements in the area designated as a Leisure & Cultural Quarter, to make it more appealing to the market.

Indeed, the council is now preparing to make a direct award of a contract to Humberside-based CR Reynolds for the work.

This would be the first stage of a two-stage design and build contract for the delivery of works in relation to Riverside Gardens, Corporation Street and Upper Millgate, to undertake detailed design and costing exercise. A Tender Evaluation Report would be produced for review by the council before a further decision would be made on proceeding with the contractor to stage 2 - construction.

An August 2024 start is envisaged so it is highly unlikely that the work will be completed in time for when Forge Island opens next year.

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Accross town, a planning application from the council has been approved for a pocket park on the High Street, nearly three years after the authority bought the site.

Rothbiz reported in February that delays and rising costs saw the council cut ties with the appointed contractor for Snail Yard and instead, bring the work in-house to get it completed.

Rotherham Council purchased the former Primark building on High Street in November 2020, using funding from the Towns Fund Accelerator programme after the Government awarded a £1m grant to kick start regeneration projects in Rotherham town centre. Further funding has been secured to continue the temporary park project.

Having taken out aspects of the design to save on costs, bringing back the work in-house has meant that things like the steel staircase at the back of the park can be reinstated, hence the need for a new planning application.

In approving the application, planning officers describe the plans as "a great opportunity to diversify the town centre and create new public realm" adding that: "Whilst, the proposed use is temporary only, it is considered to deliver on some key town centre masterplan aims of enhancing the leisure economy of the town centre."

In terms of potential anti-social behaviour, planning officers state that: "the site will be open and have a good level of natural surveillance and given its prominent location any issues should be minimal."

Longer term plans for the site include a residential led redevelopment that may incorporate the landscape scheme or part of it.

Images: RMBC / Tetra Tech / Google Maps

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