News: More consultation on Rotherham £24m active travel schemes

More public consultation is required as Rotherham Council is set to spend a further £24m on active travel schemes where new cycle lanes are set to be a key component.

Rothbiz has previously reported on a £16.3m scheme that includes bike lanes, bus lanes and a built up roundabout at Eastwood, on the edge of Rotherham town centre. A similar £8m cycle lane and roundabout scheme is proposed for Stag Roundabout and Wickersley / Broom Road.

The schemes follow on from the the £6.4m Sheffield Road Cycleways and Maltby Bus Corridor schemes and the £3.6m Broom Road Cycleways scheme.

The majority of funding for the latest schemes is coming from the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) through the City Regional Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS), a government funding stream.

Earlier consultation backed the authority's idea for St Anns roundabout, where the council is proposing to bring the crossings up to ground level and fill in the subways to make the space feel more welcoming. Consultation results also showed a clear preference for keeping all arms of the roundabout open, discounting an idea to close St Ann's Road to motor traffic and install bus gates.

At Stag Roundabout, segregated cycle routes and controlled crossing facilities would be introduced on each arm of the roundabout.

Funding has also been set aside for neighbourhood improvements.

Recent decisions by Rotherham Council have been made to undertake further stakeholder engagement on both schemes.

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A council report states: "Approval is granted for RMBC to engage with stakeholders, including residents, business owners and Ward Members on the updated designs for the active travel corridor, as well as allocated neighbourhood streets investment," with the report adding that the consultation is to "comply with required engagement process involving stakeholders as per funding requirements."

The report adds: "No significant consultation and engagement has taken place with the public since the end of July 2025. In addition, although previous consultation and engagement included reference to the Eastwood & Herringthorpe Active Travel Neighbourhood element, no designs of actual interventions have previously been shared with the public.

"In developing the scheme designs, consideration has been given to aligning with the Council’s objectives to listen, inform and work in partnership with its residents. With this in mind, further public engagement and consultation will now be undertaken."

Rothbiz reported last year that the Council had confirmed that if it wants to use government money to make multimillion pound investments in strategic transport routes in the borough, they will need to include cycle lanes.

For Fitzwilliam Road between St Ann’s Roundabout and Mushroom Roundabout the plan is to provide bus priority and separate cycleways.

A bus lane in the Rotherham-bound direction would make bus services faster and more reliable and the bus lane at Mushroom roundabout would be extended to Chesterton Road. Painted cycle lanes are set to be replaced with dedicated cycle tracks to separate cyclists from motor traffic and improve safety and new designated parking spaces are also included.

On the other scheme, bilateral unidirectional cycleways and bus priority measures are expected from the new Broom Road layout to Brecks Roundabout, as well as associated improvements to crossings and junctions.

Rotherham Council website

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News: Former Rotherham enterprise centre up for sale

A former enterprise centre and a historic school building are two assets being sold off at auction next month by Rotherham Council.

The Enterprise Centre / Treeton Youth Centre has been vacant since the authority agreed to cut the Rotherham Youth Enterprise (RYE) service last year. It was most recently used by RYE for its staff and to offer start up premises to fledgling Rotherham businesses.

Originally built in circa 1887 as an infant school, the 6,445 sq ft building includes five workshops, five offices, a large hall and outside space. Under the Local Plan the land is allocated as residential.

Expressions of interest were requested at the start of 2019 but the building has now been given a guide price of £150,000 plus with Pugh Auctions and is set to go under the hammer at an event in Leeds next month.

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At the same auction, the former St Ann's building on the edge of Rotherham town centre is also available to buy, with a guide price of £100,000 plus.

Dating back to the 1800's, St Ann's Road Board School opened a new boy's department in 1893 on the corner of St Leonard's Road. Providing accommodation for 244 children, the stone building includes a 45 ft bell tower above the main entrance.

Rothbiz reported last year that Rotherham Council was asking for expressions of interest in the vacant property which was also previously used as an annexe of the Rotherham College of Arts and Technology.

Three proposals were received by the Council but the property now looks to be going to the highest bidder at auction.

A sale private treaty would have included a "buyback" clause giving the Council an option to repurchase the site in the future ensuring that the asset is utilised rather than remaining vacant and derelict.

The building was previously let to the Unity Centre Rotherham by way of an asset transfer lease although the property has remained vacant for some 15 years. Unity Centre occupies the neighbouring buildings of the former girls school where it runs a community centre.

Due to lack of progress with refurbishment of the property, the Council served notice on the tenant to terminate the lease last year and regain possession with disposal in mind.

Also at the same auction, the authority is looking to dispose of the former Erskine Road depot, a former caretakers bungalow at Swinton and various parcels of land.

Pugh Auctions website

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News: Council approves land sales for redevelopment

Two plots of land on the edge of the town centre are set to be disposed of by Rotherham Council - one to a developer through a procurement exercise and one by private treaty.

Rothbiz reported this time last year on the Council's plan for York Road, Eastwood, where it hopes to see land used for the delivery of new homes.

Rothbiz has also reported on the disposal of a former boys' school at St Ann's that dates back to the 1800s.

The 1.17 acre site at York Road comprises two car parks and a garage site which is largely cleared and almost ready to be redeveloped. Market testing has been carried out regarding a redevelopment opportunity and it is expected that 30 houses could be built on the site.

Cabinet members have now agreed the final terms of the disposal and/or development agreement, with a procurement process to be carried out to sell the land.

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Cllr. Chris Read, leader of Rotherham Council, explained: "Part of the reason why we are doing it like this is so we get some control over the development rather than just selling the land off and leaving it open to whatever a private developer might come in. We can't guarantee that it might do all the things that people might like but we are trying, as far as possible, so that the Council has as much control as possible."

Six responses were received during market testing "demonstrating a healthy appetite for the scheme." Bidders will be now given the deadline of the second week in March 2019 to submit proposals.

St Ann's Road Board School opened a new boy's department in 1893 on the corner of St Leonard's Road. Providing accommodation for 244 children, the stone building includes a 45 ft bell tower above the main entrance.

The original boys department became the St Leonard's annexe of the Rotherham College of Arts and Technology in late 1979. The former girls department and infants department building was converted into the Unity Centre in early 2000. This would not form part of the proposed sale.

Cllr. Denise Lelliott, cabinet member for jobs and the local economy at Rotherham Council, explained: "Formerly leased to the Unity Centre it has unfortunately come into disrepair and we decided to take it back and do market testing to see if there were any expressions of interest for this building. It came back, and there were, so it is recommended that the property be sold to one of the parties that put forward an offer.

"A bit like the York Road sale, there will be conditions put on so that it will get redeveloped. We don't want another situation where we've sold a building and then nothing happens."

Potential bidders, or the expected income that the Council could achieve from selling both plots, have not been made public due to commercial sensitivities.

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News: Council prepares to sell off historic former boys' school

A former boys' school in Rotherham that dates back to the 1800s could be sold off for redevelopment by the local council.

Officers are seeking expressions of interest "for the possible freehold disposal, commercial lease or asset transfer lease" of the former St Ann's building on the edge of Rotherham town centre.

St Ann's Road Board School opened a new boy's department in 1893 on the corner of St Leonard's Road. Providing accommodation for 244 children, the stone building includes a 45 ft bell tower above the main entrance.

The Council's legal pack for the property states: "The property comprises of a former boys school largely built towards the end of the 1800's with some additional extensions being added over the years. Mostly of stone construction, the St Ann's building has an attractive frontage, including an impressive tower above the main entrance.

"Although previously used as a school, the site has been vacant for over 15 years. Internally the property has been stripped back to bear [sic] brick and rafters."

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The marketing exercise is being undertaken solely to gauge interest for the building. The future of the building is to be determined by the Council's cabinet at a later date. The 0.3 acre site is described as "suitable for a number of uses — Subject to Planning."

Whilst not a listed building, the property is on Rotherham Civic Society's local list which compiles properties of architectural or historic interest.

The society states that the original boys department became the St Leonard's annexe of the Rotherham College of Arts and Technology in late 1979. The former girls department and infants department building was converted into the Unity Centre in early 2000.

The adjacent Unity Centre, a multi-purpose community resource, would not form part of the proposed sale.

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The Rotherham District Civic Society's add that the building is now one of the very few examples of the School Board's work left standing and that: "these are important examples of the work of local architects such as Henry Louis Tacon, James E. Knight and Joseph Platts. These buildings also complement and are material to the setting of the Grade II Listed Church of St Stephen."

The church is now St Anthony Church having been a Coptic Orthodox Church since 1997.

The site is situated with in a conservation area and currently allocated for community use. Restrictive covenants are also thought to be in place regarding the use of the site.

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