Brightside and Shiregreen Area Action

 

 

Welcome to the Brightside and Shiregreen Area Action home page.  The area covers the following neighbourhoods:

 

 

From here you will find useful information about the make-up of the area, issues and priorities, the Area Panel, and links to other organisations.  You will also find a range of useful documents which you may wish to download and print.

 

 

Brightside/Shiregreen Area Panel lies to the north east of the city centre. It is bounded by the M1 motorway to the north, Barnsley Road to the northwest and Fir Vale to the south. The area is predominately residential but has large employers on its eastern margins in the industrial base and retail outlets in the Brightside valley, as well as at Northern General Hospital to the south.

 

The area is divided roughly into two by the green corridor, which runs across Wincobank Hill between two of the city's major heritage parks, Concord and Firth Park, and down to the area of ancient woodland at Woolley Wood and the Hartley Brook. Much of the area is hilly and there are steep gradients, particularly from the industrial corridor in the Brightside valley, which can inhibit movement and create barriers to access for some residents.

 

Firth Park district centre forms a natural focal point for local financial, retail and administrative services in the area, with the Meadowhall development just outside the area in the Don Valley.

 

Several distinct neighbourhoods lie within the area, including; Wincobank, Grimesthorpe, Flower, Stubbin, Brushes, Brightside and Shiregreen. Each neighbourhood has its own character and issues which influence local needs. The area has a range of voluntary and community activity and a strong sense of community loyalty and commitment to neighbourhoods. The local lead community regeneration agency is Community North Forum and the area falls within a single police district, Housing and Primary Care Trust area.

 

Overall the area has higher proportions of 0 –17 year olds and fewer people over 60 than the city average. An estimated 5% of the total population are from ethnic minority backgrounds whose homes are concentrated towards the south of the area.  This population is also younger than the city average. The biggest single ethnic grouping is of Yemeni origin and there are growing numbers of young people in the area of dual or multi-heritage. Others are of Pakistani, Somali and African-Caribbean origin. More recently, small but significant numbers of refugees and asylum seekers from a variety of countries have come to live in the area, particularly in older private rented accommodation.

 

About two thirds of the housing is in public ownership, although in the large Shiregreen estate nearly 50% of tenants have exercised their Right to Buy. Private housing in the area varies from small Victorian terraces, many at the lower end of the property market, to modern estates where property prices are relatively high. There has been a significant recent increase in private housing development on small to medium sites in the area. Recent housing investment strategic plans indicate that demand for local social housing is high, with the facilities at Firth Park acting as an inducement for tenants to move into the area from less secure neighbouring estates.

 

There are several pockets of severe poverty, with in some neighbourhoods nearly 50% of children in benefit dependant households. There are sharp contrasts between income levels within the area.

 

Life expectancy in some neighbourhoods is amongst the lowest in the city – more than 8 years less than those living in Hallam ward.

 

Educational achievement at 16 and staying-on rates for school leavers are some of the lowest in the city, as are measured levels of adult basic skills and educational attainment. Consequently many seeking jobs in the area are restricted to employment, which is unskilled, insecure, and low paid.

 

 

Cllr Peter Price (Chair of the Panel)

Cllr Jane Bird

Cllr Joan Barton

Cllr Peter Rippon

Vicky Williams (Area Co-ordinator)

 

 

Please see the attachment at the bottom of the page for the latest edition of the Area Panel Newsletter.  If you require this newsletter as a Word Document please contact the Panel using the details below and we will email or post you a copy.

 

For more information about the area panel, to ask a question, or to join the mailing list for the Brightside and Shiregreen area and its Area Panel please contact us.

 

Telephone: 0114 2037562

 

Write to:

Brightside/Shiregreen Area Panel

Firth Park Library

443 Firth Park Road

Sheffield

S5 6QQ

 

Or email: