Sheffield's troubled shipping containers could be reused in community

A decision on the future of the containers will be made by councillors later this month

A troubled container complex beset by problems should be dismantled and stored for future use in communities or parks in Sheffield, a report says.

The eight units in Fargate, which opened in October, were intended as a pop-up space for food stalls, shops and events, and to help boost footfall.

The council, which spent more than £420,000 on the project, has said they will be taken down later this month.

A report says the preferred option is for them to be reused in the community.

A decision on the future use of the shipping containers will be made at a meeting on 24 January where, along with community use, three other options will be considered, including moving the units to sites near Sheffield station, or a sale of the units.

Ben Brailsford, council lead on the project, said: "The recommended option is to invite offers from community groups and where we can, improve facilities in our parks... so there will be some long-term good use put to the containers."

The scheme was intended to create a food and retail space at the top of one of Sheffield's traditionally busiest shopping areas

The council has come under fire for the failed project, which had been fraught with problems, including unplanned costs of relocating it to maintain access to sewers.

The discovery of underground water pipes at the venue's original location delayed its opening by three months and led to the project being branded a "shambles".

Other problems involved missing power cables, which meant a diesel generator was required, costing up to £20,000 a month.

Martin Smith, Liberal Democrat chair of the council's economic and development skills committee, said the complex had been a "cock-up from start to finish".

He also criticised the council for carrying out its own internal audit as to what went wrong with the project and called instead for an independent review.

"That's not good enough, the council cannot mark its own homework," he said.

"We've got to have an external input and we must go right back to when the decisions were first taken in 2022."

He added: "This project has been a huge disappointment and I feel sorry for the tenants who have got caught up in this mess."

Mr Brailsford said there "absolutely had to be some learning from this to make sure mistakes weren't repeated".

He added: "Our audit team will look at what the issues were and we can make sure we learn from them."