Sheffield Fargate container park never fulfilled expectations, council says

Councillors have agreed to put the containers into storage when the park closes at the end of January

A shipping container park in Sheffield "never fulfilled" expectations, the city's council leader has said.

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 project was beset by problems and the containers will be put into storage when the park closes on 30 January.

Councillor Terry Fox said the authority "needs to learn lessons" to ensure that "similar mistakes aren't made again".

He said an investigation was needed into how the authority could create "better oversight for councillors".

The opening of the Fargate container park was delayed by three months

Sheffield City Council spent more than £420,000 on the scheme, which was funded by money from the government.

The container park experienced a number of setbacks, 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.

'Critical and valuable work'

The containers will be put into storage when the park is dismantled at the end of the month.

They will be reused by community groups, or as cafes or toilets in city parks, councillors agreed at a meeting on Tuesday.

Organisations will be able to submit an application to use the containers next month, before the council makes a decision on the proposals in April.

Mr Fox said: "Going forward, I'm excited to hear the proposals and how the containers can be repurposed to support the critical and valuable work of community groups who bring so much to Sheffield and its residents."

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