Sharrow Community Forum

Distinctive Sharrow covers a number of built environment projects, as described below, but much of the recent activity has been to support the Portland Works Committe in their attempts to save Portland Works from conversion into flats. Here is a short video to explain this campaign.

Sustainability of Sharrow study

Second year Landscape students from Sheffield University are looking at the sustainability of Sharrow. Their site covers the area of Sharrow from the southern edge of London Road, through the Lansdowne and Cemetery Road through to Ecclesall Road and the Sunny Bank nature reserve. Their aims is to apply their knowledge to enhance the potential of the area. They will be posting about their progress and invite your comments, ideas and knowledge of the area in order to inform their strategy work. You can find out more by visiting their Landscape blog or by emailing This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The Distinctive Sharrow Toolkit

The Distinctive Sharrow Toolkit describes ways to act collectively to improve the built environment. It aims to help you and others alter spaces and places in Sharrow, at a small or large scale, by influencing development projects or using events to alter the way space is used or perceived.

Some of these strategies will take some time and need the support of Sheffield City Council, others require Sharrow Community Forum (and others) to negotiate with developers, businesses and landowners, and some require local groups and individuals to act creatively within the area. All require relationships between these different groups to be built.

This dynamic approach does not see the project as reaching a stage when we can say ‘it’s done’ but as an ongoing attitude to the area that can grow and change as Sharrow does. We hope that this approach creates a more vibrant, inclusive and exciting development strategy for the area, which acknowledges difference but also finds and creates points of commonality, shared ideas, experiences and skills.

This report has been commissioned and carried out by Sharrow Community Forum and gathers together research, analysis, design and involvement from a number of people and organisations. Those who have contributed include local residents, stakeholders and businesses, University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University, Bond Bryan Architects, Whitelaw Turkington, Civic Regeneration, and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

Download the toolkit (Large file 13Mb, may take several minutes).

The Distinctive Sharrow Action Group

The Distinctive Sharrow Action Group has now formed from local residents and workers who wish to take forward some of the actions described in the toolkit. The group is self-managing and determines its own direction and priorities.

A location map for Action group HQ, The Old Junior School can be downloaded here. Please feel free to pop in during office hours to have a nosy around or tell us about your ideas for projects...  add something to our interactive wall map of Sharrow or tell us about yourself or inspiring art or architecture projects... 

To keep up to date on our activities and projects, please check out our blog: http://sharrowaction.blogspot.com or email julia on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Signs

You may have noticed lantern letters "Welcome to Sharrow" appearing on buildings, in trees and at the Sharrow festival... This is the first stage of the 'Word on the Street' signpost that the Action Group have commissioned. The winning artist being a team comprised of 'Bird & Bee' and 'Handspring Design', you can see their proposal for the permanent sign in the July issue of Sharrow Today or on the Action Group website. We are really excited about their design- the word is it should be appearing on Sharrow Streets before the end of this year.

Action Group HQ

Good news! We now have a space for the Action Group where we will hold events, have displays and provide information on local planning applications and community design projects. We held our 'Housewarming' event last year, which was great fun and has given us lots of ideas for projects over the next year and a chance to welcome new people. This year we have lots of of events and training planned, most of which are open to the public, if you let us know that you fancy coming down and being involved...

This year these will include:

Portland Works Planning Meeting: Meeting to discuss alternative futures for Portland Works. Date TBC. See www.portlandworks.blogspot.com for more details.

Art Trail: Working with volunteers from Sheffield Hallam Univeristy to create an art trail throughout the neighbourhood. Workshop dates TBC.