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Velocity plans split in two
Sheffield City Council has asked Velocity Estates to reconsider its application to increase its proposed 22-storey tower to 36 storeys tower. Instead the council wants it to consider extending the adjacent 13-storey wing to 18 storeys, with a five-level podium in between. This would create 240 residential units and a 120-room aparthotel. Velocitys logistics manager Anthony Butler said the new design was still an extension of the existing permission and the changes were a compromise arranged with the planners. He said Velocity was not as badly affected as other developers have been because it always intended the units to be for rental, and the rental market was better than ever. The developers other schemes, including Velocity Village in Sheffield, has a 96 per cent occupancy rate, with 80 per cent of the next phase pre-let. While Bulter says it is too soon to pre-let Velocity Tower, 40 units are reserved at the pre-letting agreement stage.
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Local businesses promised âmore understanding and assistance'
South Yorkshire businesses have told Sheffield City Council to be more innovative in its communication with local businesses at a buy-local summit set up to examine how the council can make a level playing field for local companies to tender for business. The council said it will provide more understanding and assistance to local businesses and will hold a follow-up summit in six months to review progress. 
E-village helps digital entrepreneur
Make-up artist Fuchsia Darley is the first beneficiary of the Digital Entrepreneurs programme, which aims to establish a virtual community of home working web-savvy business-owners that come from areas of high unemployment. Sheffield Independent Film director Deborah Egan spotted Darley, a student at Sheffield College, and enlisted her talents for a pop video for Mute Records that is being screened on MTV. She then got her into the programme, which is part of BiG Make it Your Business and designed and implemented by Sheffield Independent Film.
Better trains on Sheffield lines
East Midlands Trains has started a £10m refurbishment of all its Class 158 trains. The work will include repainting; internal refurbishment, including seating design, capacity and new toilets; improvement of systems to improve reliability; air conditioning and CCTV; and the installation of a passenger counting device. The first new trains are expected to run in October 2008.
Sheffielders leave their cars behind
Stagecoach has seen 1.3 million extra passengers in Sheffield, representing a 14 per cent growth in use of its bus service in Sheffield. The growth for the period May 2007 to April is down to the cost of travelling by car, consideration for the environment and the reliability of buses, and Stagecoachs £1.2m investment in its fleet this year, said Paul Lynch, managing director of Stagecoach Yorkshire.
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Rotherham in bid to save stadium cash
Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council cabinet members have recommended the council enter into a £500,000 bond with sports charity the Football Foundation to secure a grant previously advanced to Rotherham United Football Club (RUFC) towards improvements to its old Millmoor ground. After talks broke down with the owners of Millmoor, the club moved to Don Valley Stadium in Sheffield. The Football Foundation expressed concerns about the grant, but the council, which has been discussing plans for a new stadium, hopes the bond will be seen as concrete proof of its commitment to getting a 15,000 seat stadium built in the town.
Leader of the council, Coun Roger Stone, said: There are no guarantees that is the risk the authority will have to take, and it will be carefully monitored. But so far it is looking positive and we will continue to work with the developer, Rotherham United Football and Rotherham Titans Rugby Clubs to provide a stadium on land at Parkgate that will add to the fabric of the town and its people.
Developers foot the bill for infrastructure
Researchers from the University of Sheffield have found that private developers funded £4bn of Englands local capital infrastructure, including roads, schools and new affordable housing between 2005 and 2006. The research, commissioned by the Department of Communities & Local Government (CLG), indicates planning obligations S106 agreements have led to substantial investment by developers. The researchers, from the Universitys Department of Town and Regional Planning, found that nearly two thirds of new affordable homes are provided through S106 agreements.
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A run for their money
Businesses are being recruited for the Bupa Great Yorkshire Run business challenge, which takes place in Sheffield on 7 September 2008.
The 10km run, now in its second year, is open to teams of between four and eight employees in three different categories men, women and a mixed event which were won last year by Pricewaterhouse Coopers, the Sheffield-based charity Centre for Full Employment and sportswear shop Up and Running respectively.
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