Conversations begin to develop Cannon Brewery neighbourhood

Social impact developers Capital&Centric are de-camping to Neepsend’s Heist Brew Co. next week to start the conversation about the future of Cannon Brewery.

The team behind plans to create a new neighbourhood at the long-abandoned site are inviting people down to nearby Heist Brew Co. on Neepsend Lane on Friday 12 May 2023 from 4pm til late to chat about upcoming plans.

The developers – currently featuring in Channel 4’s ‘The Big Interiors Battle’ – are custodians of the site. Once home to Stones Brewery, it was the birthplace of the UK’s best-selling bitter at the time, before the doors closed for good in 1999. The place has been empty ever since.

It’s early days for Cannon Brewery’s transformation, but the developers are keen to speak to locals about aspirations and key considerations for the site before detailed plans are drawn up. Next Friday’s consultation event will be a chance for people to meet the people who’ll be working up the vision and have a say.

Their mission is to breathe life into the whole area, creating a buzzing and diverse neighbourhood with new homes, lush green community spaces, bars, cafes and workspaces that could see hundreds of million invested in the Neepsend area of Sheffield.

It follows the tried and tested method they’re taking in other cities like Manchester where their Kampus garden neighbourhood has won awards for their design-led approach to the canal-side community.

Tim Heatley, co-founder of Capital&Centric, said: “Cannon Brewery is a vast area that’s laid empty for years, just crying out for some vision. Whilst we take a design-led approach to all the communities we deliver – no two are the same. Whatever we bring forward must be made in Sheffield’s identity and be a worthy addition to the city as its grows.

“What better way to do that than to get people and businesses involved from the very outset. Before we submit any firmed up plan to the city council, we want to understand what the city’s residents would like to see there and canvass ideas that we can take on board.

“Sheffield’s got so much going for it. It’s getting more and more attention as people look for cool, diverse and green cities in which to put down roots. We’re proud to be part of that renaissance … the Cannon Brewery district will be a big part of the jigsaw and the city’s future.”

As well as having live projects in Manchester, Liverpool, Stockport, Bolton and Stoke-on-Trent, Capital&Centric are already on the ground in Sheffield. They’re currently restoring Eyewitness Works the former cutlery works on Milton Street near the Devonshire Quarter into apartments.

With construction work still underway, it’s planned for the first tranche Eyewitness Works homes to be available to move in this summer. Cannon Brewery will be their second major project in Sheffield, with Capital&Centric eyeing up other locations in a bid to grow the Yorkshire footprint.

By Mark Adair – Correspondent, Bdaily

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