Stocksbridge school student breaks the ground on £42 million Fox Valley development

Stocksbridge school student breaks the ground on £42 million Fox Valley development

17 March 2014

 
Katie Holmes, the Stocksbridge school girl who won the competition to find a name for the town’s new Fox Valley development has launched the start of the project at a special ground breaking ceremony.

12-year-old Katie was joined by the MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge Angela Smith and the town’s Mayor Cllr Alison Brelsford as well as members of the professional team working on the £42 million project.

Two years ago Katie won the competition organised in schools across the area to find a name for the new development which would reflect the history of the former steelworks site.

And on Friday March 14th she broke the ground at a disused building, due to be demolished as part of the ambitious project which is being delivered by the award winning South Yorkshire company Dransfield Properties Ltd.

Henry Boot is the main contractor on the development and moved onto site last month with the main construction work due to be completed towards the end of 2015, ready for a spring 2016 opening.

Once completed the Fox Valley development will create up to 900 new jobs. It will deliver a new link road to the A616 Sheffield to Manchester Road as well as high specification office space and retail and restaurant units anchored by a 63,000 sq. ft. Tesco store.

The development has been designed around a 635 space car park with high quality public realm and good links to the rest of the town centre. A new housing development neighbouring the main retail and commercial development will also be delivered.

Katie chose the name Fox Valley to reflect the industrial heritage of the site which was once part of the vast Samuel Fox steelworks and said she was delighted to be part of the ceremony to mark the start of work.

Retail Property director at Dransfield Properties, Andrew Malley, said: “We had some great suggestions for names from all the pupils who entered our competition and we’d like to thank everyone who took part and of course especially Katie for coming up with the winning name.

“We thought it was fitting that Katie should help us mark the ground breaking on site. It’s great to see things moving forward with the development. This site is going to undergo a huge transformation over the next eighteen months and in bringing forward this new development in the area we’re also very keen to remember and reflect the past and the rich heritage and history of the site.”

The Fox Valley development is being built on a 28 acre site with direct access off the A616 Sheffield to Manchester Road, the first phase of work is to relocate the Tata steel stockyard to a new warehouse facility.

Dransfield Properties has received an investment of £8,111,040 from the Yorkshire and Humber ERDF Programme 2007- 2013, which is managed by the Department for Communities and Local Government to bring forward the Fox Valley project.

Picture shows Katie with (left to right) Cllr Alison Brelsford, Lesley Holmes (Katie’s Mum) Cllr Paul Jagger, Andrew Malley (Dransfield Properties) Angela Smith MP and Simon Carr (MD Henry Boot)

Notes to editors
1.
Dransfield Properties is based in Tankersley, South Yorkshire. The company was formed in 1992 and specialises in market town and district centre retail led developments.
The plans for the Fox Valley scheme we first proposed in 2007 and approved by Sheffield City Council in 2009.  The Fox Valley development site is made up of several land ownerships including Outokumpu and Tata Steels.
For further information about Dransfield Properties and Fox Valley visit www.dransfield.co.uk
2.
The Department for Communities and Local Government is the managing authority for the European Regional Development Fund Programme which runs from 2007 to 2013. This is one of the funds established by the European Commission to help local areas stimulate their economic development.
• The Yorkshire and Humber competitiveness and employment programme has €583.6 million of ERDF to invest. It focuses on 4 main priorities:
o Priority 1: promoting innovation and research and development
o Priority 2: supporting and stimulating successful enterprise
o Priority 3: sustainable communities
o Priority 4: economic infrastructure and place based regeneration in South Yorkshire
• For more information visit:
https://www.gov.uk/browse/business/funding-debt/european-regional-development-funding

For further information, contact:

Public Relations Department, Dransfield Properties Ltd
Tel: 01226 360644
Email: pr@dransfield.co.uk