New Look Cobbles are Great for Cultural Industrial Quarter, says Business

19th September 2013

Businesses along Mary Street have welcomed plans to improve the cobbled road as part of Sheffield City Council's Streets Ahead project.

Plans include resurfacing most of the street using the existing cobbles and relaying them in one central area, to get rid of the patchy appearance. Neill Birchenall, Managing Director of BirchenallHowden explains: -We have great things happening in this corner of the Cultural Industrial Quarter we've been encouraged by the new businesses relocating and starting here and some momentum in terms of development. -The setts or cobbles as they're commonly known - make our street different and memorable, which is important. It's fantastic that they're staying and will look even better when the road improvements take place. Cllr Jack Scott, Sheffield City Council's Cabinet Member for Environment, Recycling and Street Scene, said: -We worked closely with our highway contractor, Amey, to design a resurfacing scheme for Mary Street that would make the most of the existing cobbles. The street will look great when it's finished and is yet another example of how we're transforming the condition of our roads from some of the worst in the country to some of the best and it's clear that this work will have really positive benefits for local businesses too. Chris Morris, Operation Director at Amey added: -We've already started working on the footpaths in Mary Street. After this is completed we will start working with the cobbles. This is a specialist skill, so it will take some time. We've kept the local businesses updated with the plans and would like to thank them for their cooperation while the work is taking place.