Sheffield and the South Yorkshire region has an incredible opportunity to reinvent itself and drive economic growth – according to Lord Adonis. The former Secretary of State for Transport said the region is entering into a ‘once in a century’ opportunity with the arrival of HS2 which will transform transport and infrastructure within South Yorkshire, creating better links between local towns and neighbouring regions.

Sheffield is going through an incredible boom at the moment – and we’ll be hearing from those behind the impress city plans including HS2, Sheffield City Council, Sheffield Hallam University, Queensbury and Sheffield’s Property Association at our Sheffield Development Plans Conference in June.

Speaking at an event in Sheffield Lord Adonis said: ”South Yorkshire needs an economic plan to take advantage of HS2. For 30 years, since the abolition of the metropolitan authority in 1986, there has been no one whose job it was to promote the region, and it’s paid the price.

According to Lord Adonis, Dan Jarvis is the man to lead that drive as he praised the newly appointed Mayor as ‘brilliant’. He added that the devolution deal also needed to be done – which would provide £1bn of investment money for ‘One Yorkshire’ and give devolved powers from the Government back to local authorities to decide the best use of the money to improve the area and drive growth.

Speaking about the possibility of devolved powers he said: ”Once you have a plan you know what powers you are asking for. Dan Jarvis definitely needs to do the deal in my opinion. Throughout the 20th century South Yorkshire was at the economic heart of the county and it needs a plan to put it back.

Master Cutler Ken Cooke emphasised that message saying South Yorkshire could be ‘left in the wilderness’ without a devolution deal being agreed. He said: ”We’ve been deprived of valuable investment for the past two years and the business consensus is that we need to press ahead now and maximise the potential funding available for Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield. Without this unity of purpose within the region we will be left in the wilderness in a time where we need to galvanise the region to introduce a new era of growth, development and economic stability.”

We’re excited to hear about the arrival of HS2 and the opportunities this will bring to the region – along with other ambitious projects being undertaken in Sheffield – at the Sheffield Development Plans Conference on the 4th June.