Kelham Island: National newspapers may swoon over trendy Sheffield suburb - but don't believe the hype

A another national newspaper hails Kelham Island one of the best places to live, locals and visitors have a very different view.

On a trip to the trendy suburb it wasn’t difficult to find opinions completely at odds with the Sunday Times, which has just produced the latest in a long line of love letters.

Australian visitor Lisa Hodgetts was cross after paying £11 for eggs on sourdough bread at one eaterie and then struggling to find Kelham Island Museum due to poor signage. She also criticised the architecture, lack of shops and how quiet it was.

She added: “The architecture’s all modern, it should be more traditional. The food, for the price, was not very good, I’ve had to use Google maps to find the museum and this waterside area is a mess. It’s not a patch on Leeds Waterfront and not as good as Newcastle or Manchester. It doesn’t say much about England if this is the most livable place.”

Ms Hodgetts, from Perth, refused to have her picture taken.

Dan Dungworth has lived on Kelham Island for 13 years and is fed up with GPs ditching the area in shake ups.

He said: “I’ve been dropped by three different GPs and they’ve all left me to apply somewhere else. It’s just happened and right now I don’t have one.”

The area is famous for a lack of green space and not having a park or school, while another huge beef is the parking - and it’s about to get much worse.

A residents’ permit system is set to mean fewer spaces for visitors. But some who live in blocks designated ‘carless’ are in for a nasty shock since permits will be unavailable to them - and the nearest free parking is near Wickes on Rutland Road or in Pitsmoor.

And then there’s the developments. Developers have been making a killing in Kelham for well over a decade and the pace shows no sign of slowing, with active sites today on Cotton Mill Row, Alma Street and Bowling Green Street. An application has just been submitted for a six-storey block on Acorn Street.

The losers are traditional businesses who have been forced out as building owners sell up. Other firms face noise complaints as the very different demands of living and working come into conflict.

If Acorn Street is granted, W H Hulley, the oldest ladder manufacturer in the country, would have flats on all four sides.

Local councillor Ruth Mersereau has objected to the plan over "access to daylight”, privacy, lack of open space and traffic. She also thinks the flats proposed are too small, “which will negatively affect residents’ health and well-being”.

Another objector states: “It doesn't embrace the industrial heritage and character of the area in a meaningful way.”

Many of the flats in Kelham ape industrial designs - but as with so much about the place it’s just image.

The Sunday Times entry states: “The rise of Kelham Island into a fashionable world of hip hangouts and urban chic shows what can be achieved with a bit of effort.”