Sheffield Liberal Democrats condemn COMPASS facility delay caused by Labour infighting

Plans for the new COMPASS facility, to be built in the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre in Tinsley, were submitted in June and announced with much fanfare and a visit from the Chancellor in mid-July.

The site, which will make lightweight components for the aviation industry to reach net zero targets, is a flagship project for South Yorkshire’s Investment Zone, which if successful will create around 8,000 new jobs and £1.2bn of private funding by 2030. The South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority is responsible for development of the Investment Zone.

However, only a month later, the plans look set to unravel after Rotherham’s Labour led Council objected to the planning application, arguing that the plans contained outdated information on the public transport network (such as the removal of the A1 bus), and would cause too much traffic on the Parkway and Junction 33 of the M1.

Shockingly, responsibility for the state of South Yorkshire’s buses also rests with Mayor Oliver Coppard, who’s promised ‘London style’ bus franchising system has faced significant delay and will not be implemented before late 2025 at the earliest.

Bus franchising would give the South Yorkshire Mayor much greater control over bus routes and running hours, and is the first step in turning around South Yorkshire’s failing bus service.

Cllr Shaffaq Mohammed, leader of Sheffield Liberal Democrats, said:-

“The fact that we’re in this situation at all shows a serious failure of leadership and organisation on Mayor Coppard’s part.

Labour have recently promoted the benefits of a Labour Government working with Labour Council’s, but who will believe them when a Labour Mayor and Labour Council can’t even work together? South Yorkshire has been plagued by internal Labour wrangling for decades, and this is the result.

These plans are of international importance and will bring hundreds of jobs to Sheffield, and for them to fall through due to Labour infighting would be a scandalous missed opportunity. Mayor Coppard has failed to implement bus franchising, and has failed to prevent the closure of Sheffield Doncaster Airport. If these plans fall through, what has he achieved?

I’m calling on Rotherham Council to retract their objection, and for Mayor Coppard to work proactively to make these plans fit for purpose, including through implementing our long-standing demands for bus franchising.”