Sheffield Daily Telegraph – Thursday 08 November 1928

Town Hall Scheme.

Rector’s Criticism of Thurnscoe Proposal.

A gloomy picture of Thurnscoe is painted by the Rector (the Rev. H. G. Wheeler) in the current issue of his parish magazine. Empty houses, people unable to pay rent; poverty, and family difficulties of supplying food and clothing are mentioned in his protest that the time is not opportune for the Urban Council to proceed with its Town Hall scheme.

The Rector says: “The news that our Urban District Council is proceeding with the erection of Town Hall must have filled many residents with amazement and dismay. It would be difficult to even imagine a time less opportune for such a venture. I am convinced that when a public inquiry is opened there will be bitter opposition. The whole scheme from the point of view of the worker and his family seems heartless and cruel. This is no time to put a burden on our only industry, and when every penny counts in the home. It is no time to be adding to rents.

There are said to be 360 empty houses already in Thurnscoe.

The only part of the scheme which seems feasible is the provision of an infant welfare centre. “We all sympathise with the staff of the U.D.C. in their present confined quarters, but their inconvenience is as nothing to that of many parents trying to contrive food and clothing for their children in Thurnscoe.”