When the new IKEA store was approved there was concern about the impact it might have on air quality in Darnall Ward, where pollution already often reaches harmful levels. The Council decided, after considering all the evidence, that 'on balance' it would be a good thing to allow the new store to open because 'the jobs and training' that it could provide would be 'likely to particularly benefit the local deprived communities of Tinsley and Darnall,' and 'help to address social and economic inequalities' between Darnall and other more prosperous parts of the City. The Council also said that the new jobs created here would 'help offset some of the health impacts' of the new store.
So who actually got the jobs? In the store itself just over 6% of the jobs went to people who live in the S9 area. In the call centre, which is located inside the store, 11% of the jobs went to people who live in S9. S9 includes Darnall Ward but is a bigger area.
Is this 'a healthy outcome' for the people of Darnall Ward, as Councillor Denise Fox, the chair of the Council's 'Economic and Environmental Well Being Scrutiny and Policy Committee' would like us to believe?
Our MP, Mr Clive Betts, said that he was 'extremely disappointed' when a 'misleading' article published in The Star just before the store opened gave the impression that 'a high percentage of people recruited by IKEA came from Darnall and Tinsley,' when this was not true. He also said that he was concerned that no-one in the Council could 'see that anything has gone wrong at IKEA' because he wanted to be reassured that the Council has 'learned lessons'.
Have things gone well, or did they go wrong? Are there lessons that need to be learned? What do you think?
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