Plans to build on 14 green belt sites criticised

Plans to build homes, offices and industrial buildings on areas of green belt land in Sheffield have been criticised by residents.

About 3.6% of the city's green belt land, across 14 different sites, would be developed under the council's proposals.

Campaigners said the plans were "insulting" and raised concerns about increased pollution and damage to the environment.

But government inspectors said the council must build more homes and green belt land could be considered for development, according to a Sheffield City Council spokesperson, who said a consultation would be launched on the plans.

The proposals are part of the city's Local Plan - a document outlining where new homes and businesses should be built.

Government planning inspectors concluded the council would need to build 3,529 more new homes than its initial target - bringing the total to 38,012 homes to be constructed by 2039.

They also asked the authority to find an additional 53 hectares of land for employment uses.

The council said it had explored all opportunities to develop brownfield sites first, but these options had already been exhausted.

Inspectors said there may therefore be exceptional circumstances that would justify the use of green belt land, the council said.

The plans are due to be voted on at a council meeting on 14 May, with a public consultation expected to take place in the summer and a further examination of the proposals by government inspectors later in the year.

Sadie Charlton lives in Handsworth - one of the areas where green belt sites have been proposed for development.

She said the community had been "blindsided" by the plans, which she branded "insulting".

"In S13, we're one of the most deprived areas within Sheffield, we have least access to our beautiful spaces in the Peak District, we're on the other side," she said.

Attempts to contact councillors about the plans had been met with "the same copy and paste reply," Ms Charlton added.

"Nobody's speaking to us, nobody's listening to us. They're waiting for this vote to go through so it's out of their hands - it's cowardly."

Chapeltown is another area in which areas of green belt land have been shortlisted for development.

Deborah and Richard Nutbrown said they worried that the green belt "buffer zone" between their home and the M1 could disappear as a result of the proposals.

Mr Nutbrown said there had been "very little information about what's going to happen".

"It's extremely frustrating, it feels as if it's totally been forced upon us," Mrs Nutbrown said.

"Once the green belt's gone, the green belt's gone - the more that's taken, the more grey Sheffield will become."

She said she understood the demand for housing but feared the plans would create more traffic and harm wildlife.

Matthew Pegler, who also lives in Chapeltown, said he felt the situation had been "handled behind closed doors, without the knowledge of the people that it will affect most".

He launched a petition against the plans, which had been signed by more than 1,500 people.

The green belt represented a "boundary line" between Sheffield and Barnsley, and its erasure would "merge" the two urban areas, Mr Pegler said.

His partner, Matt Sieczkarek, said he was not convinced the option of redeveloping brownfield sites had been fully explored and he wanted the council to provide evidence.

Tom Hunt, leader of Sheffield City Council, said the Local Plan was a "crucially important" document that would help to shape the city.

"The overwhelming majority of homes will be built on brownfield land, which means land that has previously been developed," he said.

"The Local Plan will help to deliver more affordable housing, support regeneration and investment and enable the delivery of infrastructure to support communities."

The plan had been "shaped by the cross-party Labour, Lib Dem and Green council administration," he said.

A six-week public consultation was planned for the latest changes and would be launched in late May, he added.

Planning inspectors would the use the feedback to set the agenda for hearings on the proposals.

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