Green belt campaign calls for alternative sites

Campaigners have urged developers to identify unused or derelict brownfield land where homes could be built, as part of their plans to oppose the use of green belt land for housing in Sheffield.

Residents have spent months arguing against Sheffield City Council's Local Plan, which would see 3,529 homes, cemeteries and schools built on 14 green belt sites.

They have created a new group, Sheffield Green Belt Alliance, and have asked people to let them know about brownfield sites that could be developed instead.

A council spokesperson said not having a Local Plan meant there was a risk of developments being built without any infrastructure and without affordable housing.

Planning inspectors previously said the Local Plan - a blueprint for where homes, schools, health centres and other infrastructure will be built - was "sound" and could proceed to the next stage.

The campaign group has now asked people to identify vacant, underused and previously developed land across the city that they hope to present to the council as alternative sites.

Group spokesperson Cheryl Hague said: "Sheffield needs homes and economic growth.

"This initiative is not about stopping development, it is about ensuring development happens in the right places.

"Once green belt is lost, it cannot be restored. Before irreversible decisions are made, every reasonable brownfield option must be visible and properly considered.

"We believe brownfield sites can have fresh life breathed into them while providing extra housing to meet the needs of a growing city."

She said she hoped the call for sites would "contribute to a fuller and more transparent understanding of land genuinely available for regeneration" before any decisions were finalised.

Campaigners said they believed suitable brownfield land may not have been fully identified or assessed.

They said they were also frustrated that the majority of the planned development would be in just two postcodes, S13 and S35, and argued that it should be spread out more across the city.

A council spokesperson said all available opportunities to develop brownfield sites had been explored ahead of the submission of the new plan.

Council leader Tom Hunt previously said: "This is emotive, and I understand the depth of feeling. None of us take this lightly.

"The sites must have affordable homes, and we will ensure there is good public transport, road improvements, schools and GP surgeries.

"The sites must also have good access to green spaces."

Sheffield Council is holding a further consultation on the Local Plan.

If planning inspectors agree the strategy can go ahead, it will be discussed at a full council meeting later in the year to be considered for adoption.

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