It is with that in mind that I write to you today, I have for obvious reasons been following letters both for and against the Network Rail Planning application, many of which have been printed over the intervening months, since my 'open letter' to all who care about the Green Belt was published last August, I feel that I must once again speak on the subject.

Campaigning is not something I had ever been drawn in to; OK like every one of us I have signed the odd petition and support my own choice of charities, but hands on, I never got involved. Boy, I now understand why!

When I attended a local exhibition to see what Network Rail had planned for 'Our Little Valley', in April of last year I did not anticipate I would be spear heading a campaign, which would run for such a long time, and in doing so I would have to forsake family and friends, evening outs and holidays, in order to 'Stop Them In Their Tracks'.

The latest letter published in Star from the resident in Nether Edge, who seems to sorely miss the 'Heavy Industry', but who does not in writing,, give a reason for leaving the comforting sounds of 'men at work' and moving to such a 'leafy suburb' of Sheffield, was it perhaps bronchitis or emphysema or one of the many C.P.O.D diseases which our elderly miners and steelworkers are now suffering from?

Or did he just want his children and grandchildren to grow up in a pleasant area, away from all the traffic and complications which such industrialisation has brought with it? Just what we are campaign for; we do not want to see our children and grandchildren blighted by childhood asthma and the stress of living with unacceptable noise levels.

I feel angry that this gentleman continues to insist that Network Rail will sell the site to a developer. Has he actually read anything which your paper has printed, or taken the time to look at the application?

This site has been on the market for over nine years, it is un-saleable, due to its GREEN BELT status, as defined in the Sheffield Development Framework Documentation, and again redefined in the Sheffield UDP.

This or any other proposal would contravene the government's Green Belt objectives outlined in Planning Policy Guidance 2 and their objectives for rural areas outlined in Planning Policy Statement 7.

It also contravenes Rotherham's own planning policies, as they designated the area as Green Belt, in conjunction with Rother Valley Country Park.

Others also point to the construction of the A57 bypass road, and the fact that it will obscure the view of the planned building, I cannot comment on the actual building of the road and objections to it, as I was not resident in the village in the late eighties, but I can state that in order to save the Beighton Marsh, when his land was bought by Sheffield City Council under compulsory purchase, for the road and flyover, Mr Spurr generously gave over more.

Dr Ian Rotherham, the renowned Sheffield Ecologist was then able to move the marsh to the area it is in today. This was seen as a triumph, engineers and ecologists working together.

The building is to be built on the railway sidings which are twenty feet higher than the marsh, and the houses at lower end of Beighton, it will tower over eighty feet above us, and as the road is on stilts, not a solid bank, it cannot possibly obscure such a huge expanse?

The building will be seen from all around the valley, if we can see the M1 motorway, the new retirement building in Woodhouse, Treeton Church and the whole of the Swallownest side of the valley, it seems right then to assume, they too will be able to see it.

I have been fortunate along the way to have been joined by many like minded people, we have a core nucleus of very willing committee members who have spent days and nights researching the planning application, we have the full backing of the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England, who see the area as a very significant piece of Sheffield's Green Belt and Green Corridor.

This valley may not be 'The Mayfield Valley' at Fulwood or have the great expansive views of the 'Peak District' but it is 'Our Little Valley' and as such we will continue to fight the developers for as long as it takes. We have not gone out collecting names at shopping centres for our cause, each and every objection which appears against the application, is from someone who cares deeply about the issues, and they 'object most strongly to the infringement of the Green Belt'

We will not be 'Fobbed Off' by talk of 'Green Roofs' as even if one was integrated into this development, what use would it be to the local residents? We have been told that if incorporated into the building, a 'Green Roof' would become a 'Nature Reserve' in its own right. Does this mean they are going to add slipways and runs for the foxes and rabbits? Will the birds be happy to nest amongst the thirty three whirling ventilation fans? Will we be given 'open access and the right to roam' around the seven 'Venting Flues (chimneys to you and me)?

The 'few' so called pro Network Rail writers, who seem so keen for this development to be posited in our valley, how would they feel if this was to be built in Millhouses Park? Ex industrial area (or will they have forgotten about Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet) roughly the same size, good road links, next to a railway, council owned land which could be sold off to raise money for the good of the City as a whole? I'm sure they would soon be joining together to form a campaign group such as ours.

Campaigning is not for the faint hearted, it can be a very long and lonely road and one can make enemies' as well as friends along the way, but I would not change anything I have said or done whist I have been on this journey.

We now see our local MP Clive Betts coming forward and proclaiming "I cannot support the scheme as it stands" Which leaves the door open for him to support it, should Network Rail come up with the "rapid change of approach" which he is requesting them too. Why has it taken so long? For me this has never been a political fight, all I have ever asked for is the support of the elected councillors and our M.P. Which one would hope is what they are elected to do, serve their constituents, not pander to the wishes of multimillion pound companies, who think they can ride rough shod over residents.

We can no longer be called 'a minority' look at the numbers who have supported the campaign, by attending rallies and meetings, the hundreds of written objections and thousands of signatures on our petition, both of which are still on the increase, we have got this far using 'people power' the voice of which your newspaper has allowed to be heard. In doing so we are now seeing the fruits of our labour, the planning department are putting pressure on the developers to come up with the answers to many questions, which they have been trying hard to ignore. We will not go away, even if they continue to drag their heels. This valley cannot be the only suitable available spot in the whole of the British Isles were such a huge development as 'The National Engineering Centre' could be built, there must be a more appropriate industrial location amongst the vast tracks of land still owed by the company?

'Our Little Green Belt Valley' is worth just as much as any other area of Green Belt in this City and the council MUST uphold it's own policies 'To Respect and Protect it'. It is to that end, which we will continue, pursuing every avenue and leaving no stone unturned in our effort to; STOP THEM IN THEIR TRACKS.

Sylvia Sellars; Founder and Co-ordinator of; Stop Them In Their Tracks.

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