Controversial service station ruling delayed again

Sheffield Council was due to publish a report into £46m Extra service station for the M1 at Smithy Wood, near Chapeltown, on Tuesday, with a view to councillors making a decision on the application at a planning meeting on March 28.

However, campaigners opposing the plans, who gathered at a peaceful protest outside the Town Hall on Saturday were told that a decision had been delayed.

Liz Ballard, chief executive of the Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust, told the crowd that a new date for the decision to be made had not yet been set.

More than 100 people gathered for the protest, which also heard from Oliver Newham, senior campaigner at the Woodland Trust, Jean Howe, of Cowley Residents Action Group and Angela Smith, MP for Penistone and Barnsley.

The controversial application was originally submitted in March 2014 and has attracted thousands of objections.