Sheffield City Council leader insists she will answer questions from green belt housing campaigners
“Inspectors continue to engage thoroughly with the public’s views on the plan, and I urge campaigners to continue to input to the process”
The leader of Sheffield City Council has insisted she will respond to questions about green belt housing plans which campaigners claim they asked “470 days ago”.
But Councillor Fran Belbin warned that the Local Plan was a “statutory process” which limited the options the authority could consider.
And it was “very intensive” requiring extra work for a small planning team on top of their everyday work.
She issued a statement after the Greenbelt Alliance published an open letter urging her to address issues raised over the biggest ever loss of Sheffield’s green belt.
It followed a meeting with campaigners and a tour of green belt sites earmarked for 3,529 homes - the majority in the east and north of the city in S35, S13 and S12.
There are plans for more than 3,500 new homes, as well as schools, cemeteries and industrial units, which threaten about 800 acres of Sheffield’s green belt.
This is outlined in the council's controversial Local Plan - a blueprint for development in Sheffield up to 2039.
The Local Plan includes a government target of 38,012 new homes in the city by 2039.
Sheffield City Council has earmarked 14 green belt sites.
Coun Belbin wrote: “I’m grateful to members of the Greenbelt Alliance who took part in the visit that myself and Coun Argenzio undertook to green belt sites in the Sheffield Plan, and for their continuing engagement with the local plan process via the Planning Inspectorate consultations and with councillors.
“As we explained to campaigners on the visit, we will be responding to the questions raised.
“It’s important to recognise that the Local Plan is a statutory process which limits the options that planning officers and councillors can consider.
“It is also very intensive, requiring large amounts of additional work for a small planning team alongside their everyday work.
“The forthcoming Planning Inspectorate consultation is a reflection that inspectors continue to engage thoroughly with the public’s views on the plan, and I urge campaigners to continue to input to the process via the consultation.”
After Coun Belbin met campaigners, Sheffield Green Belt Alliance wrote: “We thank you for coming. Since the 14 sites were announced in April 2025 it is the first time a leader of this council has stood on the land with us.
“The Star reports that you left with a long list of questions for the planning team. We hope you get answers from them - we have been putting our questions and concerns to the team for over 470 days.”