Sheffield green belt: Campaigners threaten tactical voting and legal action in battle over homes
Campaigners will use the ballot box and the law to stop green belt housing plans in Sheffield, they say.
Protesters staged a demonstration at Sheffield Town Hall ahead of a full council meeting on Wednesday, February 4.
They set out the next steps in their fight to stop approval for 3,500 homes on 14 green belt sites, mostly in the north and east of the city.
Lynda Jackson, of the S35 Chapeltown, High Green, Ecclesfield and Grenoside group, said they would send more objections and lobby councillors in an effort to have the Local Plan scrapped.
“We want the council to start again and if that doesn’t work, and they vote it through, the groups will all merge and fundraise together and take it to judicial review. We have already hired a barrister to steer us in the right direction,” she said.
Jonathan Hobson of Gleadless Townend, a member of the Save S12 Green Belt group, said a lot of councillors were unhappy with the plan despite voting for it.
He hoped they would change their minds and warned he would not vote for anyone who supported the Local Plan in the local elections in May.
The government wants 38,000 new homes and 654 acres for business in Sheffield by 2039, in a blueprint for development called the Local Plan.
The council insists it has considered all the available brownfield sites and needs green belt.
Last week, government inspectors said the plan was ‘sound’, apart from minor amendments, and it can move forward to the next stage.
Public consultation is expected to start in early March and last for six weeks, the city council says.
Responses will be sent to the inspectors for review before a final report is delivered to the council.
A city council spokesperson said: “The Local Plan will now go to a further round of consultation, looking to begin in March, where residents will be invited to submit their views on the plan as a whole.
“The independent inspectors will then assess those responses before providing the council with their final report.
“The public will also be able to have their say should the plan be adopted, when planning applications for development of each piece of land begin as per the standard planning process.”