Sheffield green belt: Housebuilder targets fields in Grenoside for 200 homes
A housebuilder has put forward plans for 200 green belt homes in a village already earmarked for almost 1,000 houses, two schools and a graveyard.
Barratt and David Wilson Homes is promoting fields off Fox Hill Road in Grenoside stating ‘approximately 200 new homes could be delivered in this desirable location’.
The 21-acre site is bounded by Skew Hill Lane north and Fox Hill Road and is within ‘walking distance of local amenities, bus routes and community facilities’, although the company acknowledges the local primary and secondary schools have ‘no surplus capacity’.
BDWH - the UK’s biggest house builder - is promoting the site to government inspectors who are deciding which parts of the green belt in Sheffield should be built on.
It is not among the 14 green belt sites Sheffield City Council has put forward to meet government targets as part of the Local Plan.
But it is one of three that Barratt David Wilson Homes is promoting as back-ups if any of the 14 are delayed or rejected.
It comes as Grenoside is bearing the brunt of proposed green belt developments. They include:
- 609 homes on land to the south of The Wheel
- 148 homes at Wheel Lane and Middleton Lane
- 188 homes near Holme Lane Farm on Halifax Road
- secondary school to the south of Wheel Lane
- special educational needs and disabilities school south of Wheel Lane
- 10-acre graveyard
A report for Barratt David Wilson warns the city council’s capacities assigned to the 14 green belt sites are ‘overly optimistic and not entirely reflective of prevailing constraints’ and ‘represent a major risk to delivery and the soundness of the Local Plan’.
It adds: “As a result, we consider further sites need to be brought forward to address the shortfall in housing and the land at Fox Hill Road, Grenoside presents a logical area for green belt release.”
The firm is also promoting green belt plots in Stannington and Mosborough as back-up housing sites.
The Sheffield Local Plan is based on government targets for 38,000 homes and 654 acres of employment land - including 3,529 homes and employment land on 14 green belt sites.
Government inspectors are set to issue a report on their site selections before Christmas. It will be subject to more public consultation - likely to be early next year.
They will then produce a final report which will go to Sheffield City Council for a decision, expected in summer next year.
Each development will need to go through the normal planning process - when people can object again.
A spokesperson for Barratt and David Wilson Homes Yorkshire West said: “Whilst we have no immediate plans for new homes to be built in Grenoside, Stannington and Mosborough, we have put forward the areas for potential development for consideration as part of the Sheffield Local Plan being reviewed by government inspectors and Sheffield City Council.”