Sheffield green belt: Shock at surprise plan for 1,200 homes on fields in Mosborough
Villagers have been left shocked by a bid to build 1,200 homes on a green belt site in Sheffield.
Barratt David Wilson Homes has submitted a proposal for a 210-acre housing estate between Plumbley Lane and High Lane in Mosborough.
The plot is not among the 14 green belt sites earmarked for homes by Sheffield City Council as part of the Local Plan.
Government inspectors are this week staging hearings in Sheffield over plans to build on green belt to meet targets in the Local Plan, a blueprint for development over the next 14 years.
Barratt David Wilson Homes says the Mosborough plot is ‘suitable, deliverable, and available’ and a ‘logical’ choice should any of the other sites be rejected. It also controls the ‘entire site’.
A report for the housebuilder states the firm has been ‘continually promoting the site through the various stages of the Local Plan, which provides a clear commitment to delivery from a national housebuilder with a proven track record of market and affordable housing delivery’.
Clive Betts, MP for Sheffield South East, said he had been alerted to the proposal this week and was “firm in my opposition to this site.”
Posting on the Mosborough Community Facebook group he said the area was “totally unfit for development,” had problems with land ownership and was rejected by the city council earlier this year.
The new submission was not a planning application but a bid by the firm to have it included in the Local Plan as housing land, he added.
And he was ready to work with residents on a campaign, he said.
Responding, a member of the group, said: “1,200 houses is immense and ridiculous in my opinion. I think it would double the size of Mosborough ‘village’ and it’s difficult enough to get a doctor’s appointment as it is. There won’t be many green fields left.”
Another said they walked the area every day, adding: “I would be mortified if this jewel of a valley becomes a cash cow for some property developer to rake in millions. We need houses but not on green belt land.”
A third said: “Enough is enough. The area is too congested . Buildings are going up on every little corner developers can squeeze in.
“The farms that once covered the area have been sold to developers. We all need green spaces for a healthy community.”
Another said: “A development of this size, together with proposals at Eckington, Killamarsh, in the Derbyshire plan would make the traffic horrendous on the roads to Sheffield.
“Derbyshire also has a proposal for a traveller site between Gashouse Lane and the main road from Eckington to Mosborough.”
Campaigners in Mosborough claim they have not been consulted over the proposal to remove a 15-acre meadow on Gashouse Lane, which is just over the border in Derbyshire, from green belt and use it for houses, business, or a gypsy and travellers’ site.
The Sheffield Local Plan includes targets set by government for 38,000 new homes and 654 acres of employment land, including 3,529 homes and employment land on 14 green belt sites.
Once this week’s hearings are over, inspectors will issue a preliminary report which may contain changes to make the Local Plan ‘sound’. Those changes 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, a spokesperson for the authority said.
Each development would need to go through the normal planning process - when people can object again.
The Star approached Barratt David Wilson Homes for comment.