Explanation is needed

At the heart of the report is a document published in July 2021 which assesses our future housing requirement.

This assessment goes back to data published in 2014, and, due to arbitrary government decisions, ignores later data and compounds the problem by increasing Sheffield’s housing requirement by a further 35 per cent.

This data assumes that Sheffield’s population in 2021 is 596,500 and that it will grow to 660,000 by 2038. This then requires at least 2,000 houses to be built each year, with potential implications for green belt.

Now that data has been published from the 2021 Census it appears that Sheffield’s population in 2021 is 556,500, and that it has grown by only 3,800 over the previous 10 years.

If the Census figure is correct then the whole basis of the Sheffield Plan has to be seriously questioned. How could we have a Plan that is so divorced from reality?

On the other hand maybe the Census figure is inaccurate, perhaps underestimating the number of students in the city, for example?

Either way it is not credible to continue consulting on a Sheffield Plan without an understanding of why there is such a large difference.

Councillors need to demand an explanation from Planners (and the government) before proceeding any further.

D Smith

Sheffield, S10