Sheffield housing: ‘Make it a pocket park’ – Opposition to four-storey apartment block near Botanical Gardens

One objector to the plans thinks the land in a conservation area off Southbourne Road should be turned into a pocket park instead.

Sheffield City Council’s planning and highways committee will decide on the proposal at its meeting on Tuesday, July 12. The recommendation from officials is to allow the scheme to go ahead with some conditions.

Urbana Town Planning has applied for permission to erect a four-storey building with three apartments, topped by a ‘green roof’ with living plants.

The apartments, including a two-storey duplex, would lie within the Broomhill Conservation Area. Both Historic England and the Conservation Advisory Group say the building is out of character with the area.

Councillor Angela Argenzio said: “I have been contacted by quite a lot of local residents as they are opposed. That area is a conservation area and lots of houses have historic character.

“Plans for this particular property really don’t fit in with the surrounding area.

“It’s very important that, whilst we support private landlords and developers, we have to always be sympathetic to the properties and where they are.

“In terms of the landscape of the area, it feels like it’s completely out of character.”

She said this plan was much larger than a previous application for the land, adding: “There are a lot of local residents that are really unhappy with the impact that it’s going to have.”

Coun Argenzio added: “It feels like it’s not going to be the right kind of modern building. It doesn’t feel like it fits in.”

She wants to see more of the plot used for gardens.

Other objectors say the plan will adversely impact on the setting of the Botanical Gardens and its listed buildings.

They have criticised a “poor choice of external materials” and the balconies and say there is insufficient lateral separation to neighbouring properties, says the report to councillors.

There are also worries over parking.

The report concludes: “The proposal would replace a rather unsightly area of hardstanding with a bespoke building of an appropriate scale and design.

“The introduction of the building should not adversely impact on the street scene, the character of the wider locality or the nearby listed buildings/gardens.”

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