Sean Bean donates £5,000 to ‘Save S13 Greenbelt’ campaign fighting fund
Hollywood film star Sean Bean has donated £5,000 of his own money to help in the fight to ‘Save S13 Greenbelt,’ writes CHERYL HAGUE.
The Handsworth-born actor says he wants to help save the greenbelt and has has donated his own cash to help the group fighting to prevent new homes being built on fields around the Sheffield suburb.
The acclaimed actor - now starring in the new Robin Hood TV series - was born in Handsworth where Sheffield City Council is proposing to build 1,638 new homes on two areas of greenbelt land which locals say are well used and a haven for diverse plants and wildlife.
The controversial scheme has already come in for much criticism as the S13 postcode would lose 90 per cent of its green space while more affluent parts of the city - with access to the Peak District - remain unscathed.
Sean, who met with campaigners previously, praised the community’s efforts in uniting together and fighting the plans with “passion and professionalism” and how they had rallied to raise in excess of £10,000 to help with legal costs going forward.
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The star, whose Game of Thrones character featured on the group’s poster calling for action, said he was keen to support the campaign and is now donating the money to help with legal costs needed going forward as the community rallies to fight the plans.
He said: “We have got 4,000 signatures on a petition so it is incredible how the residents have brought themselves together and how they have managed to get all this armour around them in such a short space of time and shows they mean business - we mean business - we are not letting it go like that. We are not going to stop and we will see this through.”
He also told of his love of the area and its positive influence on him growing up and said how the S13 greenbelt plays an important part in the health and mental well-being of residents of all ages in the area.
He said: “It is the only bit of greenery around that area so it was a magnet for kids growing up and seeing wildlife - it has for many years served the community of Handsworth and surrounding areas. It would be devastating if we lost it.”
He cited how Central Park in New York and common grounds in London like Wimbledon Common are recognised as being vital for mental and physical health of residents and questioned why Sheffield would take these areas away from the working class community.
Residents in S13 formed the ‘Save S13 Greenbelt - The Sapphire McCarthy Campaign’ in April after hearing about the plans through a press report and were angered that there had been no consultation from the council at that time.
The campaign group says members are thrilled with Sean’s passionate support and also that of Clive Betts, MP for Sheffield South East, who is closely working with the residents against the plans.
Cheryl Hague, one of the campaigners who met with the acclaimed actor, said: “We are so grateful to Sean taking time out of his busy schedule to come and speak to us and raise awareness of the unfairness of this local plan on the working class community.
“He said we are no pushovers in Handsworth and he is right. We have had thousands of people sign the petition supporting the scheme, have raised in excess of £10,000 to play for legal costs in defending our land and this £5,000 donation from Sean is fantastic and as well as boosting the coffers it has really increased morale in the long fight to Save the S13 Greenbelt.”
Campaigners have said additional housing would overwhelm local infrastructure that is already failing to meet demand, worsen long-standing traffic congestion on local roads and increase pollution and harm public health. They would also place even more pressure on health services such as doctors and dentists where people already struggle to get an appointment and also schools - all already stretched to breaking point due to the major development by Rotherham Borough Council of the Waverley community less than a mile away.
Sheffield City Council voted through these greenbelt schemes as well as 12 others in May to form its ‘local plan’ - a blueprint for future housing development. The Government’s Planning Inspectors held a series of hearings to decide whether the proposals are fair and robust and their decision is expected next year.
In the meantime campaigners are urging residents to take part in further public consultation organised by Sheffield City Council this month.
The council has confirmed an extra round of consultation on their local plan because they submitted many key documents too late to be considered during the main consultation in July.
More than 100 documents were published past the deadline by the authority with a number of lengthy and technical documents being submitted during the planning inspector hearings - giving residents little time to read and understand them.
Campaigners are now urging people to send in further objections to the scheme and these objections must link to the documents which were submitted late.
They will be putting suggested letters of objection templates on their Save S13 Greenbelt website and will also be leaving them at local businesses - including Handsworth Post Office - for people to sign and the group will deliver them to the council - as well as a number of charity fund-raising events the group are holding with funds raised going to finance any future legal battle.
Michael Parkin, from the S13 campaign group, said: “It is important to show that the community still strongly opposes removing Green Belt protection from these sites.
“We understand that people will not have time to go through all the documents so we will be offering template letters for people to print as well as leaving letters which can be signed at local businesses and events which we can then deliver to the council.”
Those wishing to submit an objection should email them to [email protected] or by post toStrategic Planning Team, Planning Services, 5th Floor, Howden House, Sheffield, S1 2SH. The deadline is 5pm on Thursday, December 11 -make sure you mention which document you are commenting on and include the document's "EXAM" reference number. You can get more guidance from our webpage here
Members of the campaign group will also be running a Glitterball event in the Old Rectory, near St Mary’s Church, Handsworth, on Friday, December 12 and will be having music and raffles for a family night of entertainment to raise funds for the legal battle to fight the plans.