Sheffield Council unanimously approves 14 new houses on site ‘screaming out’ for development

Sheffield Council’s planning and highways committee overwhelmingly gave a green light to Quinta Developments Limited’s proposals during its first meeting of the new council year.

The developer will now be able to build the four-bedroom detached houses in the garden of Ingfield House, 11 Bocking Hill, in Stocksbridge near the sports ground.

Ahead of the vote, councillor Peter Price, member of the committee, said: “It’s a pretty good site, it’s been screaming out for development for a while and while I would have preferred nine (houses as in the original plans) I don’t think 14 is going to make a great difference. The gardens are quite reasonably sized.

“I can’t think of a single planning ground for refusing this. Compared to many other estates this is well planned and looks quite attractive. I think it will be very popular.”

Ahead of the meeting, planning officers recommended approval saying there is a tilted balance in favour of housing developments because Sheffield currently falls short of the government’s supply targets.

In a report they added: “The scheme would have an acceptable visual impact on the locality, an acceptable impact on heritage assets, and on the amenities of surrounding occupiers and highway safety.

“The disbenefits of the scheme relate to the slightly compromised amenity of some units within the development owing to the depth of gardens, heights of boundary structures and perception of privacy.

“To some extent level changes within the site contribute to these as does the amount of development proposed. However, living conditions are considered to be acceptable.”

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What neighbours thought

There were two rounds of consultation and 21 letters of objection, including from Stocksbridge Town Council, were received during the first.

Concerns raised included a lack of affordable housing, overdevelopment, increased traffic, harm to the historic barn, access and parking problems.