Sheffield green belt: Three schools and two graveyards in council's shock plan for 3,500 homes in green belt

Two secondary schools, a SEND ( special educational needs and disabilities) school and two 10-acre graveyards are included in the city council’s building proposals.

The authority has put forward 14 green belt sites with space for 3,529 homes and 130 acres for business as part of the city’s Local Plan - a blueprint for development over the next 14 years.

The authority says they are needed to meet government quotas and it had to choose green belt land because brownfield sites have been ‘maximised’ already.

Handsworth and Grenoside are set to experience the biggest impact, with more than 2,500 homes planned.

A report to the council’s strategy and resources policy committee states Handsworth could see 868 homes between Bramley Lane and Beaver Hill Road to the south of the suburb and 770 homes and 49 acres of employment land off Finchwell Road to the east.

Discussions with the Education Service indicate a need for a new secondary school on 12 acres at Beaver Hill Road, the report adds.

In Grenoside, a secondary school and SEND school could be built on land to the south of Wheel Lane, Creswick Avenue and Yew Lane.

It comes as the village is earmarked for three green belt housing developments: 609 homes on land to the south of The Wheel and between Creswick Avenue and Yew Lane, 148 homes at Wheel Lane and Middleton Lane and 188 homes near Holme Lane Farm on Halifax Road.

The report also states: “Both the sites referred to above are also capable of accommodating a four hectare multi-faith burial ground. The requirements have been allowed for in the calculation of the potential number of new homes on those sites.”

Last week readers expressed alarm at the impact on traffic, infrastructure, services, loss of green space, wildlife and a bias towards building in the north of the city.

Councillors are due to take a ‘formal view’ on the 14 sites at a strategy and resources committee on Wednesday, April 30.

The proposal would then be finalised at a full council meeting on Wednesday, May 14.

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Public consultation on the short-list would take place this summer before examination by government inspectors later in the year.

It is anticipated that the Local Plan will be adopted in July 2026.