14 green belt sites earmarked for thousands of homes and businesses - including Handsworth, Dore and Grenoside

The authority says it needs estates of up to 868 houses in areas including Grenoside, Oughtibridge, Gleadless Townend and Handsworth.

Leafy and upmarket areas have not been spared, with 258 houses earmarked for a site in Lodge Moor, 103 in Wharncliffe Side and 82 in Dore.

A further four plots are proposed for ‘housing and employment’ use, all in the north of the city.

The current total area of Sheffield’s green belt is 22,390 acres.

The proposed developments would use 809 acres, or 3.6 per cent of the total area, the council says.

The plans - the biggest green belt development proposal in years - were drawn up after the government asked the authority to identify land 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 it had to choose green belt because brownfield sites have been ‘maximised’.

Government inspectors recognised the importance of the green belt but said meeting housing and employment needs was also an “important objective,” a Sheffield City Council spokesperson said.

They added: “Since then, the council has been looking into additional areas of the city that could be used to meet the increased need.“The council has always explored site options with a ‘brownfield first’ policy; however, all of those options have been maximised already. As a result, sites within the green belt have been looked into.”

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Elected members 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.

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