Sheffield travellers: Government inspector considers controversial Crystal Peaks site at Local Plan hearing
Plans for a travellers’ site were discussed this week at a hearing into development in Sheffield over the next 14 years.
Government inspector Katie Child heard the city council is promoting a site off Eckington Way but it faces opposition from thousands of campaigners, ward councillors and Mr Betts, MP for Sheffield South East.
But no decision about the plot near Crystal Peaks has been made, a spokesperson for MP Clive Betts said.
Ms Child chaired a meeting this week into the Local Plan, a blueprint for development in Sheffield up to 2039, in which the proposed traveller site was discussed. As well as setting out housing targets and development plots, the Local Plan must show sufficient sites for travelling showpeople, travellers and gypsies, to be approved.
She asked the city council why a potential travellers’ site at Hesley Wood in Chapeltown had not been considered.
Council officer Eleanor Roden said it was in the green belt and wasn’t assessed because Eckington Way, which is not in green belt, had already been identified.
A spokesperson for Clive Betts told The Star both sites were still being considered and no decision had yet been made.
Government inspectors are expected to announce their decisions by the end of this year.
A final consultation is set to take place in January and the Local Plan is set to be ratified at a full council meeting in the summer of 2026.
Last year, Mr Betts said the Eckington Way site was “totally inappropriate” due to congestion and air pollution in the area.
He also said he had spoken to a leader of travelling showpeople who would advise his members against using the site because of its location.