One of Yorkshire's oldest cricket grounds pitched against residents in Sheffield planning row

Hallam Sports Club wants to erect 50ft high netting because new technology means balls are being hit further than ever.

Hallam Cricket Club was founded in 1804 and is the oldest cricket ground in Sheffield and one of the oldest in Yorkshire.

It has played at the Sandygate ground since its foundation. The site is also home to Hallam Football Club - the second oldest football club in the world.

The cricket club has 350 members, more than 250 of whom are children, and runs a full programme of summer and winter training and matches.

It currently has seven adult teams and 15 junior teams playing in local leagues, as well as organising a range of noncompetitive cricket and community activities.

The netting along Sandygate Road would be 95 yards long and 103 yards long at the rear of housing on Ivy Park Road.

In a report, planning officers say: "In 2017 the first XI was promoted to the southern section of the Yorkshire League which is a Premier League, the highest level of club cricket in the county.

"Games in this league were played at the historic Sandygate ground for two seasons but balls were being hit out of the ground on an increasingly regular basis and the club has become concerned about the safety of playing this level of cricket at a ground with such short boundaries.

"Cricket has evolved over the last decade and as a result of both technical advances in bat manufacture and the influence of T20 cricket which is very much focused on big hitting, the ball is being hit harder and further than ever before, particularly at Premier League level."

The club took advice from the England and Wales Cricket Board and sports consultant Labosport who recommended the netting.

As an initial risk mitigation measure, the club moved first and second team games to its Crimicar Lane ground, which has significantly longer boundaries and netting, for the 2019 season.

Third and fourth team games were moved to Sandygate Road as these teams play community level cricket where the ball is generally not hit as hard or as far.

The club commissioned an updated report from Labosport which looked at predicted trajectories of balls and this was used to develop netting, which would allow adult cricket to be played more safely at Sandygate in future.

But it has prompted objections from 26 residents, Sheffield Hallam MP Olivia Blake and local councillor Anne Murphy.

Ms Blake says the netting would be unsightly and overbearing and would affect two Grade II listed buildings, The Lodge and The Towers, and Ranmoor Conservation Area.

Coun Murphy claims the height is equivalent to a four to five storey building and would "resemble a prison". She says planning officers refused a 50ft mobile phone mast as it would be unacceptable and says the "sensible approach" would be to move senior cricket to Crimicar Lane.

Local residents say the netting is "excessive and an overreaction" and neighbours on Ivy Park Road and Sandygate say they have never had issues with cricket balls.

Some residents have suggested levelling the wicket area, reorienting wickets, using equipment to de-power shots or relocating to Crimicar Lane, while keeping junior cricket at Sandygate. There are also calls for retractable poles and temporary netting.

Planning officers are advising councillors to approve the netting at a meeting next week.

They say: "Consideration has been given to the need for the netting and the benefits of continued adult cricket at this historic ground.

"The club has explored the possibility of having retractable or demountable netting, however a manufacturer states that it is not practical or viable due in part to the significant height of the netting.

"The club has agreed to introduce new tree planting and to remove the netting outside of the cricket season, though the posts would remain all year round.

"Without the netting, adult cricket will cease to occur at Sandygate Road due to the risk. The club has confirmed that there is not capacity at their Crimicar Lane site and therefore their third and fourth teams would not be able to play.

"The cricket club is historic and is a significant part of the Sheffield sporting community. Significant weight has to be given to this, as it would mean the loss of adult cricket from this historic ground.

"The benefits of installing the netting would outweigh the harm it would have on the street scene."

The full planning application can be viewed here and will be decided at a meeting on Tuesday, August 25.

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