Campaigners call on Green Party to stand by their principles and save Sheffield greenbelt from destruction
A campaign group fighting to save Sheffield’s greenbelt from being destroyed is calling on The Green Party to stand by their core principles and vote against Sheffield City Council’s controversial housing plan which will see farmland and precious natural wildlife habitats bulldozed.
Residents across Sheffield who have formed the ‘Sheffield Greenbelt Alliance’ to fight plans to build 3,529 homes on 14 greenbelt sites believe the council’s May election could play a key role in getting the plan eventually thrown out.
Under the controversial plan the S13 postcode is earmarked for 1,638 houses on two sites, 49 acres for business, a secondary school and graveyard.
In S35, Grenoside could see 945 homes across three sites, a secondary school, special needs school and graveyard.
Chapeltown and Ecclesfield, also in S35, would bear the brunt of development for employment land, with three proposed sites - as well as 549 homes
In contrast, the “wealthy west” of the city will be virtually untouched, with Dore set to get 82 homes and Lodge Moor 258.
Full council is expected to vote on the finalised local plan - a blueprint for future housing development - later this year.
At the previous vote proposing the Sheffield Local Plan, 45 councillors were in favour of the plan which were in the main Labour - who proposed the plan - and all of The Green Party’s 14 councillors.
The Sheffield Greenbelt Alliance has accused The Green Party of not standing by their own party at national level who in their electron manifesto declared ‘building homes must protect green spaces’ adding ‘we all need nature in our backyard.’
Cheryl Hague, an Alliance spokesperson in Handsworth, said: “The local plan proposes most of the housing is set to be built in already disadvantaged areas - which already have a large proportion of low cost housing - with little building planned for the affluent neighbourhoods of the city.
“In the S13 postcode area alone the council plans to take away 90 per cent of its greenbelt with almost half the entire city’s greenbelt housing planned to be built in this already disadvantaged area. Residents have said the sites are a haven for wildlife and nature are well used by locals to help their physical health and mental well-being and they would otherwise be forced to drive elsewhere to access green areas.
“We understand new housing is needed but are seeking a fairer allocation across the city. We call on the council and the Green Party to look at alternative sites and are supportive of breathing new life into currently under-used locations which have been put forward. We would also urge the Greens to encourage the council to issue a call for sites - which landowners may wish to give up for development which would help meet housing needs without the need to destroy the greenbelt.”
When asked for a statement The Sheffield Green Party directed their response to the criticism to their website in which they state: “The local plan will mean developments are planned better for infrastructure such as roads, public transport, and schools. Also within the local plan are higher building standards, minimum room sizes, interventions for wildlife, and targets for social and affordable housing, all of which cannot be enforced under the current planning policy.”
But the Alliance has heavily criticised the plan and pointed out that roads in the proposed areas are already heavily congested, schools and health services are already over-subscribed especially in the S13 area due to the nearby Waverley development which has created almost 2,000 homes. They said no plans to address these issues or new road infrastructures have been put forward as part of the local plan.
The spokesperson said: “It is incomprehensible how Sheffield City Council can look to build on green belt without having done the proper and full assessment of the surrounding road networks for instance - otherwise surely it will undermine the deliverability of the sites if the traffic is found to be so significant that the sites are no longer viable.
“Also it means treasured wildlife and historic trees look set to be decimated - yet only last month the Sheffield Green Party were celebrating the Sheffield Street Trees victory. Do they not realise that under this building scheme we are set to lose more than trees, but ancient hedgerows and lots of endangered wildlife species - and we will obviously see an increase in pollution.
“This local plan seems like a rushed attempt to make up the housing target number and does not consider the much bigger picture - and the residents' views have just been steamrolled over.”
Hollywood actor Sean Bean has backed campaigners in criticising the council following their recent very public apology to campaigners over the highly publicised Street Trees scandal.
As part of that admission of wrong-doing over the much-publicised tree felling programme between 2013 and 2018, in which 5,000 trees were axed, the council promised in future to listen to the communities they serve at the unveiling of a commemorative plaque now adorning a wall at the Town Hall.
Sean Bean, who was brought up in the S13 area and said the greenbelt area helped influence his career, agreed and said: "This should have been a moment of reflection. Instead it feels like history repeating itself and we have to remember when areas of the greenbelt have gone - you cannot replant them - they are gone forever.”
Sheffield residents now have until Tuesday May 2 to submit their response to government inspectors who, after holding a series of public hearing sessions last year, have issued a set of proposed amendments -known as Main Modifications.