Background 

Sheffield City Council (SCC)  submitted their draft local plan to the Government in October 2023. Following its review, Government Planning Inspectors asked the council to increase the number of houses by 3,529. To accommodate these extra houses, the council proposed building on areas of Sheffield’s green belt, including land between White Lane and Carter Hall Lane (next to Charnock Hall Primary Academy-referred to as site SS19 in the local plan).

A number of S12 residents opposed this proposal in response to a public consultation last summer. The S12 Green Belt Action Group was formed and represented the community’s concerns at a public hearing in the autumn (view here). Despite the level of opposition, and evidence of the issues developing the site will cause, Inspectors confirmed that the plan could be approved if modifications were made. These modifications are minor, albeit being called Main Modifications, and do not include removing SS19 from the plan. 

The council is currently seeking the public’s views on these modifications as part of a consultation running until 5pm on Tuesday 5th May. This is the final opportunity for residents to comment on the plan before Councillors vote whether or not to adopt it this summer. 

To support residents to make their voices heard, we have produced a template objection that covers the most relevant and primary Main Modifications that affect SS19, and the development of Sheffield’s greenbelt sites more broadly. The template can be pasted into an email and sent as it is, or , should you wish to add additional feedback on other modifications, can be amended to include these. You can find the full list of modifications by visiting the council site here.

Please note that the main modifications are referred to as ‘MM’ followed by a number throughout the Council’s documents (for example, MM10 is Main Modification 10). We have used the same references in the template to make it clear to the Inspectors which modification we are referring to.  

What can I do?

1a) Send your comments to the council and planning inspectors 

SCC are carrying out a consultation until 5pm on 5th May 2026 to seek resident’s views on the modifications. Comments will be passed to the Inspectors and the council for their consideration. 

Following consultation, if the Inspectors confirm that the plan can go ahead, councillors will vote on its adoption this summer. 

This is our last chance to tell SCC and the inspectors that we are against building on S12 green belt, and why.

We know residents found the council’s ‘Have your say’ portal difficult to use in previous consultations. To make it easier to express your views, the action group has developed text below for you to copy and paste into an email or print and post to the council, email and postal details below.

1b) How do I send in my comments?

EMAIL:  sheffieldplan@sheffield.gov.uk.  

POST: This can also be printed as a hard copy on behalf of residents who don’t have internet access for them to sign and post to: 

       Strategic Planning Team

Planning Service

5th Floor, Howden House

Sheffield

S1 2SH

If you don’t have a printer, please contact the action group here (s12greenbelt@gmail.com) and we will provide a hard copy.

2) Sign the Sheffield-wide petition.

The S12 Green Belt Action Group is proud to be a member of the Sheffield Green Belt Alliance. Please sign our city wide petition against building on Sheffield’s green belt here: Petition · Protect Sheffield from all inappropriate and green belt development - Sheffield, United Kingdom · Change.org to support us to reach 10,000 signatures This will be presented to the council before the local plan vote takes place to show the level of opposition across the city.

Please note that by submitting an objection your comments and name will be published online but other personal information will remain confidential. More information about the Plan is available at www.sheffield.gov.uk/SheffieldLocalPlan

Template to send to Sheffield City Council can be found below an email version and word version.  For email please copy and paste into a blank email. For postal you can just open, print, add your name address in the top right and sign at the bottom and post.  . 

EMAIL VERSION

POSTAL VERSION BELOW