Friends of the Loxley Valley are urging Sheffield City Council to reject plans for a township of up to 300 homes on the old brickworks site in the valley bottom.
Developers Patrick Properties, based in Cheshire, have proposed a huge housing estate on the old Marshalls and Wraggs refractory works.
Hepworth plc took over these local businesses and stopped production in the 1990s. They then sold the site on. Most of the old factory buildings have since been unused.
We have voiced our concerns about the plans in a strongly worded objection to the council’s planning department.
We warn that such a large housing development would have a devastating impact on the Loxley valley.
It would cause serious harm to Sheffield’s cherished Green Belt countryside.
And we also believe it would breach numerous local and national planning policies.
Our concerns about the planning process
We have also voiced concerns about the way the planning application has been submitted and overseen by the planning department.
We say the planning application was ‘validated’ and made public prematurely.
And key documents were posted late, in some cases long after many people had already commented on the plans.
The Loxley Valley Design Group have objected too
Our sister organisation, the Loxley Valley Design Group, have also condemned the plans.
They say a large township would overwhelm local communities, and that it is very much what they warned against in the Loxley Valley Design Statement.
And they say the plans have been drawn up with little consultation with the local community.
They argue that local people should have a real say in finding a consensual way of cleaning up the old factories.
There are now hundreds of other objections
So far nearly 800 local people, organisations and representatives have objected to the township.
They include:
- our local Labour MPs Olivia Blake and Gill Furniss
- our Labour and Liberal Democrat Sheffield city councillors in the Stannington and Hillsborough wards
- The local Green Party
- Bradfield Parish Council
- The Peak District National Park Authority
- The Rivelin Valley Conservation Group
- The South Yorkshire Bat Group
- Sheffield Friends of the Earth
- The Sheffield Climate Change Alliance
- The ‘Sheffield Environmental’ organisation
There’s still time to have YOUR say too if you love the Loxley valley
Our city councillors on the planning committee will eventually have to decide whether to approve the application.
They will take our concerns into account. It is vital that they appreciate the weight of local opinion.
Every single voice matters! If you have not yet made your views known, we would urge you to do so while there is still time.
The formal ‘consultation period’ has been extended, after we pointed out irregularities in the original process.
The official deadline for objections is now Thursday July 30th.
If you are not sure how to submit your views, please see the guidance in our earlier news posts.
Our precious Loxley valley will never be the same if this planning application goes through. Please do make sure that you have YOUR say!
As said before pls dont build on loxley valley the wildlife will die we need our green belt I suffer with bi polar but dont when I walk around there. I will top myself if it goes,
We at Leaton Close, Loxley, object to the proposed township being planned in our green belt Loxley Valley. For the same reasons local environmental groups and individuals support
Houses should not be built here as it will destroy the beauty of the valley,and also the traffic going up and down loxley rd and Holme lane will be terrible
I totally object to this housing development . Spent many years walking the Loxley Valley . The country side is for all to enjoy . Wildlife would be sacrificed . There would be so much pollution with the extra traffic aswell as congestion as the roads in that are are too crowded already. It is madness
I grew up in what is now known as Loxley woods and I couldn’t wish for a better place to grow up , to ruin these beautiful woods by building in them is nothing but a disgrace , the wildlife and plant life that will be destroyed during construction of those houses can never again be the same again , to deprive future generations of the woods is nothing more than disgraceful . To think future generations will not have what I was lucky enough to experience living there is just not right and anyone thinking differently needs a reality check , once gone it can never be replaced , so please , do not let this happen
Please don’t build
Sheffield is ver special with its open space and beautiful countryside. Great for families and everyone s mental health. I oppose the building of houses in the Loxley valley.