Building new suburbia in the heart of the Loxley valley will create an isolated, car-dependent township, remote from local amenities and damaging to Sheffield’s precious Green Belt countryside.
That’s the message that Friends of the Loxley Valley and CPRE Peak District and South Yorkshire will spell out to a planning inquiry starting on Tuesday April 13th.
We’re making our case alongside Sheffield City Council. They are defending their refusal of outline planning permission for up to 300 homes on the old ‘Hepworth’ factories site.
Developers Patrick Properties have appealed against the refusal.
Planning Inspector Martin Whitehead will oversee the inquiry hearing. He must decide whether to allow the appeal.
The inquiry is expected to last for up to ten days. It will take place ‘virtually’, via Microsoft Teams online conferencing.
The inquiry proceedings will also be livestreamed each day. You can access this via the Planning Inspectorate YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQqDetL1R5aRgbNm8PDViNw
Thank you for supporting our ‘Save Loxley Valley’ fighting fund
Friends of the Loxley Valley and CPRE are taking part in the inquiry as a main party. This is thanks to hundreds of financial donations from the local community.
Our ‘GoFundMe’ online crowd funder has now reached over £14,000 thanks to your remarkable generosity.
The money raised means we’ve been able to pay planning and transport experts to prepare a detailed case.
We have also instructed specialist planning barrister Alistair Mills of Landmark Chambers. Alistair will help to present our case, and to cross examine Patrick Properties’ planning witnesses.
He will work alongside our ‘appeal manager’, CPRE staff member Andy Tickle. Andy will attend the inquiry throughout.
Thank you again for the amazing donations that have made all this possible! If you can still afford to donate, or to spread the word to other potential supporters, we would really appreciate it.
We are still a little way short of our £15,000 GoFundMe target. We would like to go a little bit higher than the target if we can. This will help us to cover all our costs.
All donations at this stage will be very gratefully received. Every last fiver will help! Thank you so much!
What is the Friends of the Loxley Valley case?
Friends of the Loxley Valley and CPRE will argue that the heart of the Loxley valley is the wrong place to build a huge new housing estate.
Planning consultant Andrew Wood has prepared our main ‘Proof of Evidence’. He will tell the inquiry that the proposed township would have much greater impact on Green Belt countryside than the old factory sheds.
Andrew will say the development would extend suburban Sheffield to the edge of the Peak District National Park.
He will say this would dominate the valley bottom, and introduce round-the-clock human activity to a peaceful stretch of riverside.
This would break both national and local planning policies by building new housing in an unsustainable location when better sites are available.
CPRE Peak District and South Yorkshire transport adviser Anne Robinson has produced a separate ‘Proof of Evidence’ dealing with transport and accessibility.
She will tell the inquiry that local services would be inaccessible to people living in the new township.
She will say that walking, cycling or using public transport to reach schools, shops and other local amenities would be fraught with difficulty.
For example, there would be no direct bus service to Stannington, and Spout Lane is too long, steep and unsafe for most people to walk or cycle up it.
Anne will say that most people would have no realistic alternative to using the private car for all their essential local journeys.
- Please click here to read or download Andrew Wood’s full Proof of Evidence
- Please click here to read or download Anne Robinson’s full Proof of Evidence
What will Sheffield City Council tell the inquiry?
Sheffield City Council will tell the Planning Inspector that they were correct to refuse planning permission.
Their experts will say the development would breach planning policies, damage the Green Belt, and could cause irreversible biodiversity harm to the “ecological gem” that is the Loxley valley.
You can read the council’s case, plus all the documentation from the appellants Patrick Properties, on the planning inquiry website here: https://avison-young.foleon.com/uk-loxley-inquiry/loxley-inquiry/home/
It is fairly clearly stated what you dont want. What is the wish or proposal other than leave 1000s of tonnes of concrete asbestos and industrial structure where it is please? If that is more than do nothing, how much will it cost and where do the funds come from. Best regards, watching. MB.
We understand your concerns Martyn, but we’re currently involved in the planning inquiry and have to restrict ourselves to helping the Planning Inspector to form a view on the merits of the scheme that Patrick Properties have put forward. The city council have told the inquiry that they would want a much smaller development on the site.
I remember the brickyards, but most of all I walked the length of the footpaths down the valley from Dungworth to Malin Bridge with my parents. Little by little the industry has gone, but just like the Rivelin valley it should be preserved for walking and recreation. Housing on a grand scale would be out of place. It is already happening in the upper Don valley, but there it fits.