The Planning Inspector in the Loxley valley inquiry is now considering his decision after hearing all the evidence and visiting the site of the old Hepworth refractory works.
The Inspector, Martin Whitehead, ended the inquiry on Thursday, June 10th.
He then visited the site the following day to view the factory buildings in the light of the evidence presented.
The parties to the inquiry presented their closing submissions on the final day of the appeal hearing.
Mr Whitehead will now assess all the evidence. He must decide whether to uphold the appeal by the developers Patrick Properties Strategic Land Ltd.
The developers are appealing against Sheffield City Council’s refusal of planning permission for up to 300 homes.
Before closing the inquiry, Mr Whitehead said he hoped to reach his decision ‘within the next few weeks – it certainly will be within a month’
Thank you for your support
Friends of the Loxley Valley would like to thank everybody whose support and fighting fund donations made it possible for us to take part in the inquiry.
We and CPRE Peak District and South Yorkshire took part as a joint ‘Rule 6 party’, supporting the city council’s refusal of planning permission.
This meant could present our own evidence and ask questions of the other parties.
In our closing submission, we argued that the proposed redevelopment was far too large.
We said it would create an isolated car-dependent township in Green Belt countryside that should be protected from large suburban housing schemes.
• Please click here to read or download our closing submission to the planning inquiry
Thank you again to everybody who supported our case. We now await the Inspector’s decision.
