Our sister organisation in the Rivelin valley has condemned plans to build a township of up to 300 homes in the Loxley valley, and has urged city planners to reject them.
The Rivelin Valley Conservation Group (RVCG) has submitted a detailed objection setting out numerous breaches of national and local planning policies.
RVCG says the proposal for a huge housing estate on old factory sites below Damflask would seriously harm Sheffield’s Green Belt.
It says the site would be conspicuous from the Peak District National Park and would damage the appearance and character of local countryside.
The RVCG also warn of increased traffic congestion, underused public transport and an unsustainable load on local services.
RVCG summarise their main concerns as follows:
- The development breaches the National Planning Policy Framework and Sheffield’s statutory development plan policies, particularly in respect of development in the Green Belt, Area of High Landscape Value and Area of Special Character, and impact on the neighbouring Peak District National Park.
- Very special circumstances in respect of an immediate and urgent need to remove dereliction from the site or to release the land for housing have not been demonstrated.
- The application site is in an unsustainable location because:
- Of its transport and travel impacts, particularly in respect of car use for work and other travel needs and the inevitable increase in traffic congestion and pollution in the Malin Bridge and Hillsborough areas.
- The impact on existing services and facilities which would not be provided in a development of this size e.g. adequate bus services, school, medical and other community-based facilities and shops.
- The adverse impact on the environment and informal rural recreation, including nature conservation, and the attractive and important rural character of the local and wider landscape of the Loxley valley.
- The release of the site for housing would breach numerous local planning policies and would prejudice the city’s ability to protect the Green Belt in future policies.
You still have time to post your own objection
We are urging Sheffield City Council to extend the deadline for objections to the planning application.
This is because the applicant submitted numerous weighty documents towards the end of the consultation period.
We think people need time to read and assess these documents and have the opportunity to comment on them.
We think the planning application should not have been ‘validated’ and made public until all the legally required documentation was complete.
In the meantime, the city council’s ‘planning portal’ is still accepting comments.
If you have not yet made your views known, we would urge you to do so. The planning application reference number is 20/01301/OUT