Plan to build housing estate on Yorkshire countryside could ‘harm the character and beauty of the area’

DLP Planning Ltd has applied for outline approval to build up to 75 houses on fields between Hollin Busk Road, Carr Road and Broomfield Lane on the south-eastern fringe of Stocksbridge, near Sheffield. The firm has also submitted outline proposals to build 92 homes on the same site.

Both proposals would include a mixture of detached, semi-detached and terraced properties. Some would be single storey but the majority would be two-storey or two-and-a-half-storey properties, says a report that will be considered by Sheffield City Council’s planning committee next Tuesday, January 10. Both plans will come before the meeting.

A planning inquiry last year overturned a council refusal and allowed another housing development in the same area, in spite of a campaign to stop it.

The 68 objectors to the current schemes include ward councillors Lewis Chinchen and Julie Grocutt, Stocksbridge Town Council, Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust and countryside charity the CPRE. A petition against the proposals signed by 177 people has also been received by the council.

The petition states that the development is contrary to planning guidelines and policies and would harm the character and beauty of the area, which separates Deepcar from Stocksbridge, and its wildlife. It also points to traffic problems on narrow rural roads where the bus service has been cut.

Coun Chinchen has raised concerns including the significant damage the plan would inflict on open space, the effect on wildlife, the potential increase in flooding and inappropriate road access.

Coun Grocutt agreed with his objections and added that the National Planning Policy Framework stipulates that ‘existing open space, sports and recreational buildings and land, including playing fields, should not be built on unless: an assessment has been undertaken which has clearly shown the open space or land to be surplus to requirements’.

She said: “No such assessment has been undertaken, no such determination has been reached, the open space at Hollin Busk is much loved and used by local people and therefore National Planning Policy states the proposal should not go ahead. This visual amenity is enjoyed by walkers along both Hollin Busk Road and Broomfield Lane.”

One of the town council’s objections was that Hollin Busk separates Stocksbridge from Deepcar. It also pointed out that previous attempts to develop the land have been rejected and the decisions upheld by the planning inspector.

The town council said it objected to the development that was allowed after the planning appeal. It was also concerned that the access could endanger the safety of children at nearby Royd Nursery and Infant School.

The CPRE objected that the development will result in a harmful loss of a cherished green space on the edge of the urban area. The wildlife trust said that the land should not be granted any planning permission until the council has completed its assessment of all land for the Local Plan, which sets out planning policy for the city.

The land assessment should include areas for nature recovery networks, said the trust.