Representations were made by DLP Planning  on behalf of various clients to the recent consultation stage of the emerging Sheffield Plan: Citywide Options for Growth to 2034.

Sheffield City Council sought the views of landowners, developers and the public on options for the nature and scale of growth in Sheffield over a 15-20 year period. The consultation document set out the challenge of opportunities for Sheffield, and gave a range of options for how to accommodate the new homes and jobs the city needs to meet its existing needs and a vision for future growth.

Options for growth included:

1. Urban Capacity – continue with the current strategy of concentrating new development on brownfield sites within the existing urban areas. Greenfield development would be limited to sites already allocated in the current Local Plan or proposed by the Council in 2013 in the withdrawn Pre-submission Draft City Policies and Sites document.
2. Urban Intensification – make more intensive use of sites within the existing urban areas by: relaxing amenity standards and increasing densities; emphasising City Centre living (including taller buildings in some locations); relaxing policies for the protection of green space to allow some surplus urban green space to be developed.
3. Urban Remodelling – remodelling parts of the existing urban area to enable the reallocation of poorer quality employment uses for housing.
4. Limited number of Larger Urban Extensions into the Green Belt – plan for a limited number of larger urban extensions (of at least 1,000 homes) into the Green Belt in locations that are well served by, or have potential to be served by, the Supertram network or rail services. Four areas have been identified as potential locations for these extensions: Stocksbridge and Upper Don Valley, East Sheffield (as an extension to Waverley in Rotherham Borough), South East Sheffield and East of Norton.
5. Multiple Smaller Green Belt Releases – develop multiple smaller urban extensions around built-up areas and allow the redevelopment of existing previously developed sites in the Green Belt for housing.

The consultation document recognised that no single option has the ability to provide for the City’s needs, and therefore proposes a mix of the options which in turn will require a significant review of the City’s Green Belt boundaries.

DLP Planning provided comments on a range of consultation questions including the above options for growth, supported by modelling undertaken by DLP’s Strategic Planning & Research Unit which provided an objective assessment of the housing need of Sheffield.

Sheffield City Council anticipate a second stage of consultations on the draft Sheffield Plan in July-September 2016.