Agenda item

That this Council:-

(a)       recalls the introduction of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) under the Coalition Government, which requires local authorities to have a local plan in place to meet their local housing need over the next 20 years;

(b)       notes that the NPPF requires local authorities to allocate a five-year supply of immediately and economically deliverable sites, which, with severe cuts made by the Coalition Government to brownfield remediation, have made it increasingly difficult to build on brownfield land;

(c)        notes that despite these challenges, the current Administration does not want to build on the green belt and is committed to maximizing building on brownfield land and protecting green spaces;

(d)       further notes that the national planning practice guidance issued by the Coalition Government, which sets out how a Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA) should be undertaken, states that ‘sites, which have particular policy constraints, should be included in the assessment for the sake of comprehensiveness’;

(e)       recalls that a SHLAA was published in March 2011, when the main opposition group was in control of the Council, and that this included a list of 17 green belt sites, including one on Baslow Road, Totley;

(f)        therefore believes the main opposition group is displaying breathtaking hypocrisy and a wilful intention to mislead the public on this issue;

(g)       notes that if a local plan isn’t in place, when a developer applies for planning permission on sensitive sites, the Council’s power to refuse is increasingly weakened;

(h)       understands therefore that Sheffield needs to have a local plan in place that complies with the NPPF introduced by the Coalition Government; and

(i)         looks forward to hearing local residents’ views on options for the nature and scale of growth in their areas over the next 20 years, following the publication of the Sheffield Plan: Citywide Options for Growth to 2034.