Sheffield’s local plan saga enters its endgame

Good afternoon readers — and welcome to this week’s Monday briefing.

Sheffield’s Local Plan was originally due to be completed by 2018. However, eight years later we still don’t have one, leaving the city vulnerable to unwanted development. The end could finally be in sight though, after government planning inspectors issue a broadly positive review of the council's current plans. If everything goes to plan it could be in place by the summer. But, given the saga so far, that still feels like a big if. That’s today’s big story.

As well as that we have an update about the big fall out within Reform UK in Sheffield, a stage version of a classic book at the Lyceum, and a beautiful cottage in Laughton.

Editor’s note: We’re working on a story about the debate around amplified preaching on the Moor and we’d love to hear from readers with both positive and negative views. Email our reporter victoria@sheffieldtribune.co.uk if you have thoughts or experiences you’re happy to share.

In case you missed it

On Saturday, we published the first half of Dan’s long read on the shocking murder of Kevin Pokuta, an innocent man killed in a tragic case of mistaken identity. “It reads like a thriller, but never feels sensationalist,” was Mark Harrison’s verdict, while Lee Woodhead compared it to an episode of the podcast Serial. 

You can read that piece here but you’ll have to become a subscriber to read the second installment this week, which covers the trial of Ethan Hallows and his girlfriend’s attempts to help him evade capture by fleeing the country. You won’t want to miss it!

Earlier in the week, The Tribune published a first-hand account of what it’s like to be an A&E doctor and sent freelancer Katie Scott to shadow local ice skater Nina Povey as she competed in the European Championships. You can read an excerpt of that fantastic piece below.

The rules require the skater to do a combination jump, so Nina has to adapt quickly, adding a spontaneous double toe loop onto the end of her next jump. To my inexperienced eye, the rest of the program looks impressive. But Nina later confides in me another mistake, showing me where she’d caught her blade during a change of position, and sliced off her fingernail. She warned the men, who were scheduled next, that it may have fallen onto the ice. The following day, as she pulled on her competition gloves, she discovered the nail hiding inside.

Also, we’ve launched our lovely new comments system! If you’re a member it’s very easy to put in your details and get stuck into the debate. You can even include a description of your experience to stake your claim to comments-section credibility (“Life”, in legendary Tribune member Ruth Grimsley's case).

The big picture: Brutal beauty 🚥

The imposing Grade-II listed Moore Street substation is one of the most distinctive buildings in Sheffield. One of only two listed brutalist buildings in Sheffield (the other being Park Hill flats) the colourful lights were added in 2010. This stunning photograph was captured last week by Emma Bothamley. For our piece about the iconic building from 2023, click here.

The big story: Sheffield’s local plan saga enters its endgame

Top line: Sheffield’s long-awaited Local Plan is set to be adopted by mid-July, after planning inspectors broadly welcomed Sheffield council’s latest proposals.

Background: If you’re a long-time Tribune member, you’ll know this saga has rumbled on for some time. Sheffield council has now been working on its local plan for years. In 2023 they finally unveiled the Sheffield Plan, a proposal to build 34,680 new homes in the city by 2039, but government planning inspectors said this wasn’t enough. A revised plan providing for 38,012 homes — including at 14 sites within the Green Belt — was published in 2025.

• After hearings on the additional sites took place late last year, the planning inspectors have this afternoon published a 10-page letter detailing their findings.
• The planning inspectors’ letter doesn’t mean that the Local Plan has been approved, but Sheffield council planning staff say it is a key step in the process of approval.

What do the inspectors say? The letter is written in technical planning language but the general gist is that the process can move onto the next stage. It says the inspectors were satisfied that the consultation was done properly and that the plan is likely to be found legal and sound. They also agree that exceptional circumstances exist that justify the release of some Green Belt land — though they did reduce the amount of new homes that will be built on three of the main Green Belt sites in Grenoside and Handsworth.

• The Handsworth site at Beaver Hill Road has been reduced from 868 homes to 827, a 5% reduction in the number of homes.
• At Grenoside, the site north of The Wheel has been reduced from 148 homes to 66, a 55% decrease in the number of homes.
• Also at Grenoside, the site at Creswick Avenue has been reduced from 609 to 592, a 3% reduction in the number of homes.

Stepped trajectory: The original plan provided for over 2,000 homes a year over a 17-year period. However, the inspectors have accepted that this is too ambitious and that the plan will instead have a "stepped trajectory", with more homes being delivered in the latter half of the plan timescale. This means that if the plan is approved, the council will have enough homes for a six year housing supply (1,780 a year), and will be able to stop unwanted development. However, it also means they will have to find the shortfall in the future.

Legal challenge: One of the most contentious Green Belt sites was land south of The Wheel in Grenoside, where around 600 homes had been earmarked for what is now Townend Farm. A legal challenge to this site has been lodged on the basis that it should remain as farmland. However, as this site would not be built on until the 2030s, the Local Plan will be allowed to proceed regardless of the outcome, with the additional homes found elsewhere if the legal challenge is successful.

Next steps: There must now be another consultation in March before the inspectors issue their final letter in May. If all goes to plan, the Local Plan would then go through Sheffield council’s committee processes before being voted on by the full council in July.

Bottom line: No-one was ever going to love everything in the local plan — and campaigners will still be hoping one of the biggest green land sites falls through. But having a local plan is much better then not having one. It was touch and go whether the council could persuade the inspector to pass the plan through, despite not meeting the exact letter of the government targets. But she has clearly decided that it's good enough.

Your Tribune briefing 🗞️

🗳️ More details have emerged about the internal drama that shook Sheffield’s most active branch of Reform UK, as Yorkshire Live reports that four members were permanently expelled from the party after a role-play session “crossed a line”. Prospective candidates hoping to represent Reform in the next local elections were being tested on how they would react to a gay couple attending their councillor surgery and it was alleged that one of the actors, urged by witnesses supervising the interview to “amp up” his portrayal, “kissed the head of and sat on the lap of” one of the prospective candidates. However, a video of the interview seen by Yorkshire Live allegedly shows he restrained himself to a far more chaste side-hug and three of the four members expelled told the news site that disciplinary process has been a sham. 

⚽ He’s stuck by Sheffield Wednesday in some very dark days but beloved captain Barry Bannan has finally hit his limit. Manager Henrik Pedersen told BBC Radio Sheffield that the 36-year-old midfielder broke the news to his devastated teammates last week — “You could feel Barry's emotion from him to them and you could feel the emotion from them to him, so of course it was an emotional moment,” he said. Fans made their support for the departing favourite known at the away game against Bristol City, expected to be Bannan's last appearance for the club, by chanting “There's only one Barry Bannan” and giving him a standing ovation as he left the pitch. 

✈️ The South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) will not release almost £160m needed to reopen Doncaster Sheffield Airport until the lease between landowner Peel Group and Doncaster Council is renegotiated. A copy of the lease, leaked to the Yorkshire Post, revealed a number of concerning details, including Peel receiving 20% of the airport’s future annual turnover and clauses allowing the landowner to break the lease if passenger numbers fell too low. Talks on potential changes are now ongoing, with no deal currently in place. A council spokesperson said they would not “debate the contents of a confidential lease in the public domain” but insisted that “leases are subject to changes over time whilst negotiations take place and therefore do change”. 

The weekly Whitworth ✍️

Cartoonist James Whitworth with his take on the news that Sheffield will be welcoming back the Women’s Tour de France in the summer of 2027.

Home of the week 🏡

This one bedroom cottage is set in the peaceful Laughton countryside, with original 18th century stone walls, underfloor heating and French doors opening to a secluded courtyard. It’s on the market for £275,000.

Things to do 📆

Plants 🌱 On tonight at the Mowbray in Neepsend is Talking Plants, a social evening for people who love gardening. The main event tonight will be a talk by Gerry Firkins about native plants. In the talk he will cover what are native plants, the danger of aliens, the benefits of natives and appreciating the real ecological web. We spoke to Gerry for our piece from 2024 about future nature. Tickets are £5-£8 and the talk starts at 7.30pm.

Theatre 🎭 Starting on Tuesday at the Lyceum is To Kill a Mockingbird, The West Wing writer Aaron Sorkin's riveting, award-winning stage adaptation of Harper Lee’s novel about racial injustice and childhood innocence. A Broadway and West End sensation with sell-out seasons on both sides of the Atlantic, the show is now embarking on a UK and Ireland tour for the very first time. Tickets are £15-£46 and the show runs until Saturday 7 February.

Art 🖼️ On Thursday, join Sheffield-based artists, Heavy Water Collective for a tour of their new exhibition at Weston Park Museum, Gathering Landscapes. On the tour the artists will talk about the playful gathering of art, artefacts and archive, share their experiences of delving into Sheffield's vast collections, and talk through the ways they’ve responded creatively to some highlighted artefacts. The one hour tour is free and starts at 2pm.

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