Hollin Busk - planning refusal should be upheld
Councillors overwhelmingly rejected plans for the housing estate on Hollin Busk fields at the junction with Carr Road and Hollin Busk Lane, Deepcar, last July. They voted 12 to one to refuse the development, saying it did not meet with council policy of brownfield regeneration first so it's disappointing that the decision has gone to appeal.
Below is the statement I made at the inquiry which opened on Tuesday in response to the appeal by property developers Hallam Land Management.
Hollin Busk inquiry
"Before I begin can I offer my thanks to the Planning Inspector for allowing me to speak during this inquiry.
As the Member of Parliament for Penistone and Stocksbridge, it is a privilege to represent a constituency that has such a wide variety of towns and villages, each with their own different character.
It is of course this character – a mixture of geography, history, community and culture - that gives a settlement it’s unique identity, an identity that is immensely precious to those of us who call it home.
In rural and semi-rural areas such as the Upper Don Valley, the character and identity of different towns relies on the physical separation between them, and this is precisely why Sheffield City Council’s Planning Authority was correct to refuse the planning application at Hollin Busk. Building homes on this parcel of land would undermine the physical and visual separation between the two distinct settlements of Stocksbridge and Deepcar, damaging the unique character of both towns.
The beauty of the surrounding countryside, on the edge of the Peak District National Park, is also a core part of local identity, and there is no doubt that any development on land at Hollin Busk would very much harm the picturesque, open and natural aspect of the area.
Over the last few years, the importance of ‘place’ has seen something a revival in our national conversation. We increasingly understand that where we live is a key part of who we are, and our ties to land, buildings, geography and community give us a sense of belonging and wellbeing.
To change, diminish or even destroy that sense of place can therefore not be justified except where there are substantial public benefits in doing so, and where those benefits clearly outweigh the harm done.
There is absolutely no evidence to suggest that any potential benefits of developing Hollin Busk would outweigh the harm that would be done to the community, the landscape, our heritage and the natural environment.
It is widely accepted that across the UK as a whole, we need more homes. But these homes need to be built where local evidence shows that they are needed and where the negative impact on local communities is minimal.
For the development at Hollin Busk to be necessary and justified, it would have to be proven beyond doubt that significant amounts of additional housing are needed in the local area, and I am not aware of any recent local housing survey that points to the need for substantially more housing in Deepcar.
The area is already experiencing significant housing development and there has been no real consideration by the developer of whether these developments will meet – or even exceed – local demand.
Indeed planning permission has just been granted for 428 dwellings in Deepcar (in the Bloor Homes development) and 284 dwellings are under construction at Oughtibridge Valley, also within the Stocksbridge and Upper Don ward.
It cannot be said that this part of Sheffield is not already pulling its weight in providing the new homes required to meet the city’s target.
In fact, if we consider the city as a whole, Sheffield was required to deliver 5,963 new homes between 2017/18 and 2019/20, but has delivered 7,363. This is means Sheffield has delivered 123% of its Housing Delivery Targets.
Even if there was evidence of additional housing need in the area, the National Planning Policy Framework in Paragraph 118 states that
‘planning policies and decisions should give substantial weight to the value of using suitable brownfield land within settlements for homes and other identified needs’.
This is the approach that has been taken with other recently approved developments in the area, allowing significant numbers of new homes to be accepted by the community.
It is not development per se, but the destruction of precious green space that is unnecessary and is objected to so strongly.
Stocksbridge and Deepcar are towns with a rich industrial history, and as such there are still plenty of potential brownfield sites that could be considered if there was a need for additional development.
It is unfortunate that Sheffield does not yet have an adopted Local Plan, as this means that greenspaces such as the land at Hollin Busk are vulnerable to being ‘picked off’ by developers keen to avoid the costs of developing brownfield sites.
A local plan would also have facilitated formal consultations to establish community consent for any potential developments in the area.
But the absence of a Local Plan in itself would have made it unsafe for the Planning Authority to have approved this development; to give consent to such a harmful development would require the concrete evidence of housing need, community approval and local insight that only a democratically adopted Local Plan can provide.
I understand that consultations on the draft Local Plan are due to start later in the year and with that in mind it would have been completely inappropriate for the Planning Authority to have approved such a controversial development.
But, despite the absence of a Local Plan, the land at Hollin Busk does benefit from protection, being designated as protected open space by legacy planning policies.
It is also significant that Hollin Busk was not included in the Council's recent Housing and Employment Land Availability Assessment for the draft local plan because it was classified as 'Open space, ecological'.
In conclusion, it is undeniable that the development of this beautiful piece of land and around Hollin Busk would cause irreparable harm to our local community and our landscape.
There is no evidence that there is any need for housing in this location, and therefore it is beyond doubt that any putative benefits of development would be substantially outweighed by the harm caused."
The Local Planning Authority made the right decision for our local area and our environment in rejecting this application. I therefore ask the Planning Inspector to uphold this decision, and protect the unique, valuable and historic characteristics of Deepcar and Stocksbridge.
