Thank you for 2,483 responses, and an important planning update
With Christmas quickly approaching, this email shares two brief updates - first, the total number of responses received to the recent consultation, and second, an important national planning change that affects how the draft Sheffield Plan will now be examined.
With everyone juggling a lot at this time of year, the aim is to keep things as clear and readable as possible. If anything needs clarification, please get in touch.
1. Thank you for an incredible response
Late last week, Sheffield City Council’s Strategic Planning Service confirmed that the most recent Local Plan consultation closed with 2,483 representations submitted from across the city.
That’s an amazing response, and it happened because many people gave up time to write and complete submissions, and to encourage neighbours and friends to do the same. On the final day alone, over 900 representations collected locally in S13 were submitted by hand, in addition to many made directly online.
Every submission matters, and taken together they show the depth and seriousness of concern across Sheffield as a whole.
We will not know how many of the 2,483 representations relate specifically to S13 until the Council publishes the full representation database, expected sometime in the New Year.
A particular thank-you goes to Sunny Meadows, Nuttcase, and Handsworth Post Office, who helped enormously by hosting drop-offs, sharing information, and supporting residents who wanted to take part. Their help made a real difference.
Thank you again to everyone who submitted something.
Among those responses, a professional community submission was prepared for the campaign by James Bailey Planning Ltd (JBPL), and a response was also submitted by Clive Betts MP.
As mentioned in the previous email, a separate follow-up will share highlights from some of the most interesting and informative representations that were sent.
2. An important planning change: the Duty to Cooperate to be “abolished”
There has also been a significant national change affecting how Local Plans are examined, which is directly relevant to issues many people raised in their initial consultation responses back in July.
The Government is to abolish the “Duty to Cooperate” from Local Plan examinations. This was confirmed through an exchange of letters between the responsible Minister and the Planning Inspectorate, which can be read here:
This matters because many people raised concerns in their consultation responses about Sheffield City Council’s failure to properly demonstrate cooperation with neighbouring authorities and key public bodies. Under the previous system, that failure could have been a fundamental issue for the additional site allocations, and for the draft Sheffield Plan generally.
With the Duty to Cooperate now abolished, Inspectors will no longer assess plans against that legal test.
That does not mean:
That infrastructure issues disappear, or
That health, transport, education, or utilities planning suddenly becomes optional.
However, it does change the balance. The planning system seems to be becoming less “joined-up” at a strategic level, and the formal requirement for councils, neighbouring authorities, and public bodies to actively plan together has been weakened.
One area where this uncertainty is particularly felt is health provision. For example, the role of the Integrated Care Board (ICB) - responsible for planning NHS services - is now less clearly anchored within the Local Plan process.
How health capacity will be assessed, evidenced, and secured alongside large-scale housing growth hasn’t been set out in any detail.
At the same time, the Government has indicated that strategic issues will instead be addressed through the application of national policies, and that this will be reinforced over time by the introduction of a “new tier of strategic planning”.
What this will mean in practice - and how it will affect plans already in progress, including the Sheffield Plan - has yet to be set out. How strategic matters such as health, transport, and cross-boundary infrastructure will be assessed during the current examination is something the Inspectors will now need to grapple with.
In short, cooperation still needs to happen in practice - communities rely on it - but there is now less legal weight behind it. That makes robust evidence, realistic infrastructure planning, and public scrutiny more important than ever.
Further updates will be shared as the Sheffield Plan examination progresses.
With best wishes to the S13 community as Christmas approaches
News Articles
You can explore all the latest Local Plan coverage on our website’s Press Articles page, where we’re adding new pieces as they come in.
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Contact
If you want to get in touch please email us at either:
info@saves13greenbelt.org.uk - email the working group.
website@saves13greenbelt.org.uk - suggestions/additions to the website.
In honour of Sapphire McCarthy
