On Saturday 8 August we spent two hours on the S13 Green Belt sites with Councillor Fran Belbin, Leader of Sheffield City Council, and Councillor Angela Argenzio, Leader of the Green Group.

Councillor Belbin had offered the visit at Full Council on 24 June. It formed part of a day that also took them to the proposed sites at Chapeltown, Ecclesfield, Grenoside and Charnock.

Where we walked

We were on the ground for about an hour and a quarter.

SES29, Handsworth Hall Farm. About 57 hectares: 870 homes on one part of it, 20 hectares of employment land on another. It's difficult to picture the scale of this site from a map, which is why we were keen for both councillors to see it.

The only proposed access is onto Orgreave Lane, a minor B road, along roughly 150 metres of frontage. We set out the problem with the access in an earlier email.

Waverley's existing 2,000 homes sit across the railway line, with a further 2,000 still to come. We chose a vantage point where the councillors could see its scale, and how close it is to the site we were standing on.

SES30, Bramley Common. We then crossed over Handsworth Road and walked from Ballifield School to Beaver Hill Road via Myrtle Bank Farm. While the fields are mostly farmed, we pointed out that this land is not simply agricultural. It is criss-crossed with well-used footpaths, it is the local park for our community, and it is a haven for birds and wildlife.

We spent the last 45 minutes talking. Four residents sat with both leaders in the park behind Beaver Drive, away from a committee room, and talked about what 1,700 homes along roughly a kilometre of road would mean for our community of about 9,000 people, with another 2,000 still to come at Waverley.

What we gave them

We prepared a pack of ten briefing sheets: facts about the two sites, the extent of building in the local area since 2012, the evidence problems with SES30, and open space deficiency here. The sheets also cover density and the missed opportunities in the Council's plan, questions on site availability, the lack of consultation, and a map of the Green Belt as it was drawn in 1937 to show its historic importance to the City.

One subject per sheet, everything referenced. The pack is published in full at saves13greenbelt.org.uk/site-visit-briefings.

We asked both leaders to take one question away:

Why is up to half of the city's Green Belt release concentrated in one small part of one ward, and does the benefit outweigh the harm it will do?

What did not happen

Neither leader gave any commitment. Both of their parties voted for the additional site allocations to be added to the Plan on 14 May 2025. Neither party's position has changed since that vote, and both S13 allocations remain in the Plan, with only their boundaries adjusted. Those boundary changes followed work done by the campaign rather than by the Council.

What has changed is that the leaders of the two parties supporting the Green Belt release have now stood on Handsworth Hall Farm and seen its scale; walked over Bramley Common and seen how it is used; and heard from residents directly rather than across the Council chamber. That is not a change of position, but it is further than we have got before.

Since the sites were announced in April 2025 we have found it hard to get answers from the Council, despite repeated efforts and sustained engagement from across the community with the limited consultation on offer. But this was the first time either leader had met the campaign, and we are grateful to both for making the time.

What happens next

We will send a separate email shortly on where the examination has got to. In brief: the Inspectors have asked the Council to assess six urban sites it had not appraised, and to reassess the agricultural land. A consultation of at least six weeks is expected before their final report, and the adoption vote at Full Council after that.

-The Save S13 Green Belt Campaign

What you can do

• Read the pack, and pass it to anyone who thinks this is only an S13 problem.

• Ask your ward councillors whether they have seen the sites, and offer them a visit - we will show them what these allocations would mean for our community.

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