As you're aware, the Save S13 Green Belt Campaign has been working with the community to prevent the release of SES29 (Handsworth Hall Farm) and SES30 (Bramley Common) from the Green Belt through the Sheffield Plan.

While the Plan is still in examination, Harron Homes has separately applied to build 56 houses on the old Handsworth Working Men's Club sports ground at Medlock Close, S13 9BA.

This site sits between the two we have been campaigning on. It is still Green Belt and an unused sports ground.

The application reference is 26/01232/FUL.

The campaign will submit a full technical objection on behalf of the community, but this email is to also ask for your support - the more objections the Council receives, the greater the chance of the application being refused.

What is being proposed

• 56 houses on a fenced-off sports ground
• Demolition of the existing pavilion
• 25% affordable housing (14 of the 56 dwellings)

The problems with the application

The application argues the site qualifies as Grey Belt, a new category introduced in December 2024 for land that makes a limited contribution to specific Green Belt purposes.

However, the Council’s evidence puts that argument into immediate doubt. While the Grey Belt definition only looks at three purposes (sprawl, merging, and historic setting), the legal test for allowing development (NPPF Paragraph 155) is that development must not “fundamentally undermine the purposes (taken together)” of the Green Belt.

In the most recent Green Belt review this site scores a maximum 5 out of 5 for Purpose 3 (countryside encroachment) and 5 out of 5 for Purpose 5 (urban regeneration).

On this evidence, building on a site that performs at the highest possible level for two of the five purposes would "fundamentally undermine" the Green Belt in Handsworth, regardless of its technical classification as Grey Belt.

In addition, the adopted Sheffield Playing Pitch Strategy (2022) records the ground as a high-demand location for football in our area and notes that Middlewood Rovers JFC has registered an interest in bringing it back into use. 56 houses would close that option off for good.

Finally, in the local plan process, this site was ruled out as a proposed Green Belt housing allocation due to the “fundamental constraint” that it is an “unused outdoor sports ground”.

Two other unused sports grounds in Sheffield, at Jordanthorpe Parkway and Malin Bridge, were ruled out of the Local Plan's Green Belt proposed housing allocations for the same reason. The same treatment should apply here.

What to do

We are asking you to send a short objection to planning@sheffield.gov.uk, or submit through the Planning Portal.

The application's reference is 26/01232/FUL.

You do not need to be a planning expert. A few paragraphs in your own words count for more than a long technical letter, because they show people in S13 still care.

What you can say

Useful points to include:

🌳 The site is Green Belt and the application does not demonstrate very special circumstances.

📋 The Grey Belt claim is unsupported by the Council’s most recent evidence, which scores this site 5 out of 5 for Green Belt purposes 3 and 5, meaning its loss would "fundamentally undermine" the purposes of the remaining Green Belt, contrary to the legal test in NPPF Paragraph 155

⚽ The Sheffield Playing Pitch Strategy identifies the site as a high-demand football location. Middlewood Rovers JFC wants to use it.

🔁 This site, along with other unused sports grounds, was ruled out as a proposed housing allocation in the Local Plan. It should be treated consistently and refused.

Then add anything else that matters to you about this site and what losing it would mean for our community.

The consultation deadline is 5 July 2026.

Every response counts.

Please forward this to friends and neighbours. The more of us who object, the harder it is to dismiss.

Thank you again.

- The Save S13 Green Belt Campaign