The Sheffield Plan – Our City, Our Future: Consultation begins September

PDP_Sheffield Plan Consultation

Sheffield City Council are preparing a new draft Sheffield Local Plan which will guide the future of the city by setting out how and where development will take place up to 2038. It will be called the ‘Sheffield Plan’ and, once it has been adopted, it will replace the Sheffield Core Strategy (2009) and ‘saved’ policies the Sheffield Unitary Development Plan (1998).

From 1 September 2020 Sheffield City Council will hold a 6-week consultation, which aims to gather views on what people would like to be included in the emerging Plan.

The document open for consultation involves The Issues and Options 2020 document, which outlines the key opportunities and challenges for the city, and sets out some issues and options for consideration.

The Council published a similar document in 2015 titled Citywide Options for Growth to 2034. This consultation document was the start of creating the new Sheffield Plan, and the representations made have formed this new Issues and Options Paper.

The 2015 document highlighted one of the biggest challenges Sheffield faces which is how to accommodate around 40,000 new homes over the next 20 years to cater for Sheffield’s growing population, coupled with creating a skilled workforce with higher overall incomes, by allocating 140 hectares of land for employment uses.

This new document updates the challenges and opportunities facing the city, and it expands on the previous consultation in 2015 where people raised concerns around the development of housing on Green Belt land. Careful consideration has been given to this feedback, and the new proposals sets out a fresh approach for how and where future development could take place in Sheffield.

The Council are seeking representations from anyone who lives, works, has business in, or visits Sheffield such as residents, businesses, community groups, developers, and statutory bodies about what the Sheffield Plan should address.

This consultation aims to overcome potential challenges, and shape the population of Sheffield’s vision and aims.

In preparation for the consultation, and to give people time to find out more about the aims of the Plan and the choices available for Sheffield, the ‘Issues and Options’ document has been issued ahead of the start of the consultation. This will give you the opportunity to read it, talk to others and consider your views before the actual consultation starts on 1st September. You can make your formal comments from then until October 13th which means the consultation doesn’t coincide with the easing of lock down and the summer holidays.

With an office at The Workstation we have a close connection with Sheffield with numerous clients in the region. Our office is led by Chartered Town Planning consultant Michael Bamford please get in touch for advice on any planning issues or potential projects.

Update on the ‘Sheffield Plan’

PDP_Sheffield Local Plan

Sheffield City Council are in the process of preparing a new local plan (and have been for some time). The ‘Sheffield Plan’ will guide the future of the city by setting out how and where development will take place up to 2034.

Preparation of the ‘Sheffield Plan’ has seen significant setbacks over the years and has meant that development across the city is guided by saved policies from the now very out of date Sheffield Unitary Development Plan which was adopted in 1998 and the Core Strategy which was adopted in 2009.

The first stage in producing the new plan was the Citywide Options for Growth to 2034 document. Consultation on that document took place between 11 November 2015 and 15 January 2016 and there has been very little tangible progress since.

The last formal update on the local plan was published in July 2016 and since then there has been a significant level of uncertainty on the proposed content of the plan and the timeline for adoption.

Things have been moving on behind the scenes and, upon speaking to the Council’s Planning Department, they anticipate providing a formal update on progress with the local plan as well as a timetable for consultation, examination and hopeful adoption within the next week.

This should provide a much clearer position on when a draft local plan will be released, and we will keep you informed as things progress.

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Planning & Design have recently made a significant investment to their presence in Sheffield with a move to new premises and several key appointments.

Housed in a former 1930s’ car showroom, Planning & Design now reside in The Workstation, Sheffield’s leading business centre for creative talent and innovation in the heart of the city’s thriving Cultural Industries Quarter.

Leading the Sheffield office will be Michael Bamford. A chartered town planning consultant, Michael started with Planning Design in 2015 and carved out his early career with the group. Having left the company in early 2018 to work with a National Consultancy based in Sheffield, he returned to Planning Design this summer and takes the lead on the operation of our Sheffield Office.

To contact Michael please call 0114 221 0618 or email Michael.Bamford@planningdesign.co.uk

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