At Tuesday’s Sheffield Planning and Highways Committee, a Green Party Councillor objected to plans to build 13 apartments on woodland to the rear of Moor Oaks Road in Broomhill. Cllr Angela Argenzio said the Planning Committee ignored the Neighbourhood Plan, its own planning policies and the environment in recommending approval of the planning application
Green Party Councillor Angela Argenzio for Broomhill and Sharrow Vale who spoke against the proposal at the Planning and Housing Committee meeting said,
“The application to build the 13 apartments in the Broomhill Conservation Area was clearly in conflict with the Broomhill, Broomfield, Endcliffe, Summerfield and Tapton Neighbourhood Plan (BBEST) (1) which said that 50% of developments should be 3 bedroom homes to meet local needs. In this development only 2 of the 11 properties are 3 bedrooms. So a plan which has been developed by the local community and approved by the Council is simply not being taken into account.
The other concern is that the local community had not been notified that this plan was coming to committee. The planning application was submitted in Summer 2021 and so when we found out, a few days ago. that it was coming to the Planning Committee, it took many people in the community by surprise.
The loss of woodland due to this development is a loss to nature and to the local community. Local residents who lack gardens can currently look out on trees. Now with this development they will have that replaced with flats, which totally ignores the importance of green spaces on people’s mental health .
The Council’s planning officer advising the committee said that the trees were in poor condition because they were covered in ivy, but the Royal Horticulture Society are quite clear that ivy is not harmful to trees :
‘ivy is not directly harmful to trees and is beneficial to wildlife, control is not usually necessary’ (2)
The lessons from the Report into the Street Tree scandal by Sir Mark Lowcock, have still not been learned. When the views of ecologists are ignored in favour of development it diminishes biodiversity and our local environment. Local people are not being made aware of a planning application that will impact on their local environment. This shows that the recommendations from the report still need to be properly considered and embedded into the Council’s working practices and procedures.
It is clear that in this Planning Application that the Council has not properly considered nature, the impact on the Broomhill Conservation area or the community and I am very disappointed that this application has been passed.”
The meeting voted for the development with 2 against and 8 in favour. Cllr Bernard Little, the only Green in the Planning Committee meeting was against.
References
1 – BBEST Neighbourhood Plan – BBEST Neighbourhood Plan – Promoting the social, economic and environmental wellbeing of Broomhill, Broomfield, Endcliffe, Summerfield and Tapton
2 – Royal Horticulture Society – Ivy on trees – Ivy on trees and as a ground cover weed / RHS Gardening
