Purpose

To seek approval for public consultation to
take place on the ‘Main Modifications to the Plan’
which have been proposed by the Inspectors and to seek approval for
consultation to be carried out on ‘Additional (Minor)
Modifications’, as well as the updated Integrated Impact
Assessment and the updated Habitat Regulations Assessment.
 

Content

a)

Approval is given for the Main Modifications
to the Publication (Submission) Draft Sheffield Plan proposed by
the Inspectors to be the subject of public consultation

b)

Approval is given for the Additional (Minor)
Modifications to the Publication (Submission) Draft Sheffield Plan
(proposed by the City Council) to be the subject of public
consultation

c)

Approval is given for the updated Integrated
Impact Assessment and Habitats Regulations Assessment to be the
subject of public consultation.

 

Reasons for the decision

Once adopted, the new Sheffield Plan will make
a major contribution to the future development of the city and will
guide development up to 2039.  It is a
statutory requirement to produce a Local Plan and keep the Plan up
to date.  The current local plan
(comprising the Sheffield Core Strategy (2009) and
‘saved’ policies from the Sheffield Unitary Development
Plan) is extremely out of date.

 

The new Plan will ensure that the city’s
needs for housing and other uses can be met.  The Inspectors have concluded that exceptional
circumstances exist in principle to justify the release of Green
Belt land to deliver the level of housing and employment growth the
city needs.  Without some limited
release of Green Belt land, the Sheffield Plan would not be found
sound.

 

Adoption of the Sheffield Plan will enable
more affordable housing and homes for disabled people to be
delivered.  It will enable higher
standards to be applied to development in the city, including
better space standards for new housing, and policies aimed at
reducing carbon emissions and ensuring new development responds to
climate change.  The Plan provides the
sites and supports the strategy that ensures Sheffield’s
economic and jobs growth ambitions can be realised. It also
contains a range of policies aimed at securing better environmental
outcomes, including for biodiversity. 
It will also provide greater certainty for developers and
infrastructure providers.

 

All the factors referred to above, highlight
the importance of progressing the Sheffield Plan to
adoption.  If the Plan is not adopted,
it would have major financial and reputational implications for the
city due to the cost of preparing a new plan and potential loss of
investment from developers and Government bodies.

 

Alternative options considered

The options available to the
Council in terms of the Main Modifications proposed by the
Inspectors are limited.  If the Council
were to not consult on the Main Modifications, it would be
necessary to withdraw the Draft Local Plan and commence work on an
entirely new Local Plan.  This would
have major financial implications for the Council and would cause a
very significant delay in getting an up-to-date Local Plan in
place.