Newsletter October 2026
October Update: What a Month, and We're Not Slowing Down!
From more than 500 people lighting up our streets for Glow for the Green Belt to challenging councillors at Sheffield Town Hall, it's been another incredibly busy month for our campaign.
Behind the scenes, our team has been working hard examining the latest Sheffield Local Plan consultation documents, preparing evidence and making sure residents have the information they need to have their say.
There is still a great deal to do, and some important dates are approaching.
Here's what we've been up to, and what's coming next.
The latest Local Plan consultation: we need your help!
The latest consultation on the Sheffield Local Plan's Further Main Modifications (FMM) is now underway. This is the fifth round of consultation.
Our team has been working through the documents to understand what the changes mean for our seven local Green Belt sites.
We know planning documents can be complicated and difficult to follow. That's why we've produced Key Points for Residents briefings, explaining the important issues affecting each site and helping people understand what they may wish to raise in their own representations.
These briefings are now available on our website: Main Modifications briefings for residents
We encourage everyone to read the information relevant to their area and submit their own response. But if you're not planning to submit a representation, you can still make a difference by helping us reach our target of 10,000 petition signatures. Please encourage friends, family and neighbours to sign. Every signature helps demonstrate the strength of opposition to the proposed loss of our Green Belt (see below for details).
Alongside this, CEG will be submitting detailed representations on our local sites, while the Sheffield Green Belt Alliance will be responding to the wider Sheffield issues.
This is a considerable amount of work, involving detailed examination of technical evidence and input from the professional planners and solicitors supporting our campaign.
Please don't assume that because our group is submitting a response, you don't need to. Individual representations from residents are important too.
Consultation closes: 5pm, Wednesday 28 October 2026.
Glow for the Green Belt: what an amazing night!
Over 500 people joined us, and together we raised £700!
What can we say other than a huge THANK YOU!
On Saturday 3 October, our communities came together once again to demonstrate just how much our Green Belt means to us.
Hundreds of people, young and old, families, children and dogs, joined our two evening marches from Chapeltown and Grenoside, lighting up the streets with green glow sticks before coming together at St Mary's Church in Ecclesfield.
And what a sight it was! The atmosphere was fantastic, and it was wonderful to see so many people giving up their Saturday evening to stand together for something they believe in.
We were particularly delighted that more than 500 people attended, and thanks to your generosity, the event also raised £700 towards our campaign funds.
A special thank you to everyone who helped organise the evening, our marshals, volunteers, first aiders and everyone who worked behind the scenes to make sure the event ran smoothly.
Jo Tunstall gave a wonderful speech at St Mary's, reminding us why we are fighting so hard to protect these precious green spaces.
You can watch Jo's speech here: Jo Tunstall's speech at Glow for the Green Belt
Events like this remind us that our campaign is about much more than planning policies and technical documents. It's about our communities, our environment and the places we call home.
You turned out for us again, and you did us proud. Thank you!
Taking our questions directly to the Council
Strategy & Resources Committee, 7 October
Members of our group attended Sheffield City Council's Strategy & Resources Committee meeting on Wednesday 7 October to challenge councillors on several important issues surrounding the Local Plan.
Our questions covered:
Housing numbers and Green Belt release: challenging claims about what would happen if the current Local Plan were withdrawn.
Hesley Wood: raising serious concerns about the proposed employment allocation.
Community facilities: questioning where the facilities needed to support new developments are identified and what guarantees exist that they will actually be delivered.
These are important questions, and we believe residents deserve clear, evidence-based answers.
Getting the facts to our councillors
Following the Full Council meeting on 23 September, which attracted considerable press attention, we have been preparing a briefing for Sheffield councillors.
We were concerned by a number of statements made during the meeting which did not appear to reflect the published evidence.
Rather than allowing inaccurate or misleading claims to go unchallenged, we decided to put the facts directly in front of councillors. Our briefing will set out:
What was said.
What the evidence shows.
Why it matters.
Importantly, this will not be a one-off exercise. We intend to produce a briefing following every Full Council meeting, identifying statements that need clarification or challenge and providing councillors with the relevant evidence.
We believe decisions that could permanently change communities across Sheffield should be based on accurate information, not political rhetoric. Residents deserve to know that councillors are making decisions with a full understanding of the facts.
You can read the Sheffield Star's coverage here: Sheffield Star coverage of the Full Council meeting
Meeting our MP, Marie Tidball
Later this month, representatives of our group will be meeting with our local MP, Marie Tidball, who continues to be supportive of our campaign.
We appreciate her willingness to listen to residents' concerns and engage with the evidence we have gathered. The meeting will provide another opportunity to discuss developments in the Local Plan process, the issues affecting our communities and what further support may be possible.
We will update supporters following the meeting.
Hesley Wood: an important public meeting
Monday 12 October, 7pm at The Barley Smithy, Wood Road
If you live near Hesley Wood, this is a meeting you really should attend.
We are supporting an important community meeting about the proposed employment allocation at Hesley Wood (CH04).
There are serious concerns about the site's history, including potential contamination associated with previous industrial activity, and what future development could mean for nearby homes, residents' health and the surrounding environment.
The meeting will provide information about:
The latest developments in the Local Plan and what they mean for Hesley Wood.
Known contamination concerns and potential risks to neighbouring communities.
How residents can become involved, ask questions and share their views.
Please don't wait until development proposals are further advanced before finding out what is happening.
If you live nearby, come along, ask questions and encourage your neighbours to attend. Everyone is welcome.
More councillors are coming to see our Green Belt
Our programme of councillor site visits continues.
This weekend, we welcomed Labour councillors to visit our seven proposed Green Belt sites across Chapeltown, Ecclesfield and Grenoside.
As with our previous visits, we showed them the land itself and explained the individual and cumulative impacts of the proposed developments. Maps and planning documents can only tell part of the story. Seeing the sites first-hand gives a much clearer picture of what is at stake.
We are pleased that councillors took the opportunity to visit, and we will be arranging another date for those who expressed an interest but were unable to attend.
Our invitation remains open to councillors from all political parties.
Protecting our communities and ensuring decisions are properly informed should never be a party-political issue.
Next Full Council meeting: Wednesday 4 November
Another important date for your diary
We will attend the next Full Council meeting on Wednesday 4 November, when we will be seeking to raise a number of significant issues concerning the Sheffield Local Plan.
There are still important questions that need answering, and we are determined to ensure councillors are made aware of the evidence and concerns emerging from our work.
We would love to see supporters outside Sheffield Town Hall again. Whether you can spare half an hour or stay for longer, your presence helps demonstrate that our communities remain concerned about the future of our Green Belt.
You are also welcome to go inside and listen to the Council meeting to hear for yourself what is being said.
We will share more details nearer the time, including the issues we intend to raise.
Let's remind the Council that we're still here, we're still asking questions, and we're not going away!
Fundraising: your support is more important than ever
Our campaign has already committed substantial funds to professional planning and legal advice, helping us challenge the Council's evidence and put forward properly supported arguments.
The latest Further Main Modifications consultation means even more work, and we are once again drawing on the expertise of professional planners and solicitors.
That expertise is essential, but it comes at a considerable cost, with professional planning and legal advice running into thousands of pounds.
We are incredibly grateful to everyone who has donated so far. Whether you've contributed £5, £50 or more, every donation has helped us get to this point.
If you can make another contribution, however small, it will help us continue challenging these proposals with the professional support we need.
Our petition: can we reach 10,000?
We're getting closer to our target of 10,000 signatures. The Sheffield-wide petition to protect our Green Belt currently stands at over 9,000.
But we need one final push! Thousands of people have already signed, sending a clear message about the strength of feeling across Sheffield.
Here's our challenge to you: if you've already signed, could you persuade just one more person to add their name? A neighbour, friend, colleague or family member? And if you haven't signed yet, please do.
Let's get to 10,000!
Finally: thank you for standing with us
What a month! From hundreds of you joining us for Glow to those attending meetings, gathering evidence, making donations and working tirelessly behind the scenes, every contribution makes a difference.
We know this has been a long campaign, but we've come too far and there's too much at stake to give up now.
We're not going away. We're not giving up. And together, we'll keep fighting for our Green Belt and our communities.
Our Voice. Our Green Belt. Our Future.
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