31st December 2007

Dear Editor

In 2007 you published several letters that raised concerns over the replacement of heritage buildings by car parks or new retail and housing developments in the city centre.

We fully share these concerns as obliterating our past reduces the unique character of our city.We call for an urgent re-appraisal of the way the existing two planning boards operate. As these boards consist of councillors from our two main parties who appear to share similar views on city development, we are not getting a rigorous appraisal of the rational of new developments.
The proposed Tesco development at the Wicker, which will have an impact on the city centre, local shops and on traffic flows must have such an examination.

Why have the boards approved so many speculative blocks of one or two bedroom flats in the city? These flats are unaffordable to most and do nothing for those who are homeless or who need family accommodation. We have now a oversupply of such flats in many cities and Sheffield is or may soon be at that point. Much recent building and development proposals have been fuelled through buy-to-let syndicates and investment clubs. The developing “credit-crunch” should raises concerns about the economic viability of the financing of such schemes. The British Property Federation has itself raised concerns over the past three years but has been ignored by Government and the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

The Council itself should resist Government efforts to set targets for future blocks of even smaller size flats. Instead we need developments that are sustainable and appropriate to the needs of all our citizens and not based on boom/bust property cycles

Yours sincerely,

David Hayes
Planning spokesperson
Sheffield Green Party