Planners back new scheme for neglected Sheffield school site

Sheffield Council is seeking permission to build on the site of King Ecgbert School, in Dore, which was demolished after it moved to new buildings around a decade ago.

Plans for 106 homes sparked opposition in 2007 and were eventually refused on appeal.

The plans would see two and three-storey homes being built on the “neglected” and “increasingly overgrown” site, with around 14 per cent of the site given over to green space.

The council believes the latest scheme “represents the aspirations of potential house-builders” with a mix of housing – everything from two-bedroomed affordable homes and five-bedroomed properties.

Dore Village Society chairman David Heslop said the council “had listened to a degree” to their concerns.

He said: “What they have done this time, having come unstuck last time, is they have produced a development plan proposal for the site and had consultation and at least that is a big step forward.

“The density is considerably down. There’s a decent mix of houses by and large although we would have preferred to see more affordable houses in Dore which we are really short of.”

However, he said they had been ignored on two important issues including providing parking in the new development for a playing field immediately next door, and that fact that views from a public footpath would be “totally obliterated” .

He added: “It’s a nightmare parking situation which is not going to be improved by this development.”

Sheffield Wildlife Trust which has also objected saying the proposed green spaces “bear little resemblance to the design brief – representing a series of disconnected green spaces that does not link to the woodland to the north west of the site.”

Ward councillor Colin Ross said: “People know there’s going to be housing and that is accepted because it has been derelict for six or seven years. But the community wants to make sure it is good quality housing that it preserves the playing fields – which it will do – and it preserves the footpaths that go through the existing site and that there is a mix of housing types.

“We also want to make sure that none of the buildings are so tall that it dominates the existing housing.”

Planning officials are recommending the scheme for approval at a meeting next Tuesday.

If it goes through the council will market the site to developers.