We stand together to defend our hill fort !
Save our Open Space
STOP any more building on Wincobank Hill

Application Reference: 11/03972/FUL
Erection of 22 dwelling-houses and 4 apartments including  associated car parking and landscaping on land to the rear of 21- 99 Beacon Road and land adjoining 131 Sandstone Road, Sheffield, S9 1AB.

Please continue to make your views known about the importance of our Open Space.


Many thanks to all who have pulled together to protect this ancient heritage site but we cannot afford to rest in our campaign to draw attention to the risk of losing the remains of the Roman Ridge.  We don't want them excavated by builders and lodged in a cardboard box in a warehouse - we want the ground to rest as it is so that generations more can walk the path of our ancesters. 

250 Sheffielders signed a petition and so far 130 individuals letters of objection have been logged from all over the country as well as weighty letters from the Love Wincobank Campaign and Friends of Wincobank Hill (full letter from FoWH) can be downloaded at the foot of this page) .  We have had extensive coverage from our local newspaper The Star, BBC Radio Sheffield and also Heritage Weekly a heritage e-zine whose editors picked up our story from The Star and immediately relayed the campaign across the world wide web. 

Support has been pledged by all our local MPs: David Blunkett, Angela Smith, Clive Betts and Meg Munn and local Councillor Peter Price has spoken out in the strongest terms.  We feel sure that other Elected Members support our campaign which depends on the Sheffield City Council upholding the designation of Open Space granted under the Unitary Development Plan. We hope that the Planning Committee will agree that enough is enough and will stand strong and defend our Heritage.

65 local residents and supporters of Wincobank Hill attended a Public Meeting on Monday 23rd January 2012 where local hero Brendan Ingle, trainer of champions and champion of Wincobank received warm applause for his words of encouragement, his ongoing commitment to Wincobank and faith in our community. His daughter Bridget has campaigned tirelessly to rally the troops to defend our hill fort and in keeping with the wishes of the people who houses perch precariously on a steep hillside beside an ageing reservoir.  There is great anxiety about the impact on other housing if the bulldozers get to work. 

Even the anonymous Hard2Reach has eloquently argued the case on Sheffield Forum and Ron Clayton, defender of Sheffield Castle (you do know we have a castle, don't you?) is flying the Wincobank flag.

We expect this application to go before the Planning Committee in early April.
You may still lodge objections through the planning online portal at www.sheffield.gov.uk/planning   under the reference 11/03972/FUL

Our objections are:  
The land is identified in the Sheffield Unitary Plan as designated Open Space in an area of significant bio-diversity of scientific interest.
The site is of historic interest being on the line of the Roman Rig/Ridge, in close proximity to the scheduled monument: the Iron age Wincobank Hillfort.  Excavation into the side of the hill could destroy or disturb important archaeological evidence
The hill is known to be “porous”.  At times of sustained heavy rain, streams appear for short periods which flood streets and gardens. Building further housing could well aggravate this situation.
Alternative brown field development sites are available elsewhere in the area.
The development will further impact on the visual context of the hill from the south, devaluing an important tourism asset for the city.
Any development would have a sustained negative impact on local residents due to works traffic, land disturbance and water drainage.

Write your own letter including any of the above objections with which you agree or, if this says it all for you, just copy and paste the above objections into the planning online portal at www.sheffield.gov.uk/planning 
Don't delay - have your say! 
Letter of objection from Friends of Wincobank Hill to the Planning Officer: FoWH to HBaxter11_03972_FUL[1].doc

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