Below are two demo letters. You could use the text from either one of these as the basis for your own responses. Make sure you add your own personal points into the letter rather than just copying the whole thing!
First a more relaxed and informal style letter, and then below that a more detailed response example. Hopefully these will give you some of your own ideas.
Demo Letter 1: Relaxed informal and personal style
OBJECTION TO SITE NWS31 (Horse Field, Wharncliffe Side)
To: Strategic Planning
5th Floor, Howden House, Sheffield, S1 2SH
Email: sheffieldplan@sheffield.gov.uk
Dear Planning Inspector,
I’m writing to object to the plan to build houses on Site NWS31 – the Horse Field between Storth Lane and School Lane in Wharncliffe Side. I live nearby and walk past this field every day. I’m not part of any group or business, I just care deeply about where I live.
I don’t think this plan is legal. The field is in an area which is important to wildlife and nature. The council is supposed to protect places like this. But they still want to build on it. That breaks national planning laws that say heritage must be taken seriously.
Parts of this field also flood. I’ve seen it myself. The council is meant to stop building in flood areas like this, but I don’t think they’ve done proper checks.
There are already problems with local roads and buses. Our village has had lots of new houses built in the past few years, but we haven’t had more buses or GP places to go with them. The council’s own plan says they don’t plan to improve our services here. So how will more people live here safely?
The field is part of our local life. I walk my children to school past it every day. It’s calm, peaceful, and full of wildlife. I’ve seen deer, owls, bats, frogs, and even fox cubs. There are wildflowers everywhere in summer. You can hear the birdsong. If you build here, that will all be gone.
The Horse Field links Glen Howe Park with the River Don. Together, they form a space where nature can move and grow. If you break that up with houses, the animals will disappear.
The field is also used by many people for walking, dog-walking and quiet time. For those of us with health issues, it’s one of the only places nearby that’s flat and easy to access. A lot of other green space around here is on steep hills or is private farmland.
We’ve not been properly asked what we think. Many people didn’t even know the site was being added to the plan. That doesn’t feel fair or honest. It’s like our voices don’t matter.
This plan would take away a special space that means a lot to our community. It will bring more traffic, more flood risk, and more pressure on our village. But it will not bring better services or a better life.
Please protect our green space and remove Site NWS31 from the Local Plan.
Kind regards,
__________________________________________
Demo letter 2: a more detailed response
OBJECTION TO SITE NWS31 (Horse Field, Wharncliffe Side)
Strategic Planning
5th Floor
Howden House
Sheffield
S1 2SH
sheffieldplan@sheffield.gov.uk
Dear planning inspector
I wish to make a representation on a specific proposed site allocation. That of NWS31, Land between Storth Lane and School Lane, 35 0DT. I am a local resident, not representative of any organisation or private company.
I do not consider the Local Plan to be legally compliant or sound. I do not think that the Local Plan complies with the duty to co-operate.
Why I think the plan is illegal
The council’s Heritage Impact Assessment acknowledges that NWS31 is situated within the Wharncliffe Side Conservation Area. But the Council still proposes development with a vague ‘landscape buffer’.
This doesn’t meet the legal requirements under the NPPF and Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas Act 1990), which say that local authorities must give great weight to protecting heritage settings.
NWS11 is a level 2 flood risk in some parts. The area is currently being used for tree planting initiatives and natural flood mitigation; disturbing this work may have serious consequences on Outibridge and Kelham Island.
Local residents feel the site was added to the plan without proper consultation or notice. Engagement has been minimal and dismissive. This goes against the Council’s Statement of Community Involvement, and also fails the legal duty to co-operate with local stakeholders and the parish council.
Why I think the plan is unsound
There is no clear reason why this greenfield site was chosen over others. The plan does not provide enough evidence to show that this is the best option when alternatives exist. That makes it unsound, as it has not been “justified” properly under national policy tests.
NWS31 connects Glen Howe Park and the River Don, forming part of a wildlife corridor used by deer, owls, and bats. Building here would fragment habitats and destroy a local green buffer, which contradicts Sheffield’s declaration of an ecological emergency and goes against the Biodiversity Net Gain principle in national planning policy. That makes the allocation inconsistent with national policy, and therefore unsound.
Flood risk hasn’t been addressed. The field is sloped, regularly waterlogged and lies above the river. Tarmacking it risks worsening surface water flooding for nearby homes and Glen Howe Park. The plan does not include a detailed flood assessment or explain how this risk will be managed, making it unsound and potentially undeliverable.
Local infrastructure cannot support new housing. The area has already grown significantly due to housing development in recent years and the council have stated in their Infrastructure Delivery Plan – Part 2 Schedule Addendum v2.1 that they have no plans to improve infrastructure in this area. This is unsound.
The field is a quiet, well-loved green space that brings health, beauty and community identity to Wharncliffe Side. Its removal would irreversibly change the village. The plan does not explain how this loss will be replaced or mitigated, showing it is not positively prepared and lacks social sustainability.
My personal experiences of using the field
I walk in this field every morning after dropping my kids off at school. It’s one of the only accessible open spaces that we have. As much of our surrounding area is privately owned farmland, or inaccessible to people with chronic illnesses such as myself.
Each morning I see animals such as deer or moles. And I have even seen bats and shrews. The field has an abundance of wild flowers and butterflies and is an important buffer between Glenn Howe Park, (one of the most beautiful places I have been to) and the rest of the village.
I once walked down to Glenn Howe Park in a storm, and I feared for my safety. As the path leading down to the field became a small river. At the bottom of Glenn Howe, it was completely flooded coming above my boots. I had to wade through, hoping that I didn’t get swept over. I’ve also seen how damp and boggy the field gets in winter.
The field is surrounded by natural flood mitigation and tree planting efforts, because it is so widely known to the environmental departments in the council that this area contributes to flooding further down in the valley.
I ask that Site NWS31 be removed from the Local Plan.
Yours sincerely
WHARNCLIFFE SIDE RESOURCES 