We were founded in May 2025, and our name signifies our philosophy: We all need space to breathe. We recognise that developments have to go ahead, new houses have to be built, and people deserve affordable homes in the communities where they want to live. However, what we object to, is Sheffield City Council destroying the green belt land in the centre of our village, just to sell the land for a high price, when there are many brown-field sites, and more suitable urban and rural sites available.

Despite what the Council believes, no developer will make money from building on this field. It’s been looked at many times before. The land is boggy, has poor access, is sloped, has a river and wildlife, requires buffer zones, and is right in the very middle of the village. It’s like trying to build on the village green, in the middle of the duck pond.

We have a small task force of 11 people and a membership of 253. If you would like to get involved in the task force you would be most welcome. Please email Julie Harris or David Thornton

Our Time LIne

Friday 2nd May
In response to the Strategy and Resources Council Group vote to recommend the Sheffield Plan, and the inclusion of our horse-field in the development, we got going. We set up our WhatsApp group and our Public Facebook Page “Wharncliffe Side – Let’s Breathe”

Wednesday 7th May
We held a public meeting for villagers to share their thoughts and decide if we wanted to object to the plan. 160 villagers turned up, and we also welcomed the Deputy Leader of the Council and our two local councillors, Mark and Janet.

Thursday 8th May
With an incredibly tight deadline, many villagers sent in statements ahead of the Friday morning deadline. These statements are for the forthcoming council meeting, to be held on Wednesday 14th May, when the Council propose to vote for the plan, and the removal of our field’s greenbelt status.

Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th May
Hundreds of villagers came out into the sunshine to show the Council how many of us use our field and what a special place we think it is. We took pictures, filmed video and drone footage for future use, and stood shoulder to shoulder, young and old alike.

Monday 12th May
We issued our first press release, and the BBC got in touch. We wrote to our MP (Marie Tidball) explaining the worry and upset caused by the inclusion of the field, and asking for a meeting with her to discuss the field’s unsuitablity for development should the Council choose to vote it through on Wednesday. We launched our little film following our weekend meet-up.

Wednesday 14th May
The day of the council vote arrives… and press interest in our field is on the up, with four media requests received in the last 24 hours. Many villagers are planning to watch and listen to the Council meeting this afternoon. It is important to note that our green belt stays in place, protecting our field, until the end of the process in 2026, after consultation, and after the Government has examined the plan. So – remember – whichever way the vote goes today, we are still protected (for now), with chance to remove ourselves from the list through consultation and subsequent amendments to the plan.

The Council voted to adopt the Sheffield Plan, and the countdown to the consultation period has begun.

May – July 2025
Thousands of people from across the City wrote in and objected to the development, and in Wharncliffe Side hundreds joined in. We were missed out of the planning officer consultation meetings in our village, but Wharncliffe Side – Let’s Breathe, in collaboration with Janet Ridler and John Booker (councillors) managed to get a special meeting held in Brightholmlee Chapel. Local residents got the opportunity to meet the Sheffield Planning Department and officers and discuss their proposals.

October 2025
Representatives from our group were invited to give evidence to the Government Inspectors at a special hearing held at the Showroom in Sheffield. The meeting was videoed by the Council and is available on You Tube along with the rest of the hearings. We came away from the morning session feeling that we had got our message across and the Government Inspectors understood the importance of the Horse Field to the villagers.

January 2026
Unfortunately we were wrong! The Government Inspectors appeared to completely ignore the thousands of objections and the evidence given to them first hand, and ruled that the Sheffield Plan was legal and sound and could move forward to a full Council vote for approval in the Summer.

February 2026
We launched our revised plan / strategic aims in light of SCC ongoing plan to remove our Green Belt protection.