Sheffield’s Local Plan has been delayed again after planning inspectors requested further information and another public consultation on proposed green belt development. The consultation runs until 26 October, potentially postponing councillors’ final decision by several months and extending uncertainty over the city’s development strategy.

The plan proposes more than 3,500 homes, schools and cemeteries across 14 green belt sites, with most development concentrated in two postcodes. Labour and Green councillors support it, arguing that rejecting the plan could bring higher housing targets and poorer-quality applications, while Liberal Democrats oppose it; campaigners welcome the delay as a temporary safeguard for farmland and wildlife.