We want to see

• green spaces unspoilt by development
• environmentally friendly farming and forestry
• thriving villages and attractive towns, connected by excellent public transport

Our roles include

• Planning watchdog scrutinizing and challenging planning applications, development and transport plans
• Principled campaigners through careful research and raising public awareness
• Supporter of community groups providing knowledge, skills and assistance
• Advocate for high standards in landscape and building design
• Champion of sustainable countryside management

We are a branch of Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) and part of CPRE's Yorkshire and Humber regional group.

We are managed by CPRE Peak District and South Yorkshire, which also manages our sister charity Friends of the Peak District.

Green Belts are one of the most powerful and effective tools for protecting the countryside. Green Belt land is designated by law to

• protect the open character of the countryside next to urban areas
• focus and stimulate regeneration in neglected sites within cities and towns
• stop towns merging into each other
• protect the countryside setting of historic cities and towns

Green Belt land isn't necessarily conventionally beautiful countryside or especially significant for nature conservation. But it is land that is precious because it is open and undeveloped - a place where built development can only take place in the most exceptional circumstances. We believe that if Green Belt land is derelict or unsightly then it should be turned into attractive countryside that will be valuable to people living in nearby towns and cities.

South Yorkshire's Green Belt

It's taken decades of hard campaigning to get the South Yorkshire Green Belt. Without it, Sheffield would have sprawled out into the Peak District in the west. It would have merged eastwards with Rotherham, eventually engulfing Barnsley and Doncaster. However, South Yorkshire's Green Belt is under increasing pressure from developers, and we're constantly campaigning to protect and improve it. 

Full Green Belt for Doncaster!

South Yorkshire's Green Belt still isn't complete. Land to the east of Doncaster isn't designated as Green Belt so it is still vulnerable to development. We're really worried about the huge rise in urban sprawl - including an increase in proposals for housing, storage and distribution developments - down the eastern boundary of Doncaster. We're campaigning for the Green Belt to be extended all the way around Doncaster.

Have your say now - before 20 September!

Doncaster Council is currently formulating its new Local Development Framework and is consulting about the Core Strategy. This sets out the overall plan of development in the Borough. The Core Strategy will also determine what happens to the Green Belt. So far, the draft maintains the boundary and general extent of the Green Belt. We hope that strong public and political support will persuade Doncaster Council that the Green Belt must be expanded in the east - and that it can be done without jeopardising economic growth or new housing needed for local people.

Please tell Doncaster Council that you think the Core Strategy should include Green Belt expansion. The consultation period runs until 20 September. You can view the draft Core Strategy and also make your comments on Doncaster Council's website. You can also make your comments via Doncaster's Public Acccess website.   Your views really could make a difference.

Have a look at our campaign briefing, which includes a sample letter to send to Doncaster Council.

Contact John King and join our Doncaster Green Belt Campaign.

National campaign 

Join CPRE's national campaign for Green Belts. 

All planning applications have to be decided by the local planning authority in your area. And local planning authorities have to publish a range of policies and strategies to guide their decisions. These are based on government guidance, but written by planning officers after consulting local people. They then have to be approved by councillors and planning inspectors.  

The planning system is complicated, and it's also currently changing. But it is crucial that you keep up with any changes in your local authority's over-arching planning policies, and also try to influence any changes in the future.  Otherwise, you could be basing a campaign to fight a development on a policy that is now out of date!

The best way to keep in the loop is to speak to your planning policy unit and ask to be put on your local planning authority's consultation database - especially in relation to the new Local Development Frameworks that are being developed (see below).

• Barnsley
• Doncaster
• Rotherham
• Sheffield

Regional Plans

Every planning application must also comply with a Regional Plan (sometimes called a Regional Spacial Strategy). These describe the region's strategic development and identify things like areas of growth and protection, housing and employment targets, renewable energy targets for each local authority.

South Yorkshire is part of Yorkshire and the Humber region, which adopted its The Yorkshire and Humber Plan in 2008. It is valid until 2026, but it is frequently changed and amended.

Unitary Development Plans - becoming Local Development Frameworks

The four local authorities in South Yorkshire have all had Unitary Development Plans as the main frameworks for deciding planning applications. Unitary Development Plans give details of where developments are allowed including housing, employment and community facilities. They also list places where development is controlled, for instance in nature conservation sites and the countryside. Unitary Development Plans also usually include policies about environmental impacts, affordable housing, flood prevention and use of materials and design. 
 

Over the next couple of years, all these Unitary Development Plans will change to Local Development Frameworks - a new range of related documents. Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield are all at different stages, with Sheffield further ahead than its neighbours. Sheffield has got a Core Strategy now. This is the first stage in replacing its Unitary Development Plan with Local Development Framework.
 

Don't forget to get your name added to your local authority's consultation database so you can potentially influence the new frameworks!

Core Strategies

A key element of the new Local Development Frameworks is the Core Strategy. It contains the main planning policies and lists areas where employment and housing can be limited or encouraged, plus a range of other documents.

Supplementary planning documents

Some things can't be dealt with properly in a Unitary Development Plan, and supplementary planning documents may cover them. New Local Development Frameworks will also include supplementary planning documents covering things like area design statements, design guides and how to identify adequate affordable housing provision. Supplementary planning documents can also make a difference to a planning application, so it's a good idea to be aware of them too. 

More information...

Find out more at CPRE National Office's Planning Help.  

CPRE South Yorkshire wants a thriving countryside, where rural communities have local jobs, services, shops, pubs and homes. We campaign for a living and working countryside with communities that are sustainable and more self-sufficient.

We try to bring this about by

• working on planning applications that affect rural communities
• responding to consultations - national, regional and local – that could have an impact on rural livelihoods and jobs
• supporting initiatives which will help the local economy
• encouraging local food supply chains and local marketing schemes

We link in with other groups that are working to improve rural livelihoods so that we know what is needed, and they know what we can offer. You can see more about our vision in The Future is Rural Too report from the Rural Coalition.

Farming

Farming shapes rural landscapes. We are particularly concerned about the impact of social and economic pressures on upland farming in the South Penines. Across South Yorkshire, we

• lobby locally, regionally and nationally to support policies that will properly reward good farming practices
• work to protect the best and most versatile agricultural land from development and promote its use for agriculture, including energy crops
• support community agricultural schemes such as allotments and other projects that involve people in food production
• try to limit too many equestrian facilities in areas where they don't fit the character of the local landscape and where they will lead to other developments, such as floodlighting or new roads
• support hill farming where it’s the best opportunity to protect local landscapes and wildlife
• support direct and local sales of locally produced food, including farm shops

For more details, have a look at our food and farming policy or get in touch with Carol Robinson. 

Conservation volunteering

Get out and improve the landscapes around Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield. We run regular conservation days supporting the local countryside rangers doing practical things like dry-stone walling, repairing paths, laying hedges and managing woodlands. We'll provide tools and training. There days are extremely popular - so please check with Lindsay Doyle-Price that there are places!

Planning volunteers

Our planning officer John King works with a team of people who scrutinize the lists of planning applications to our four local authorities. Planning volunteers also help with site visits and support John with our responses.

Office and admin help

There are always loads of things that need doing in the office - from stuffing envelopes to helping with our database, research and other really useful admin tasks.

Contact Lindsay Doyle-Price to find out what volunteering opportunities we've got at the moment.  

Help us fundraise

We're also looking for people to help us with our fundraising. Find out more - or contact Danny Anderson for a chat.

Any amount will go directly to funding a current campaign to protect South Yorkshire's countryside, for instance

• £25 could help us campaign to protect an area of countryside from a damaging development
• £100 could help us give a voice to local communities that are facing massive, unsustainable development plans that are already in the pipeline
• £1,000 could help us make the case for protecting a much-loved area of countryside from development at a crucial public inquiry

You can either donate online, or download and print a donation form.

Don't forget that if you are a UK tax payer and you Gift Aid your donation, then each £1 is worth another 25p to us. We will send you a Gift Aid form if you donate online. If you are filling in a downloaded donation form, please don't forget to fill in the Gift Aid section.
 

We have a fantastic team of hard-working and committed volunteers who support our work.

Thanks also to all our conservation volunteers, trustees - and volunteers supporting our sister charity Friends of the Peak District.

But every year our countryside shrinks and fragments under urban sprawl in the shape of new roads, housing and industrial development. Although the planning system is supposed to balance growth with the environment, it is often undermined by the need for new roads, jobs and homes. CPRE South Yorkshire lobbies for development to be steered towards existing urban areas, for our Green Belt land to be protected, and for our countryside to remain - wherever possible - unbuilt on and undisturbed for future generations.  See our planning policy for more information.

Housing

Housebuilding covers more countryside than any other kind of development and creates a range of associated environmental damage, such as climate-changing greenhouse gas emissions, new roads and extra traffic, more strain on water sources, and increased quarrying in the countryside. Government regional targets are currently for nearly 5,000 new houses a year to be built in South Yorkshire. However, the new government is abolishing housing targets altogether and leaving the decisions about how many houses will be built to local authorities.

Whatever happens, we want to stop the countryside being eaten away by new housing and see urban regeneration promoted so that more use is made of previously developed brownfield land instead of greenfields. We also recognise and support the need for affordable housing in suitable locations. Please see our housing policy. Over the last few years we have opposed housing developments at 

• Auckley, east of Doncaster
• Bassingthorpe Farm, Rotherham
• Dinnington, south east of Rotherham
• Hepworths site, Loxley Valley, Sheffield

Warehouses

Another huge threat to South Yorkshire's countryside is the increase in applications for large distribution and storage warehouses. Over recent years developers have been attracted to our region for a number of reasons including flat building land, motorway links and high unemployment levels. We have opposed plans for these giant tin sheds at

• Armthorpe, east of Doncaster
• Rossington Inland Port sout east of Doncaster
• Bradholme Farm near Thorne

Roads

Roads permanently damage the character and tranquillity of an area. The land the road is built upon is destroyed, and a much wider area is also affected by increased noise and traffic. Car dependency is increased, and the viability of local shops, services and public transport in rural areas is  damaged. Building more roads brings further development pressures and generates more traffic. See our tranport policy for more information about where we stand.

We have opposed these road building schemes

• FARRRS Finningley Airport link road
• A57 widening at Todwick

More urban sprawl

We also campaign against other developments that could potentially eat up our countryside and would be better built in towns. The most recent of these is the 12 hectare YES! project at Rother Valley Country Park, right in the middle of Rotherham Green Belt Land.

To find out more about our campaigning work in South Yorkshire, please contact John King.

We back CPRE's Stop the Drop campaign to stop litter and flytipping blighting our countryside and villages. Join Bill Bryson and the campaign to help lobby the authorities for stronger action on litter.

Tell the authorities!

You need to get in touch with your own local council to report litter and fly tipping

• Barnsley
• Doncaster
• Rotherham
• Sheffield 
   
• Highways Agency (for rubbish near motorways and trunk roads)
• Network Rail (for railway land and land between the tracks)
• Environment Agency (for more than a lorry load of flytipping and hazardous waste that threatens humans or the environment)