Ecclesfield is an ancient historical village, featured in the Domesday Book. It has a superb Grade 1 listed church as well as the remains of the Priory where the monks once lived. In the 12th century, Ecclesfield was the most important church in a region of more than 100 square miles. The village has grown in the past 60 years and is already struggling with traffic, medical services, public transport and facilities. Further housing would need to be considered very carefully. The village is still surrounded by greenfields, much within the protected Green Belt.

Sheffield is proposing that the existing city plan should be increased by a further 3,539 houses and a huge proportion of these have been "allocated" to Ecclesfield and Grenoside - 1,494 new houses . The consequence will be a 50% increase in the population. There is no way such a huge number can possibly be integrated into Ecclesfield without wrecking all services; that these will all be in the Green Belt makes everything completely unacceptable removing land which is actively farmed for food production, teeming with wildlife and with public footpaths for use by the population. Rather than these new houses being welcomed with a welcome for new people moving to Ecclesfield, the village will be wrecked and become a place to avoid.

Ecclesfield has been my home for all my life and my Grandfather farmed Parson Cross, Doe Royd and Southey until the new houses started in 1935. The Green Belt is there precisely to prevent further urban sprawl and to retain the identity of the villages of Grenoside and Ecclesfield.

Together, we can make a difference for Ecclesfield, its residents, and nature. Sign the petition today.