Councillors turn down DIY store plan

Councillors threw out the plan at a meeting of Sheffield Council’s City Centre, South and East Planning and Highways Area Board. B&Q wanted to alter the terms of its planning agreement to allow the store to sell food instead DIY goods and garden items.

Developers argued the new foodstore, on the B&Q depot on Greenland Road, would mean local people wouldn’t have to travel so far and so would be more environmentally friendly. But officers recommended councillors refuse the plans.

They said the developers had failed to demonstrate the new foodstore was needed and added that, if approved, it would harm Darnall centre and put it at risk of future investment.

Council bosses want to see more development in the centre of Darnall, rather than on its outskirts.

Planning chief Les Sturch told the meeting: “There are signs in Darnall of real investment.”

But Coun John Hesketh warned turning away developers was a risky undertaking: “We have been starved of investment in this city.”