Proposals to build an electric vehicle charging hub near an ancient wood in Sheffield have met with hundreds of objections.
The plan would see a refuelling and recharging hub for HGVs and commercial vehicles built on Cowley Way, near Smithy Wood in Ecclesfield.
The application will be considered by Sheffield City Council’s planning and highways committee on 7 April, and officers have recommended it for approval.
The opposition to the plan by Aegis Energy includes a petition signed by 273 people with objections from a ward councillor, the parish council and Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust.
A report to the committee said the application refers to a vacant site “within an industrial park setting”, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
It would be built in two phases and when finished would include 68 bays for light commercial vehicles and 35 for HGVs, plus a welfare building, infrastructure and an access route.
The proposal for a third phase involving a multi-storey charging park has been withdrawn, and would therefore require separate planning permission to go ahead in future, the report stated.
Objections refer to the potential impact on Smithy Wood and its wildlife habitats.
Protected species include great crested newts, several bat species, and reptiles such as the slow-worm, common lizard and grass snake.
Objectors also said the development would cause the loss of habitats for skylark, which are on the Red List of most endangered British birds, and significantly harm other bird species.
They said the site was previously rejected for development due to its impact on Smithy Wood and the original reasons for refusal remain valid, but planning officers responded that an M1 service station plan that was refused was for an area of woodland nearby.
Opponents also pointed to adequate existing M1 services provision, possible instability because of past mining operations, additional HGV traffic on local single-carriageway roads, noise and light pollution, and the effect on the nearby Blackburn Valley Trail.
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