WILDLIFE campaigners have protested against plans to build 120 new homes on a greenfield site next to Yorkshire woodland.

More than 100 people demonstrated against the application to build in Doncaster on Saturday.

Many joined in with a rendition of All Things Bright and Beautiful as they highlighted that the Sheffield City Region had declared a climate emergency in 2019.

Geoff Cox, chair of the South Yorkshire Climate Alliance, said: “The climate emergency is here now.

“We are losing acres and acres of Amazon, and forest all around the world.

“So it might have been the right thing to do 40 years ago, but it isn’t the right thing to do now.”

Labour councillor Majid Khan added: “Residents need housing, affordable, good-quality housing, but it needs to be suitably placed not to put extra strain on existing facilities.”

Miller Homes has submitted a revised application to Doncaster Council to build at Rose Hill, Bessacarr, after its initial bid was refused amid concerns over loss of open space and extra traffic in April.

The field is next to Sandall Beat Woods and Doncaster Racecourse at Rose Hill and is currently a green space used by the public and a wildlife habitat.

It was farmed in the past before being left to go fallow and has since naturally “rewilded” over 30 years.

Rose Hill was formerly owned by Doncaster Council but became part of the Local Plan in 2017, marking it for development.

The council said: “The allocation of this site has been through a robust and comprehensive process as part of the more recent Local Plan process.”

Miller Homes said its plans met the policy requirement to deliver a 10 per cent biodiversity net gain and were backed by traffic surveys.