Houses threat to green belt
Planners were worried that builders were targeting greenfield sites instead of Rotherham's stock of former industrial land.
So three years ago they introduced a moratorium on green belt development in an effort to persuade builders to use more 'brown' sites.
Now Rotherham Council could be on the verge of scrapping the ban after being told the town needs up to 5,000 new homes in the next five years.
A planning spokesman said: "It is clear we cannot demonstrate a five-year supply of housing land without releasing greenfield sites.
"Some greenfield sites which could contribute to Rotherham's regeneration agenda, and which have not been released due to the moratorium, would become available for redevelopment subject to all other matters being acceptable."
A decision to scrap the moratorium is expected to please some developers who objected to it in the first place.
The Home Builders Federation and Mexborough-based developers Ben Bailey Homes said it would fall foul of new government rules on house building which called for more green belt land to be used to meet the country's housing needs.
They warned the council would be unable to meet Rotherham's own housing needs without some green belt development.
But the moratorium was backed by the Campaign to Protect Rural England which said it was alarmed at the
erosion of the green belt across the UK.
A housing scheme at Thorpe Hesley was thrown out by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott because part of it was in the green belt. Mr Prescott said Rotherham had a good stock of reclaimed industrial land which should be used first for house building.
Planning officials said any development scheme on green belt land faced being vetted by the Deputy Prime Minister and would almost certainly be rejected.
The planning spokesman said:"The idea of the moratorium was to contribute to the renewal and regeneration of derelict land and areas blighted by it."