Plans for flats beside old Treeton school are refused

Church Lane, pictured in 2019, when the games area was still in place behind the wall

Century Grove Ltd was given the green light in 2021 to convert the 19th century former infants building into 14 flats.

The same applicant asked to add a pair of two-bedroom flats on the adjacent land, which was a multi-use games area when the site was previously used by Treeton Youth Enterprise.

Century Grove said the extra housing would be of a high-quality design and well-suited to its location within a conservation area.

The firm’s planning papers added: “The proposed development exceeds all requirements regarding internal and external space and separation distances set out in the South Yorkshire Residential Design Guide and will protect residential amenity by preventing issues such as overlooking between the site and the surrounding residential properties.”

But Rotherham Council refused the proposed development because of “inadequate” highway access on Church Lane.

The authority also cited a lack of shared amenity space for residents of this site and conversion scheme.

There was also a lack of information about the ecological impact of the project, RMBC added.

A previous application for four flats was withdrawn and another for one house was refused in July last year.