Housing for Goldthorpe school site after planning inspector's ruling
PERMISSION to build a new estate of homes in Goldthorpe has been granted by a planning inspector after the scheme was originally rejected by Barnsley Council.
The decision means 109 new homes can go up on the site of the old Dearnside Comprehensive School which was demolished more than a decade ago - but none of them will need to be ‘affordable’ homes, meant for rent or shared ownership.
That is because the project has been deemed financially unviable, should the council’s insistence that ten per cent of the properties would be given over to social housing have been kept.
The bulk of the site was earmarked for future housing development under Barnsley’s Local Plan - a blueprint setting out sites for housing and commercial development.
Since then, new pressures have emerged with inflation, interest rates and construction costs all playing a role.
It has also been argued that Barnsley Council cannot demonstrate there is enough building land available for housing, projecting five years ahead - a technical detail which strengthens the case of those applying to build.
The wrangle over the site goes back to 2023, when council planners approved the development, subject to an agreement which included ten per cent of the housing being given over to ‘affordable’ use - but that agreement, known as Section 106, was never completed.
As a result, planning permission was refused, leading to the successful challenge.
However, an inspector has accepted a challenge to that ruling that “planning permission should be granted without delay”.
The decision document explains: “The magnitude of the combined benefits attributed to this development in the context of a five year housing land supply shortfall is considerable, relative to the limited short lived construction phase noise and disruption harm I have identified.”
The inspector described the provision of new private housing as “crucial” and also ruled out objections raised locally about the impact of development on the area as insufficient to count against the scheme.
Under the scheme, 36 two bedroomed homes will be created, with another 55 having three bedrooms - six of those will be bungalows.
Fifteen four bedroomed homes will complete the development.