Millers' housing estate plan rejected

Sheffield Council’s planning department has rejected an outline application for the construction of up to 160 new homes, along with access, landscaping, and other associated works, on the former 5.6-hectare Rotherham United site on Bawtry Road.

In a planning statement, the applicant, Barratt & David Wilson Homes, said: “The site was previously used for recreation and sports purposes, but historic aerial photography regression suggests that the site has not been laid out, or used as, a playing pitch for over a decade.”

According to the report, the development was expected to support the employment of 556 people, including apprentices, and could generate £4.3 million in tax revenue, along with around £322,000 in local council tax.

A design and access statement further explained that “the site is not currently accessible and therefore there are significant opportunities to create walking routes and amenity spaces for the benefit of the wider community.”

The document also noted that the site is in a suitable, sustainable, and deliverable location, and the development would help support a range of local services.

However, the council’s planning department decided against this application.

In a decision notice uploaded onto the planning portal on the ground that the development would “result in the loss of playing fields, which are not demonstrably surplus to requirements and no appropriate replacement playing fields have been proposed to compensate for this loss”.