Barnsley rejects Carlton housing

Plans for 215 homes in one of the borough’s key development areas have been refused, although there was better luck for Honey’s 95-home plans in Goldthorpe and RMH’s Staincross project.

Planning officers had recommended refusal for the Network Space proposal for land north of Shaw Lane, Carlton, an application that had attracted 32 letters of objection.

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The developer put forward plans for an 18.7-acre plot, currently open land, which forms part of a mixed-use allocation in the Carlton masterplan framework, an area expected to accommodate upward of 1,500 homes in total.

The sticking point has been access: it is acknowledged in the Carlton masterplan that Shaw Lane does not have the capacity to support a project, and thus any new housing coming forward needs to be accessed from Royston Lane, to the north – something that isn’t yet possible for this plot.

Concerns were also raised around drainage, density and if enough attention had been paid to the nearby protected wetlands.

Honey, the Sheffield-based, private equity-backed developer, secured its first Yorkshire consent at the same committee meeting. The firm intends to deliver 95 two-, three- and four-bedroom homes on an eight-acre site north of Barnburgh Lane, Goldthorpe.

Work will begin this month on a project billed as Iris, with the first completions in summer 2024. Chief executive Mark Mitchell said “We are very pleased to now be in a position to start building our first ever development in Yorkshire.

“Iris will showcase the style, substance and sustainability of the type of homes we will deliver on future sites that we acquire throughout the county and beyond.”

Mitchell was formerly chief executive of Avant Homes and is backed by Alchemy Partners.

The Iris projectnfound favour with the committee. Credit: Homes by Honey

Approval was also secured by RMH Properties for a triangular plot off Paddock Road, close to Mapplewell Park in Staincross.

To one side of the site is an area of allotments and open grassland consented for 239 homes.

The local developer has put forward a scheme of some variety, with 25 different home types included among the 45 dwellings, from one-bedroom apartments to a six-bedroom house. Nine homes will be affordable, meeting the 20% threshold.

Although 46 objections were made, officers found the plan solid on planning grounds, and committee agreed, resolving to grant approval.