Planning Consent Secured

Planning Consent Secured for Next Phases of Gateway 36

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Harworth Group has received a resolution to grant planning consent for Phases 2 and 3 of its Gateway 36 employment development, located close to Junction 36 of the M1 in Barnsley. It represents the latest planning success for Harworth as it delivers on its strategy of bringing forward places for people to live and work across the Midlands and North of England.

Barnsley Council has granted consent for up to 1.1m sq. ft of new employment space across 95 acres of land, to be brought forward in two phases which could deliver up to 2,500 jobs for Yorkshire. Adjacent to the Dearne Valley Parkway, a major regional arterial route, the proposed units in both phases will be suitable for light and general industrial use as well as storage and distribution. Consent was also granted for a new link road from the existing Shortwood Roundabout, running south to serve Phase 2, alongside a new roundabout on the Dearne Valley Parkway with an arm to the north to serve Phase 3.

The newly consented development will build on the success of Phase 1 of Gateway 36.  Harworth directly developed 145,248 sq. ft of employment space between 2015 and 2018, comprising four industrial/warehouse units and one drive-thru retail unit.  Five units were leased on a long-term basis to Barnsley Council, Motor Depot and Fieldrose prior to their profitable sale to clients of Mayfair Capital in August 2018.

All three phases of Gateway 36, alongside nearby employment and residential land, have been unlocked as part of a £17.1 million funding package from the Sheffield City Region Investment Fund (SCRIF).   This investment has already funded key improvements to Junction 36 of the M1 to facilitate development, including a dedicated lane from the M1 slip road, preventing queues backing onto the M1 at J36, cutting local traffic jams, and improving bus journey times.

Harworth will now be responsible for undertaking the site’s remediation and restoration works, using its specialist remediation and infrastructure skills to engineer land prior to  it either selling to commercial occupiers or retaining it  for its own direct development programme.

“Receiving this consent following months of detailed work between Barnsley Council and ourselves is a major milestone.  The region’s lack of well-connected employment space close to the motorway network is well documented and we hope to bring both phases forward as quickly as possible to bring new investment and jobs to Barnsley as we did with Phase 1.”

Peter Henry, Regional Director – Yorkshire & Central, Harworth Group plc

“As for our other major schemes across the North of England, the ongoing development of Gateway 36 is strongly supported by a robust public-private partnership, in this case both Barnsley Council’s desire to bring further high value employment to the Borough and Sheffield City Region’s long-term funding commitment to unlock land to support this aim.  Phase 2 and 3 of Gateway 36 could deliver up to 2,500 new jobs and I look forward to the team making this happen.”

Joanne Neville, Planning Manager, Harworth Group plc

www.harworthgroup.com