The Parish Council has been continuing to liaise with Barnsley MBC and other stakeholders regarding the Hoyland West Master Plan issue.
The Parish Council has taken the following actions in Response to the Proposed Partial Closure of Tankersley Lane by Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council (BMBC):
A component part of the BMBC Hoyland West Masterplan and the planning application for the Hermes Warehouse development on land near Tankersley Lane was the proposal for the partial closure of Tankersley Lane east of the motorway bridge. The Parish Council (PC) was concerned about the potential implications for local residents and businesses at Hoyland Common and therefore undertook the following actions:
1 Encouraged residents to complete the BMBC online survey on the Hoyland West development and respond to the planning application for the Hermes site. The PC was disappointed with BMBC communications to residents about the proposed development – few houses received letters, online communications were sparse – and used its own noticeboards, web site and Facebook page to publicise the proposals. The Hoyland West Masterplan survey results generated a clear majority of respondents in favour of keeping Tankersley Lane open, even though the questions on this issue were unclear due to the way they were phrased.
2 Ran its own survey of residents due to problems with the BMBC survey. This generated over 300 responses with 92% of responses being in favour of keeping Tankersley Lane open.
3 Communicated with the BMBC planning department to make clear these views and lobbied to produce a road traffic solution that would meet these needs.
4 Filed a formal complaint with BMBC on the basis that the views of local residents had not been incorporated in design proposals after BMBC had specifically requested these. The complaint was not upheld by BMBC (see related letter from BMBC on this matter).
5 Liaised with the Reverend Keith Hale, Tankersley St Peter’s Church, who also formally objected to the development and lodged a formal complaint with BMBC about the consultation process. The complaint was not upheld and the Reverend is continuing to pursue this through the BMBC complaints procedure and potentially the Local Government Ombudsman.
6 Liaised with Miriam Cates, MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge, who advised on the legal process for planning applications and how TPC could present its views within this process.
7 Developed a proposal for a straight ahead signal controlled cross roads solution rather than the intended design of T junction intersection with a new spine road that would close access to Hoyland Common along Tankersley Lane.
8 Lobbied local councillors to represent these views at the Full Council Meeting that discussed the Hoyland West Development.
9 Presented this proposal at the Planning and Regulatory Board Meeting of Barnsley Council on the 20-10-20. For those interested in viewing a recording of this meeting, it can be accessed at the URL below:
https://barnsleymbc.moderngov.co.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=136&MId=6468
Neil Thompson, a local resident, presented his objection to the Hoyland West Masterplan development at 21 minutes 07, and Dave Laughton, Vice Chair of Tankersley Parish Council, presented an objection to the partial closure of Tankersley Lane at 24 minutes 07.
The planning application for the Hermes site (including the proposal to partially close Tankersley Lane issue) was passed by 14 votes to 4.
The Parish Council has worked hard over the last few months to persuade BMBC to change part of the design of the Hoyland West Development to meet the needs of local residents. It has put forward an alternative road design that it feels satisfies the needs of both residents and businesses affected by and involved in the new development. Unfortunately BMBC has not accepted this proposal which reflected the wishes of the vast majority of residents in the Tankersley and Pilley area. The PC will continue to pursue the issue but in terms of process there are only a few avenues left, and the work to build the new spine road has already started.
Dave Laughton and Dennis Simpson, Tankersley Parish Council.
Click on this link to see a copy of BMBC’s response to the Parish Council’s letter of complaint: