Plans to build two new massive warehouses in Yorkshire - creating 600 jobs - approved

The warehouses will be built off Sheffield Road, Hoyland, next to the 363,000sq ft Hemes hub which is due to open next year.

The new warehouses could create up to 600 jobs, according to plans submitted to Barnsley Council’s planning department by Newlands Developments.

They will have a combined floorspace of 41,900 sq.m, and would include 289 car parking spaces, 105 HGV spaces, and 42 bike spaces.

A report considered by the planning board states that: “significant engineering operations are being undertaken on the application site itself to create the platforms that are necessary for future development to come forward.”

Permission for the engineering works was granted during Hermes application.

Twenty letters of objection were submitted, on the grounds of increased traffic and congestion, air quality and pollution, loss of habitat and greenspace, construction noise and dust, loss of value of property, and health and safety of residents.

Andrew Burton, planning officer at Barnsley Council, told the meeting that objections had been received from residents on the grounds of increased congestion on the roads, air quality, pollution, loss of habitat and countryside, construction noise and dust, and drainage concerns.

Mr Burton added that Tankersley Parish Council had objected, mainly on the grounds of an increase of traffic using Tankersley Lane.

“The principle of development has already been established,” added Mr Burton.

Joe Jenkinson, head of planning at BMBC, told the meeting: “It’s very exciting to see the commercial market start moving in that direction in Barnsley, because if you go back 10 years, it was really about minimising costs.

“We’re looking at a proposal that’s a nine per cent reduction in floor space. The whole idea behind this is that if we put the spine road through the middle of the site, that provides a very direct route to Junction 36 of the M1 and the HGVs will be using that junction.

“The parish council have never been happy with the decision that was made at the outline stage. We are not yet aware of who the occupiers are going to be.”

Access to the site will be taken from the new link road that is currently under construction to the Hermes warehouse, which planning documents say will reduce noise for residents along Sheffield Road.

Planning documents state: “With a recent Guardian article highlighting Barnsley as one of the places staging the fastest recovery, in large part due to Hermes committing to building its largest warehouse in Europe we believe it is important to build upon this and deliver additional jobs and investment in the borough.

“There will be some detrimental impacts to residential amenity, but these will be temporary for the most part, although a small number of residents on Sheffield Road and Parkside Farm will experience impacts on visual amenity in the longer term, which will be mitigated to some degree as landscaping matures.

“Environmental considerations are broadly neutral in that the negative impacts offset the identified positive elements. On this basis, the proposal is deemed a sustainable form of development and is acceptable in planning terms.”