Campaign cheer as warehouse plans fall

Martin Slack

COUNTRYSIDE campaigners who fought against a scheme for a huge warehouse project have spoken of their delight after developers failed to appeal against a planning refusal.

Proposals for two large distribution warehouses at Bradholme, near Thorne, were thrown out by Doncaster Council last September, after a residents’ protest.

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But it was expected the decision would be opposed by the company behind the plans, PPG Land, which had already dropped one plan in 2008 after an action group was set up.

Members of that group were expecting the refusal against the latest application to be fought by the developers, but a six-month deadline to lodge an appeal has now been missed.

The planning officer at South Yorkshire branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, John King, had been assisting members of the Thorne Against Bradholme group.

He said: “The deadline for an appeal has passed, so the plans are dead in the water. There warehouses would have been over 80ft high, and visible from the flat Humberhead Levels.

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“Employees arriving by car, plus over 1,000 lorry movements a day would have meant a huge increase in traffic and carbon dioxide emissions – so we are really relieved that the distribution centre is not going ahead.”

Despite claiming victory, Mr King also sounded a note of caution over Doncaster Council’s most recent draft planning guidance, which now identifies the area as “strategic employment land”.

He said this fact would make it easier for developers to return with a similar plan at a later date, when members of the council would be more likely to give the scheme permission.

Mr King added: “Of course we support the idea of reducing unemployment, but the council should allocate brownfield sites for warehousing and leave the Humberhead Levels alone.

“This is another example of why Doncaster should expand its green belt east. Without new green belt, all the land near the M18 and M180 could be covered in giant warehouses.”