Land row erupts again over town store project

When Barnsley-based firm Dransfield Properties began its project to build a new Tesco supermarket in Penistone there was outrage from many residents, who complained that the land used for the new supermarket would take up part of the site traditionally used for the Penistone Show – billed as the biggest one-day agricultural show in the North.

Property developer Yorkshire Land Ltd tried to challenge Barnsley Council’s decision to sell the land to rival developer Dransfield Properties, arguing that compensatory green space should be provided, but the claim was dismissed by the High Court.

Penistone Town Council then voted to apply for village green status for the area earmarked for Tesco – but later held back after discussions with organisations including Dransfield Properties and Barnsley Council.

As a “goodwill gesture”, Dransfield Properties offered to buy a piece of land near the showground and then sell it on to Barnsley Council, which would allow the land to be used by the people of Penistone for recreation.

However, it has now come to light that sale never went ahead and locals never got the land they expected in return for giving up part of the town’s historic showground.

Penistone resident Trevor Myers, 62, said: “I’m very angry that they believed that the typical local in Penistone doesn’t care about what happens in their name.

“People should have been told about the fact that the sale wasn’t going to happen.

“They thought, with the acclimatisation of Tesco into Penistone, we’d all look the other way.”

The Tesco store opened in August last year and the annual Penistone show went ahead the following month, with many people believing that the land in question had been sold to Barnsley Council as planned.

It has now emerged that the sale was never completed because Yorkshire Land had first option to buy the land that Dransfield Properties wanted to buy and sell to Barnsley Council.

They then exercised that option, leaving Barnsley Council without the chance to buy the plot.

A spokesman for Dransfield Properties said: “The compensatory package, which was fully compliant with Government guidance and delivered in full, was upheld at the High Court.

“As a gesture of goodwill we tracked down the landowners of the paddock land in Penistone, who lived in Germany, and purchased the land with a view to conveying it to the local authority.

“Both ourselves, Barnsley Council and the town council were aware that the land was fettered, as Yorkshire Land had an option to purchase. We did not believe they would exercise that option, however they did, and all parties were aware of this.”

A Barnsley Council spokesman added: “The council was prepared to acquire the land.

“The basis upon which the land would become available or not was a private matter between two other commercial parties and nothing to do with the council.”

One of the organisers of the Penistone Show, Liz Walker, said: “Penistone is always right on the end of Barnsley Council’s ‘to do’ list as we haven’t got the social problems of some other areas.

“This mess is absolutely typical. People have got intentions, but it’s a lot harder to make them come true.”