Long-awaited £125m market project set take step forward

Barnsley Council says its Marketplace Barnsley plans, which involve building a new market hall, department store, seven-screen cinema, shops and restaurants, is the “most important town centre redevelopment initiative” currently underway.

However, the project has already fallen behind schedule since a new agreement with developers the 1249 Regeneration Partnership was signed in March this year.

At that time, it was hoped that the 4.5 hectare development would be completed by 2015 - but latest papers suggest “early 2016” is the most ambitious date for the market to open.

Even if the regeneration project is completed by 2016, it will be a full five years behind the original schedule, which would have seen building work beginning in 2008 and the development being finished in 2011.

Documents for what was then called the Barnsley Markets Project were first drawn up in 2006 and signed by Barnsley Council, regional development agency Yorkshire Forward and the 1249 Regeneration Partnership.

But by 2008 the idea had stalled in the recession, and the demise of Yorkshire Forward left council bosses in an even more difficult situation, as it owned some of the land required for the development.

Now, members of Barnsley Council’s economy and skills scrutiny commission are set to meet with representatives from the 1249 Regeneration Partnership next Monday, July 23 to try and drive the project forward.

Papers set to go before that meeting say that councillors will be looking “at the redevelopment of the town centre and, in particular, whether it is on track and if it is going to be the springboard for reviving the local economy.”

That report, written by Barnsley Council’s borough secretary Andrew Frosdick, says the markets development is vital for the future of Barnsley, which has “higher unemployment and lower rates of employment than the national average.”

Mr Frosdick’s report goes on: “It is also more dependent on public sector employment than other, more prosperous, areas.

“This public sector employment is likely to fall significantly as the financial reductions begin to bite.

“As a consequence, we need to promote private sector economic growth in order to help reduce the current high rate of unemployment and also to create jobs.”

For more than 10 years, the report says, Barnsley Council has been “committed to creating a 21st-century market town.”

It adds: “The most important town centre redevelopment initiative is Marketplace Barnsley.

“It involves the construction of a major new complex to replace the Metropolitan Centre, which was built in the early 1970s.

“As well as providing new market stalls in a new market hall, it will include a large flagship department store, a range of other shops, restaurants and a multi screen cinema. There will also be car parking for 800 cars.

“Planning consent for the development was granted in September 2011 and the revised development agreement signed in March 2012.”

Major retailers have already confirmed that they want to open up branches in the new shopping centre, the report says, while Debenhams have signed a 25-year lease to become Barnsley’s first anchor department store.

Cinema giant Odeon has also signed a 15-year lease on the cinema aspect of the development, while other chains set to open shops within Marketplace Barnsley include fashion retailer H&M.

Mr Frosdick’s report adds: “The redevelopment of the town centre and especially the Marketplace Barnsley project should be of real benefit to the borough as a whole, with rising trade leading to more prosperity and growth elsewhere.”

Next Monday’s meeting will be held at Barnsley Town Hall.