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The traditional image of Barnsley as an old-fashioned Yorkshire mining town with its head buried firmly in the past is rapidly vanishing. The days of Arthur Scargill, cloth caps and whippets are gone.
Architect Will Alsop’s bold vision of Barnsley as a Tuscan hill town attracted much ill-informed ridicule when it was first revealed a couple of years ago, but this vision had much to recommend it.
Barnsley was a key manufacturing centre in the industrial revolution of the 19th century and there is no reason why it cannot flourish again. A willing and committed workforce, excellent communications in the heart of Yorkshire and pioneering development partnerships between the private and public sector can all combine to make the town great again.
One such partnership is already bearing fruit. Plans for a major new £40 million business park in Barnsley by leading Yorkshire property developers Sterling Capitol have been approved by Barnsley Metropolitan Council and work on the business park is now well underway.
The 36-acre business park, which is situated by Junction 37 of the M1, will create over 800 new jobs. It is a classic mixed-use scheme, featuring 450,000 sq ft of quality office and industrial space, plus a new hotel and ancillary facilities, and provision for a 250-space park-and-ride facility.
This prestigious park, which is being built in conjunction with a new by-pass for the village of Dodworth, is transforming the area north west of Junction 37 of the M1.
Work is nearing completion on the new by-pass and the park’s infrastructure. Meanwhile construction of a speculative first phase of high quality hybrid units ranging from 2,000 sq ft to 8,000 sq ft and Grade A offices from 4,000 sq ft to 30,000 sq ft is now well advanced. Units will be available for occupation from July this year.
Deals have been confirmed with hotel group Ramada Encore for a 120-bed hotel at the front of the site and with Toby Inns for an adjacent pub and restaurant.
Regeneration specialists Priority Sites, who are building Grade A office accommodation in units ranging from 5,000 to 30,000 sq ft, believe these are ideally located to serve local and regional markets.
Graham Sadler, senior development manager of Priority Sites, commented: “Our ultimate aim is always to provide a top quality specification that will attract prosperous occupiers who will boost the local economy.”
The development has been supported by a £2.65m public sector grant from Objective One and has been carefully planned and brought forward working closely with Renaissance South Yorkshire, Yorkshire Forward and Barnsley Development Agency.
Martin Croxen, the chief executive of Sterling Capitol, commented: “This is a very exciting scheme for Barnsley, a town with a proud industrial past and a great future. We are delighted to be involved in a development which will assist in the regeneration of one of South Yorkshire’s most important towns”.
“As developers Sterling Capitol have a proven track record in delivering highly successful business parks in prime motorway locations in Yorkshire. Capitol Park Thorne and Capitol Park Leeds have revitalised their communities and created more than 2,500 jobs between them. I have every confidence that Capitol Park Barnsley will be equally successful,” said Mr Croxen.
The agents for the development are the Leeds and Sheffield offices of Knight Frank.
Mike Dove, the partner in charge of Knight Frank’s Leeds office, commented: “Sterling Capitol have established an enviable reputation as developers who deliver. Their development is excellent news for Barnsley and excellent news for South Yorkshire, because it will provide jobs and business opportunities across all sectors”.
“There are imaginative plans to transform Barnsley into a market town for the 21st century and Capitol Park Barnsley will be the perfect complement to this. The future is bright for this proud and historic town,” he added.
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