Plans for new Lidl set to be refused

The German discount retailer submitted plans for a new store on Sheffield Road, off the Birdwell Roundabout, with a new access off Cross Keys Lane.

Developer DPP planning said that the site will “provide a multi-million-pound investment into the area, and will provide a range of great value products that are high quality at a low price, helping to diversify and increase shopping choice within the area”.

The new store would create 40 full time equivalent jobs once opened, with “hourly pay above the National Living Wage”.

However, the scheme was met with opposition from residents, ward councillors and Tankersley Parish Council.

The plans are due to be decided by Barnsley Council’s planning board on December 20 – and planning officers have recommended that the scheme is refused.

A total of 25 objections were lodged by residents, with concerns raised about the impact of the access on road and pedestrian safety and, conflict with vehicles accessing the Cross Keys public house.

Residents also raised concerns about noise, disturbance and air pollution from delivery lorries; loss of greenspace; impact on house prices and possible impact on the Cross Keys pub.

The council’s highways department have objected to the scheme, due to a “lack of information on vehicular swept paths and bridge construction and because the vehicle tracking shows that vehicles emerging from the site would have to traverse the opposite side of the Cross Keys Lane.”

Tankersley Parish Council raised concerns around traffic, pollution and “inadequate infrastructure around Tankersley and the M1 junction”

Councillor Chris Lamb and former Councillor Jim Andrews also objected to the application on the grounds of road safety, noise and disturbance to homes on Regent Court, lack of space on the site, and impact on residents from floodlighting on the car park.

The officer report concludes that any benefits from the new store would be “outweighed by the adverse impact on highway safety and the loss of greenspace; and the lack of information to demonstrate that the proposal would not harm vitality and viability of the local centre at Hoyland Common, residential amenity of adjacent dwellings, the character and appearance of the area.