PLANS to bring the the market back into the heart of Hoyland are expected to be submitted this month.

 

Barnsley Council has been working for more than a year with developer Resilienti on the scheme and is due submit a planning application in early May.

It will see enhancements to the public square, a new set of permanent market stalls and a mix of food and non-food retail units. There will also be an 80-space car park on the site of the former health centre.

The National Market Trader's Federation, based at Hawshaw Lane, said the scheme was "excellent news."

Spokesman Roy Holland said: "For many years the federation has been saying that markets should be at the heart of towns and cities. This was reinforced by the government-commissioned Mary Portas review into the future of our high streets.

"Gradually, the more enlightened local authorities are seeing the sense of putting markets right in the centre of things rather than tucking them away behind a shopping centre, car park or down a side street.

"From my experience Barnsley Council has always been extremely supportive of its markets operation, and these proposals for Hoyland demonstrate that commitment."