A HOUSING developer says it will pull out of Barnsley with the loss of 40 jobs after failing to get its own way in a dispute with the council over the type of driveways laid on its estates.
Gleeson Homes has built hundreds of homes on numerous sites across Barnsley but this week told the Chronicle it won’t build any more ‘ever’ after being told it could not use gravel to surface driveways.
Gleeson flouted planning conditions on four housing estates which are still under construction - Ellwood at Lundwood, Blythe Street Wombwell, Barnburgh Lane Goldthorpe and Lowfield Road Bolton upon Dearne - by laying gravel drives when the planning consent specifically required ‘a solid bound material (ie not loose chippings)’.
The builder then reapplied for planning permission at all four sites but without the condition about the driveways - the council refused all four.
Gleeson had also submitted a fresh application for a further 97 homes at Bolton upon Dearne - the third phase of its existing estate at Lowfield Road - but this was also refused for several reasons including the same issue over driveways.
Gleeson appealed against all five council decisions and lost all five appeals. It could now face enforcement action from the council if it does not replace the driveways it has already laid.
When the Chronicle contacted Gleeson about this issue the firm replied with a scathing statement saying it is pulling out of Barnsley altogether with a loss of 40 jobs.
A spokesman said: “In the past seven years we have built 350 new homes with gravel drives in Barnsley without any complaint. Our investment in Barnsley has exceeded £50m.
“We have 60 sites in the North of England and last year we built 1,000 houses with gravel drives and our customers are happy with our specification. Gravel is an environmentally friendly material that helps to attenuate surface water run-off and its low cost enables us to build low cost homes for first time buyers.
“Ninety-two per cent of our customers are first time buyers and 75 per cent of them are under the age of 35.
“The council clearly don’t want us to build low cost homes for young first time buyers in Barnsley so we are shutting down our Goldthorpe site and mothballing our Bolton on Dearne site; we have withdrawn from the purchase of two other sites.
“The fact that this will result in about 40 redundancies before Christmas is regrettable, with more to follow in the new year. A thousand of our customers a year vote for our specification with their cash; to be dictated-to by a council doesn’t sound like democracy.
“We will not be building any more new homes in Barnsley.”
The Chronicle went back to Gleeson to ask what it meant by ‘shutting down’ the Goldthorpe site and whether it would be left unfinished.
The spokesman responded: “We will be finishing the current houses that we have sold because we don’t want to let down our customers and we will, of course, be finishing the roads and footpaths because this would be the honourable thing to do.”
Asked again whether it would be replacing the gravel drives, and whether it would be building the children’s play area at Bolton which it agreed to as part of the planning consent, the spokesman replied: “This will be our last comment. We will be completing all of the obligations to which we have already agreed but we will not be building any more houses in Barnsley& & ever.”
Coun Roy Miller, a spokesman for the council’s ruling cabinet, said: “I think this is a very unfortunate reaction from a professional company.
“I am somewhat surprised by their reaction, but our door remains open for discussion.”
Speaking before Gleeson issued its statement, Coun Miller had said: “We are pleased to see that the appeals by Gleeson Homes have been dismissed and that the planning inspector supported our opinion, that their gravel driveways are not acceptable.
“These driveways are sometimes allowed elsewhere in the county, but we arrived at our decision based on our experience of seeing the impact of the driveways on sites already developed by Gleeson Homes in the local area.
“In our opinion, the specification places the onus on homeowners to carry out a high level of maintenance.
“Where this maintenance is not carried out there was clear evidence of gravel being dragged onto roads and pavements as well as evidence of weeds growing through the gravel.
“These appeal decisions will, therefore, ensure that we can maintain good standards of design across the borough.
“We are currently seeking a timescale from Gleeson Homes for when they will replace the gravel driveways on the sites that were subject to the appeals. We hope the matter can be resolved amicably and we can both concentrate on delivering the quality homes that Barnsley needs.”
