PLANS for a boundary review on an Oughtibridge site where more than 280 homes are set to be built have been met with approval from Barnsley Council - despite the town missing out on more than £300,000 worth of council tax.

Cabinet members at Sheffield City Council sought permission for the boundary approval, which would see all of the 284 homes set to be built on the former Oughtibridge Paper Mill site on Langsett Road North classed as Sheffield, in spite of 70 per cent of the homes currently classed as being in the Barnsley borough.

A Sheffield City Council cabinet report states: “The boundary review process is anticipated to take 15 months to complete, whilst occupancy of the new houses could start in January.

“A formal agreement will need to be in place with Barnsley Council to document interim arrangements for service provision, and the corresponding payments to be made to SCC by BMBC based on proportionate council tax arising from the development.”

Although the majority of the development is currently located within the Barnsley boundary, there are no road connections to the rest of the borough without a long detour through Sheffield, resulting in a number of issues for things such as bin collections.

Should the boundary review be successful, Sheffield will receive an additional £478,000 in council tax per year from the full development, compared to around £143,500 from the properties currently on the city’s side of the existing boundary.

Barnsley Council told the Chronicle it was a ‘balancing act’ between the loss of council tax revenue and the logistics of the site.

Coun Tim Cheetham, cabinet spokesperson for regeneration and culture, added: “This boundary review has been under consideration ever since the site was vacated and identified for residential use in our local plan.

“The area within the Barnsley borough is on the east side of the river and can only be accessed by road from Sheffield.

“It is remote from other housing developments within Barnsley.

“As such, it made sense for responsibility for refuse collection and other local services to be provided by Sheffield City Council and we are pleased that an agreement has been reached.”