PROGRESS on Barnsley’s new ‘digital campus’ has reached another landmark with the approval of cabinet for the allocation of more than £6m to the project.
Cabinet members hailed the future benefits of plans for The Seam, at County Way, at Wednesday’s meeting.
They approved the release of £1.672m to support programme management costs and development through early design stages and £4.68m to enable delivery of ‘phase one’ of the scheme.
The site will include a multi-storey car park with capacity around a third of the current 940 parking spaces - a report notes there are on average 1,400 empty spaces across town during the week - an active travel hub and new public realm features.
The council is also ‘keen to bring forward a mixture of townhouses and apartments’ on the first two plots, with hotel providers being considered for future phases.
Council leader Sir Steve Houghton said the Digital Media Centre, at the heart of the new site, has been held up as a ‘national exemplar’ of good practice in creative industries and entrepreneurship,
He added added: “It really is moving Barnsley’s economy on.
“It’s been slow-burning in many ways, but it’s now beginning to reap rewards.
“We talk about more and better jobs, these are the areas where a lot of those better and skilled jobs are going to come from.”
