A QUIET cul-de-sac will become the only through road into a major new housing estate if plans submitted to Barnsley Council get the go-ahead.
Residents of Bark Meadows at Dodworth are pleading with planners to reject the Persimmon Homes plans for 146 houses on a site next to the M1 slip road at Dodworth, and would be accessed solely via Bark Meadows - a cul-de-sac of just 16 properties.
Adrian Rattenbury has lived on Bark Meadows since the estate was built in 1992. He said: “This road is just simply not fit for this purpose. It’s been resurfaced several times due to constraint problems with the surface, and it only services eight houses at the moment.”
Bark Meadows has 16 houses in all, but there are just eight detached houses arranged around the end of the T-shaped cul-de-sac where the proposed access would be.
“We’re talking about nearly 150 houses, and if you look at the type of housing, they’re likely to have two or more cars, so we’re looking at 300 cars at least, as well as delivery vehicles, refuse vehicles, postmen.
“One of the daftest things is they’ve said in their own planning documents the roads are not suitable for their construction vehicles. They’re going to have to put parking restrictions on our road, and they’re going to have to drive up onto the kerbs just to get their trucks in. It’s going to be horrendous.
“You already struggle to get a doctor’s appointment, and the schools are already oversubscribed.”
Adrian and wife Lesley, and neighbours Nigel and Deborah Tonge, are among those submitting objections to the plans.
“I cannot believe they think this is a suitable access for something like 300 cars a day,” said Nigel, 54.
“What we’ve got is a greedy developer looking for the cheapest possible option.
“There are other options to access this site.
“Personally I think the whole site is unsuitable, it’s rich with wildlife, and it’s far too close to the motorway. It’s right next to it. I wouldn’t want to live there.
“They talk about a housing crisis, and yes, we do need affordable housing. We need more social housing. This is not social housing.
“We’ve got four grandchildren all under eight. They come here every week, and they play out in the street together. There’s eight houses on here. It’s a safe cul-de-sac.
“Why when I’ve worked hard all my life to pay for this house should my grandchildren have to stop playing out on our street?”
Planning documents state that the site is previously undeveloped but does contain back-filled opencast coal workings.
“The site is generally quite overgrown and is currently covered in rough grass sward with mature vegetation in the form of shrubs and trees situated around the perimeter of the site,” the report says.
“There is an existing agricultural access to the land from an adjacent cul-de-sac, Bark Meadows.”
Wayne Gradwell, managing director of Persimmon Homes West Yorkshire, said: “We have submitted a planning application for 146 homes in Dodworth and are currently in the very early stages of the consultation period.
“As a responsible housebuilder, we always strive to minimise any disruption in the areas we build and this applies to this site in Dodworth.
“Our planning team will work closely with the local authority to address any concerns in the delivery of these much needed homes.”
Comments about the application can be made via the council’s planning explorer website until Tuesday here.
