A DEVELOPER ordered by the council to reinstate a stretch of former canal destroyed without planning permission has had its offer to ‘landscape’ the area instead thrown out.
Earlier this year one side of the former Dearne and Dove canal bank was removed at Stairfoot, behind the businesses of Barnsley Trade Park off Wombwell Lane, while two new units were being built.
The unauthorised works prompted outrage from nearby residents and the council began enforcement proceedings ordering Swift Property Management and Consultancy Limited to put the canal back to the way it was.
The firm is appealing against the council’s enforcement action, but in the meantime submitted a new planning application for landscaping, saying it was possible to restore a large portion of the former condition of the site as green space but without reinstating the exact profile of the former canal.
But this week Barnsley Council planning officials have refused the application.
Read more in this weeks Barnsley Chronicle
