FRESH calls for the controversial ringroad scheme planned for Penny Pie Park to be scrapped have been made after a prominent campaigner against the plan won election to the council for the Liberal Democrats.
The proposed development, which would see much of the Pogmoor park lost to a ‘gyratory’ system, is due to be discussed by ruling cabinet members who will ultimately decide its fate.
Peter Fielding, who lives near the park, has been a key member of the opposition group - Save Penny Pie Park - and vowed to battle the council on residents’ behalf in a bid to shelve the controversial project, which has already received the backing of Barnsley Council’s planning bosses.
He unseated Labour councillor Richard Riggs by a wide margin, winning 1,308 votes, more than doubling Labour’s 647, and helped the Lib Dems gain three more seats on the council.
Coun Fielding believes the party’s elevated status provides fresh authority to call on the council to abandon the project, which has been the subject of another public consultation as the council intends on changing some of the park’s use.
“My mandate was very clear and the whole election campaign centred around Penny Pie Park and its fate,” he told the Chronicle.
“I’ll be putting residents’ views forward in the council chamber.
“We amassed a huge petition and hundreds of written objections originally before the plan was approved, but we have had more than 100 more to the latest consultation.
“We’re urging the council to go back to the drawing board as the scheme is very much against the public’s wishes.
“There are multiple concerns about air pollution, road safety and traffic before you even mention about the carving up of a much-loved park.
“We have to keep fighting to protect it as it’s clearly what the community want.”
Members of the Save Penny Pie Park action group, who amassed more than 2,700 signatures on their petition against the proposals, say the council risks contradicting itself if it deems the land is no longer required, as it has received £174,000 from the council since 2012/13 - the most of all of the town’s 48 parks.
Almost all of it has come from Section 106 funding - cash put aside for loss of amenity by developers - to compensate for the negative impact large housing developments have already had on the area.
“The residents of Dodworth ward sent a very clear message to Barnsley Labour at last week’s elections - it is time to scrap this doomed gyratory,” Coun Fielding added.
The council has conceded the scheme will have some negative impacts - such as increased noise levels and the effect on Penny Pie Park - but say it has selected it from an original shortlist which contained more than 35 options.
Campaigners believe other alternatives, such as improved public transport, should be where the £4.3m earmarked for the work is spent and are now seeking legal advice as to the viability of a judicial review.
“Take these unwanted plans back to the drawing board.
“Penny Pie Park is clearly treasured and it needs to be maintained for future generations to enjoy.”
