RESIDENTS in dozens of Barnsley villages will discover next month whether planners have changed their minds on plans which would spare them from major new housing developments until at least the middle of the 2030s.
Barnsley Council is now in the advanced stages of trying to get its new Local Plan - which would guide both new housing and economic development until 2033 - approved so it can be adopted as official policy.
But an independent inspector has to approve its work as 'sound' before that can happen and she has raised questions over the numbers of new homes the council thinks will be needed.
She has suggested the council may need to plan for around 1,900 a year, rather than the 900 to 1,400 a year council projections suggest will be necessary.
The council policy of concentrating new housing around the 'core' towns which surround Barnsley - leaving more than 30 villages largely untouched by new development - has also been questioned.
That happened at a public examination earlier in the year, where details of the plan were put before inspector Sarah Housden and she raised the issues in a set of initial findings.
The examinations resumed this week and the hearing was told by planning official Paula Tweed: "An up to date assessment on our villages is largely complete."
Head of planning Joe Jenkinson said revisions to the plan were to go before the council's ruling cabinet in mid-November for approval, with the report available to the public from November 7, with revised details on the council's housing and economic objectives, "including the potential approach to be taken in identifiying additional housing sites," he said.
Ms Housden raised the issue in her interim findings as to why there was no significant development included for the village locations.
This week's hearings have also looked at the way the council has identified the sites it expects to see developed for job creation in the years ahead.
Developers and their representatives have attended meetings, with the council facing questions on behalf of some developers about why it is not keen to see some sites developed more quickly.
That includes a huge site bordered on two sides by the Dearne Towns Link Road and Doncaster Road from the roundabout on the Goldthorpe side of Darfield.
Barnsley Council wants to hold that site back and apply special criteria, ensuring no other potential sites were available elsewhere in the region, before considering freeing it up for development.
It has justified that stance by stating it is so large it would appeal to a national or international employer.
"If we were to get a planning application, the client would have to be able to discount other sites in the city region," said Mr Jenkinson.
"We would want confirmation other sites weren't available. If we have satisfied ourselves this would bring huge benefits to the region, which otherwise wouldn't come, that would allow its release."
A further site on Bleachcroft Way at Stairfoot may be allocated for employment development or could be given over to housing.
The site has been undeveloped for decades and the council was asked why it should be earmarked for employment development when it had been overlooked for so long, though consultants working on behalf of the council believe developments in business demands recently mean it may find a market more readily today.
