BARNSLEY’S first flurry into speculative industrial development in a decade has been hailed a success by the public and private sector bosses who worked together to bring it to fruition.
There are 168 people already working at the new Junction 36 development at Birdwell, where four new industrial units, a pub and food outlets were constructed alongside major highway infrastructure improvements around the motorway junction at Birdwell. Employers have already moved into two of the units, the Environment Agency is in the process of moving into a third, and an occupier has been found for the fourth.
Many more jobs are expected to follow in the coming months and years as part of the ambitious £55m plan to open up and develop the Dearne Valley A61 and A6195 Growth Corridor.
David Shepherd, the council’s service director for economic regeneration, said a key element of the project had been completing highway works at the same time as building the new industrial units and other businesses on site. “This wasn’t simply a case of build them and they will come,” he said.
“We’ve created a place people want to come and work in, and employers want to invest in.
“This is a scheme which has major significance. It’s not solely a traditional highways scheme to help ease congestion, this facilitates the wider economic regeneration and growth requirements for both Barnsley and the Sheffield City Region.
“Resolving the road infrastructure issues on the M1 J36 is critical to opening up the regeneration and growth of the whole Dearne corridor.”
Sheffield City Region worked with Barnsley Council alongside the Barnsley Property Investment Fund, which has been designed to stimulate the development of commercial sites and attract new businesses to the borough.
The completed £8.9m first phase of the SCR’s Local Enterprise Partnership investment made improvements to road infrastructure around junction 36, improving access to development sites, enabling wider development to take place and unlocking jobs growth. Later phases will build on the work, with the SCR having already approved up to £15m in funding.
And already the SCR backing, with another £40m put into the council scheme by the private sector, has seen three major investors expand into the area. They include Talurit UK Ltd, part of the Swedish Talurit Group, which makes steel wire-based equipment and fittings and has made a £3m investment into one of the four new buildings on the site.
Global healthcare manufacturer Esco has taken another - premises four times larger than its previous building. Beyond the third, the Environment Agency’s new base, is the fourth unit which is due to open up as a car supermarket. It is subject to a planning application for change of use of the building due to be decided early next month.
Sir Nigel Knowles, chairman of the Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership, was among a delegation visiting the site on Monday to see the results of the work so far.
“The Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership is about nine local authorities working together and creating an environment where business can flourishes a sustainable way.
“We have made money available to kick-start this, and it’s fantastic to be able to do that to kick-start employment of the right sort, this is exactly what we are supposed to be doing and this scheme here at Birdwell does, to use that phrase, exactly what it says on our tin.
“It’s great to come here and see that in action, it really shows the benefits of public and private sector collaboration. It has delivered a very exciting scheme which is already creating employment.”
Owen Michaelson, chief executive of developer the Harworth Group, said: “The effect of developments such as this is profound and long term. It supports the sustainable growth that is needed to transform local economies.”
