A RETHINK of plans for a retirement apartments complex in a conservation area close to Barnsley town centre has been approved by councillors.
McCarthy and Stone were given planning permission to remove a 1930s office block from the old Beckett Hospital site, off Churchfields, in the autumn, though council officers were given responsibility to try to get a better balance between car parking and garden space in the grounds.
As a result the company came up with new plans, which involved creating several more apartments, by creating a lower ground floor in a new building and changes to the conversion of an Edwardian building which will remain.
They were so extensive the new plans had to go before Barnsley Council’s planning board for a second time, where the fresh plans were approved.
The new apartment block will be lower than the offices it will replace and it will also occupy a smaller ‘footprint’ on the site, with increased gardens but no loss of car parking space.
