PLANS to demolish a historic building on the edge of Barnsley town centre and replace it with a block of retirement living apartments are due to be approved by councillors next week.
The former Barnsley Council offices at Berneslai Close part of the site of the former Beckett Hospital consists of an older Edwardian red brick building, which is to be retained as part of the development.
But the larger adjoining 1930s’ brick building is to be demolished to make way for the modern development which will include a total of 53 apartments.
The plan has been submitted by McCarthy and Stone Retirement Lifestyles Ltd.
The development will include 45 homes in the new building, eight in the old Edwardian building.
Objections from six addresses have been submitted, including concerns about loss of privacy, parking problems, and concern that the flats must only be for the over 55s and not ‘rented out to drug or alcohol dependants’.
The new building would have four storeys and will be separated from the Edwardian hospital building from the outside, the older building’s appearance will remain virtually unchanged with all works to convert it being predominantly internal.
The development would feature communal facilities such as a residents’ lounge, CCTV entry system, and Careline alarm facility. A management company would maintain the grounds and fabric of the development following construction. It will have 31 parking spaces with two disabled spaces to the main car park. A further seven spaces are proposed which would be accessed from Berneslai Close to the rear of the retained Edwardian building.
The building is within the town centre conservation area, and the report says while the loss of a historic building did some ‘harm’, that could be outweighed by the benefits of the scheme, which is preserving the older red brick building.
A report to be presented to councillors at the meeting of the planning board on Tuesday says: “This is a much needed specialist development which will provide accommodation for the elderly, on the edge of Barnsley town centre, replacing unused 1930s’ ex-council offices with a modern bespoke building of high quality design, appropriate scale, and materials suitable for this conservation area location.
“Whilst there have been some neighbour objections, it is considered that overall, the proposed new building will be an improvement on the existing in that it will be both lower in height, and further away from the surrounding dwellings, protecting privacy, amenity and outlook.
“Car parking is considered appropriate in scale for this sustainable location and it is not considered that it would cause a noise impact or disturbance and significant enough to outweigh the benefits of the proposal.
“It is considered that the development would retain and enhance the character of the conservation area whilst providing a welcome contribution to the housing need within urban Barnsley and is in accordance with the relevant policies.”
The offices are currently empty and were no longer required by the council after the education department moved into the modern Gateway Plaza department.
They were briefly used to house the registrars department when the town hall closed for refurbishment and remodelling to form the Experience Barnsley museum.
