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Bad weather blamed for town’s pothole-ridden roads
EXTREME weather has been blamed for ravaging Barnsley’s road network over the winter - but highways bosses have set out a multi-million pound plan to rectify rising complaints from motorists.The council’s highways programme for 2023/24 will be signed off on Wednesday, which includes improvements totalling £20.4m.Worst-hit roads across the borough will be resurfaced, according to a report, which reveals a raft of work identified for Penistone West, Rockingham and Darton West wards in...
Daniel’s plight raised by MP
BARNSLEY East MP Stephanie Peacock highlighted the story of a young Darfield boy on palliative care in Parliament this week - after his grandmother said she ‘fears to worst’ following the government’s budget.Daniel Green, six, whose brain is damaged in three areas, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and mitochondrial disease at four months old leaving him struggling to stand, sit and eat.He was placed into palliative care in 2021, but his family took...
Dwindling doctor numbers must be reversed
DWINDLING numbers of doctors available to see at surgeries across Barnsley must be reversed in order to allay patients’ concerns over access to primary care, council bosses have warned.Barnsley’s ruling cabinet members approved the town’s involvement in the newly-formed South Yorkshire Integrated Care Partnership, which focuses on improving health and wellbeing.A total of 143,390 appointments occurred at GP practices in the Barnsley area in October - the latest month available - and more...
Heart-shaped crisp could land Charlotte in the money
A MENTAL health support worker from Gawber could soon be in the money after finding a heart-shaped crisp whilst at work.Charlotte Hubbard, 37, bought the ready salted packet of crisps earlier this month at a shop next to Barnsley Hospital.Walkers is giving away £100,000 to whoever finds the best heart-shaped crisp in its standard bags.Charlotte told the Chronicle her story isn’t particularly ‘glamorous’ - but she’s already been thinking about what she...
New bridge’s build results in car park’s closure
A TOWN centre car park will be closed on Monday as work on the £12m Market Gate Bridge scheme picks up pace.Market Gate car park will be closed all day on Monday to allow for the delivery of another section of the bridge.A spokesperson for the council said: “We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.“Work is progressing well and the bridge is due to be fully open this autumn.”
Memorial bench installed for popular Loui
A POIGNANT memorial in honour of a popular teenager who was fatally stabbed has been installed at his beloved junior football club.Loui Phillips, who was 15 when he was murdered by 17-year-old Kyle Pickles on Fish Dam Lane, Monk Bretton, in August 2021, came up through the ranks at Cudworth-based Pinfold Pumas and shone for their under-16 outfit.The club’s home, on Darfield Road, was chosen as the location of a memorial bench to...
Public’s polling intentions predicted
ALL four of Barnsley’s constituencies will be Labour-run should an election be called tomorrow, according to the latest voting polls.Penistone and Stocksbridge is currently the only constituency across the town which has a Conservative MP, Miriam Cates.But the latest polls show that Labour candidate Marie Tidball would become the next MP, with 47.1 per cent of the vote.Miriam Cates would see her voting share drop from 47.84 per cent to 31.9 per...
Long-standing parish councillor to step down
A PARISH council chairman who has clocked up almost four decades of service to his village will step down next month.Dave North, 80, has served on Shafton Parish Council since 1986 and as its chairman since 1991.Born in Grimethorpe, Dave moved to Shafton and also served as the North East ward’s councillor for two years.“At our monthly meeting on Monday, I announced that I was stepping down - it’s been something I’ve...
Shock stroke admissions revealed
MORE than 3,300 people have been admitted to Barnsley Hospital as a result of suffering a stroke in the last five years, shock new statistics have revealed.The town’s figure of 3,365 eclipses Doncaster and Rotherham’s admissions - despite having a smaller population than both.According to a report to the South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board, Barnsley’s admissions have remained relatively stable since 2016/17 but the latest available - for 2020/21 - are the lowest...
Man charged following drug find
AN Albanian man has been charged with the production of a controlled drug after more than 150 cannabis plants were found in the town centre.On Wednesday, officers from Barnsley Central’s Neighbourhood Policing Team conducted a warrant in a business premise in the town centre.It came after other business owners prompted the police about what was going on.More than 150 plants were discovered within the two rooms of the property and the electrics...
Bird of prey’s death prompts police probe
AN investigation has been launched by South Yorkshire Police’s rural crime team after a rare bird of prey - which had been tracked by conservationists for two years - was killed.The male hen harrier, christened Anu upon being tagged by the RSPB, has been tracked since 2021 on moorland which separates Barnsley and Sheffield.Having been tracked in areas such as Crane Moor, Thurgoland and Wharncliffe Crags, Anu’s tag indicated that he was roosting...
Public meeting to be held over solar farm plan
A FULL planning application is expected to be submitted in the coming weeks to create a solar energy farm the size of 160 football pitches - and locals will air their concerns on Monday.The project, off Engine Lane in Grimethorpe, will connect to the national electricity grid via a supply point within the development site.Put forward by Enviromena, a clean energy solutions company, the proposed solar farm comprises three land parcels made up...
Swimmer completes another fundraiser
A BARNSLEY woman who was a member of a six-person relay that raised £10,000 for Barnsley Hospital’s children’s ward by swimming the English Channel in 1997 has recently completed a 21-mile swim to raise more funds.Julie Kimberley, 58, from Gawber, swam the equivalent distance of the English Channel to raise money for a beauty therapy service for people living with cancer - Well Wellbeing - and the hospital’s Make a Memory Appeal.She completed...
Platinum couple toast big day
JAMES Roxby Moore celebrated his platinum wedding anniversary last week - and he joked the secret to a happy marriage is ‘having a good wife’.James, 95, first met his wife, 92-year-old Cynthia, whilst working at a law firm in Tyneside in 1948.The pair have lived in Barnsley the entirety of their married life, after tying the knot on March 23, 1953.They now live in Gawber - and have had quite the life....
New council vehicles to cost £5m
BARNSLEY Council’s cabinet members are set to approve plans to purchase more than 100 vehicles - costing more than £5m - at a meeting next week.The council’s current fleet contains more than 420 vehicles, plant and equipment.It has a capital value of more than £15m and the council say the fleet is ‘essential’ to deliver services to residents across the borough.Of the 102 vehicles the council are looking to procure for 2023/24,...
Covid admissions decline
THE number of patients being admitted to Barnsley Hospital with coronavirus is falling.Last week, 44 people were taken to the site with the virus - a 33 per cent decrease on the previous week’s figures.There are currently 41 patients in the hospital with the virus - none of which are on a ventilation bed.
Figures reveal extent of schools’ overcrowding
MORE than a dozen schools in Barnsley are either full or overcrowded, new figures have revealed.The Education Policy Institute said areas with schools operating close to or over capacity see teaching staff facing additional demand.A school is at or in excess of capacity when the number of pupils enrolled is greater than or equal to its number of places.Department for Education figures show 18 primary schools were at or over capacity in...
Substandard bridges identified
BARNSLEY has a number of ‘substandard bridges’ which are unable to carry the heaviest vehicles on the town’s roads, new figures have revealed.Figures from the RAC Foundation show that of the 236 bridges in Barnsley, three were substandard last year.Substandard means bridges are either too weak to carry 40-tonne vehicles or there is a weight restriction for environmental reasons such as a narrow bridge or narrow approach roads.Across Great Britain, councils said...
Park’s caretakers ask for help
VOLUNTEERS who have been turning Monk Bretton Park into a haven for the last 16 years may be forced to stop if they can’t find more helpers.The Friends of Monk Bretton Park group was formed in 2007 after the area was constantly in an ‘appalling state’.However, over the last decade or so volunteers have teamed together to make the park a safer place.But a mix of age, infirmity and other commitments could...
Club to find out its fate after ‘crime spate’
THE full extent of alleged crime taking place at a town centre nightclub - which led South Yorkshire Police to call for its licence to be revoked - has been laid bare in a damning report.Reported instances of a huge brawl between 20 to 30 people, a member of the door staff knocking out someone’s tooth and drugs and even weighing scales being found in a woman’s handbag during a stop-search of Sugar Club,...
App to help ease hospital anxiety
BARNSLEY Hospital’s children’s services staff have teamed up with a new child-friendly app which prepares kids and their parents for upcoming hospital visits.‘Little Journey’ was founded by a doctor and expert product designer, and is a response to global research by medical professionals showing that children sometimes do not receive the information they want or need before hospital visits.Caregivers struggle to plug this ‘information hole’, and adults with little or no previous healthcare...
Residents rally against new supermarket plan
MORE than 200 people have signed a petition against plans for a new supermarket.Lidl lodged its bid for a new store on Sheffield Road, off Birdwell roundabout, with a proposed new access off Cross Keys Lane before withdrawing the application in December.The German firm decided to delay the scheme due to concerns received from highways officers, which has resulted in Lidl moving the potential store further along Cross Keys Lane.However, a petition...
Dumped foal sparks fury
DISTRESSING images of a dead foal being dumped in Little Houghton have angered a local councillor - and a similar incident occurred in the area during lockdown.Last week, a dead foal was found fly-tipped under a pile of wires on Park Spring Road, potentially in a bid to hide the remains of the animal.In March 2021, a similar incident occurred where a foal was found by a local resident near to the village’s...
Fly-tipping left at miners’ memorial
A COUNCILLOR has slammed fly-tippers who left waste at a miners’ memorial last week.The waste was dumped at Houghton Main Miners’ Memorial in Little Houghton last week, prompting Coun Kevin Osborne to delve into the situation.He has slammed those who tipped the waste and hopes the identification found within the rubbish will lead to action being taken.He told the Chronicle: “Yet again residents of Little Houghton have discovered fly-tipping at the Houghton...
Heroin addiction prescriptions near 15,000 mark
ALMOST 15,000 prescriptions to treat heroin addiction were handed out in Barnsley last year, new figures have revealed.Methadone, marketed under the brand name Physeptone, is a synthetic opioid used to help people who have a heroin addiction by reducing withdrawal symptoms.The drug is only available on prescription from GPs or drug treatment services.Figures from the NHS OpenPrescribing service show 14,477 prescriptions for methadone were given out by GPs in the former NHS...
Hospital’s new intensive care unit revealed
BARNSLEY Hospital’s new intensive care unit was unveiled to the Chronicle in an exclusive first-look event this week - but those behind the £7.3m transformation hope most people never need to see it...The 68-week build programme officially ended on Tuesday when contractor Illingworth and Gregory handed over the facility back to the hospital.A former office block - which was deemed underused on the Gawber site that’s been starved of space to expand -...
Positive growth for town’s house prices
BARNSLEY’S house prices have risen more in the last year than almost anywhere else in the country.According to research by Zoopla, a real estate company, house prices in Barnsley have grown by eight per cent in the last year.It ranks the town as the fourth-highest in the country, behind Wigan, Bolton and Rochdale.wNo other Yorkshire town or city has made the top ten.
Fundraising mission for church’s clock launches
A CHURCH’S historic clock - which congregation members believe is in grave danger of being lost for good unless urgent repair work is carried out - is the subject of a fundraising mission.St Paul’s Church, in Monk Bretton, has a cast iron skeleton dial with opal glazing within the frame.The clock was originally created to ensure that local miners arrived at work on time and since its installation in 1894, the clock has...
£20m investment announced for town’s roads
MORE than 50 roads in Barnsley - across all 21 wards - are set to benefit from a £20m investment to improve the town’s highways network.An extra £2m will be added to the £18.4m Highways Capital Programme by Barnsley Council to boost the town’s roads and side streets.Cabinet members will be asked to approve the programme at a meeting on April 5, with a total of £20.4m being earmarked for work across the...
Popular builder gets final wish
A WELL-RESPECTED builder travelled to his funeral in his ‘happy place’ - a digger - on Tuesday as residents gathered to pay their respects.Ian Jackson, 59, died on February 25 after he was diagnosed with multiple system atrophy (MSA) - a rare condition of the nervous system that causes gradual damage to nerve cells in the brain.The Kingstone man had built up an ‘empire’ in his industry and he arrived at Barnsley Crematorium...
Love Island finalist Tom returns to town
LOVE Island star Tom Clare returned to Barnsley for the first time since leaving the villa last week - and his mum says she couldn’t be prouder.After being in a couple with 22-year-old Samie Elishi from London, Tom made it to the final earlier this month.He was heavily tipped to win the whole thing and walk away from the show with his share of £50,000 - but fell short at the final hurdle....
Attacks on council staff rise
TWELVE people were bitten as violent and aggressive incidents towards Barnsley Council staff increased by 56 per cent last year - with the majority of attacks taking place on school grounds.The council’s annual health and safety report revealed that a total of 86 violent incidents took place last year against its staff - an increase from 38 the previous year.There were no logged incidents against secondary school staff, however there were 48 instances...
Tributes paid to town’s longest-serving councillor
EMOTIONAL tributes were paid to Barnsley’s longest-serving councillor - who is stepping down in May due to ill health - at a special meeting yesterday.Coun Charlie Wraith MBE, a former Mayor of Barnsley who represents the Cudworth ward, was elected in 1974 but is battling terminal oesophagus cancer and will retire after 49 years’ service.He received a distinguished service award at Barnsley Town Hall - the first ever given by the council -...
Chronicle reader prompts change for wheelchair users
WORK to improve wheelchair accessibility in the town centre will be taking place next month following feedback from a Chronicle reader.Nic Frances, who submitted a letter in last week’s letters page, highlighted a concern about the ramped pedestrian exit from The Seam car park into Regent Street.It includes a drainage gully which Nic said made it difficult for people using wheelchairs - such as her mother - to get from the disabled parking...
Town amongst best for Covid bounce-back
BARNSLEY is the sixth-best town in the UK for post-Covid recovery in terms of footfall and spending.The town has bucked the national trend after it was revealed 76 per cent of its shops survived beyond their third birthday.The survival rate is a marked improvement from the 44 per cent recorded in 2017.Overall, the investments have created around 1,100 full-time jobs, as well as the combination of new, existing and temporary construction jobs...
Government’s ‘measly’ addiction funding blasted
BARNSLEY is set to receive a ‘measly’ amount of funding from the government in a bid to tackle rising drug and alcohol addiction rates across the borough, the Chronicle can reveal.UKAT - an established residential rehabilitation centre located at Linwood House on Wensley Road, New Lodge - said the total allocation of £3.3m works out at only £13 per head to support people struggling with addiction in Barnsley.The Department for Health and Social...
Popular actor steps down from ITV role
BARNSLEY actor Kenny Doughty ‘handed over his badge’ this week after calling time on his role on hit ITV show Vera.The 47-year-old spent eight years on the show and filmed 35 episodes starring as DS Aiden Healey alongside TV veteran Brenda Blethyn.The show is set in Northumbria, and centres around no-nonsense detective Vera Stanhope, and features Kenny as her right-hand man and co-worker.In an emotional statement to fans, Kenny said: “I want...
Cash windfall for historic hall’s ‘essential’ repairs
ALMOST £1m in funding has been made available to restore Cannon Hall’s historic roof.The latest funding decisions for the Cultural Investment Fund were announced on Monday, with Cannon Hall receiving its share of around £900,000.The funds will be used to make essential repairs to the Grade II*-listed building’s roof.Adaptations and improvements will be made to the site using the ‘best conservation expertise’ and it will address the environment issues by improving insulation....
Planning bid submitted for ex-snooker bar
PLANNING permission is being sought to change the use of a large town centre building in order to attract further businesses.The building, on Peel Street, was formerly used as a snooker bar but is currently vacant.Planning permission was granted in April 2021 to turn the site into a sports bar.However, a further application was submitted this week to make the use of the site more flexible to attract more custom.A report...
Grieving family condemn CPS’s decision
THE family of a mum-of-two who died in a collision at the hands of a Barnsley man feel ‘he has got away with it’ after it was revealed no further action will be taken against him.In November 2021 Sarah Sands, 33, died on Barnsley Road near Ridgewood School in Scawsby.Sarah went back to her dad’s house after an evening out and decided to walk home after struggling to get a lift.She was...
Veteran runner returns from Tokyo Marathon
A RUNNER is celebrating her success having recently competed in the Tokyo Marathon.Bev Clark, 55, from South Hiendley, who is a runner for the Barnsley Harriers on Shaw Lane, took part in the marathon on March 5.Having competed in 19 marathons, Bev told the Chronicle she was ‘absolutely delighted’ with this one in particular, with it being the first one in Tokyo since the Covid-19 pandemic.“I have taken part in many international...
Ex-mine manager urges caution over site’s development
A FORMER mine manager who believes unexploded material remains underneath Barnsley’s largest site earmarked for future development has accused planning bosses of using a ‘policy of silence’.Codenamed MU1 in the local plan development blueprint, it is situated between Pogmoor, Higham and Barugh Green along the M1 corridor and subject of a planning application lodged by Strata Homes and Sterling Capitol, who make up the Barnsley West Consortium (BWC).Having a number of coal seams,...
School farm animals find new home
TRUSTEES at a valued community farm who made the decision to close last month due to the current financial crisis have now successfully rehomed its animals.Grimethorpe Community Farm, which was based on the grounds of Milefield Primary School - closed in February with the promise of relocating the animals to an alternative farm.Coun Jeff Ennis, who is also the chair of the farm’s steering group, told the Chronicle he was ‘deeply saddened’ by...
Covid admissions rise at hospital
THE number of patients being admitted to Barnsley Hospital with Covid-19 is on the rise again.A total of 66 people were admitted to the site last week, a two per cent increase.It means there’s currently 63 people on the site with the virus, none of which are on medical ventilation beds.
Tributes paid to popular Barnsley teacher
A LEADING light in Barnsley education has died aged 85.Anne Sanderson worked for many years in Barnsley schools, specialising in language development and English.Anne, who lived in Hoyland Common, was also - for more than a decade - an influential secretary of Worsbough Bridge Bowling Club.But it was in the area of education that Anne made her biggest impact having started as a teacher at Birdwell Primary School, before becoming a senior...
MP urges government to act on miners’ pension pots
A BARNSLEY MP who has long called for miners to receive the pensions they deserve has joined coalfield constituency colleagues in urging to government to act.Stephanie Peacock, who represents Barnsley East, also called on the government to review the 50/50 surplus sharing arrangement of the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme (MPS), and return the £1.2bn reserve fund to retired miners immediately.She added: “Despite clear cross-party recommendations on the pension, the government have still made no...
