News: YES! Project gains planning approval

The planning board at Rotherham Council have unanimously resolved to grant planning permission for the £350m YES! Project at Rother Valley Country Park.

The updated plans for the largest undercover leisure based scheme in Europe were approved in May and referred the Government Office for confirmation.

The Secratary of State declared that Rotherham Council was best placed to determine the application and in light of the government's decision to scrap the regional spatial strategy, the plans were approved by members this week.

The YES! Project will comprise 1.2million sq ft covered, fully integrated, mixed-use, leisure and entertainment based resort, activity and conference destination adjacent to Rother Valley Country Park.

Extreme sports specialist Venture Xtreme and golf driving range company Baydrive were the first tenants to sign up and in 2008 and Oak secured a deal with the Sheffield Steelers ice hockey team to develop a new state-of-the-art purpose-built arena on the site.

The plans included an indoor climbing facility, ice climbing, snow room, diving centre, access mall and changing rooms plus a hydrodome complex, indoor surf centre, rope park pavilion, indoor sky diving, a Top Chip hall and a Via Ferratta (an adventure climbing system).

Further "experience" operations were also mentioned including a brewery experience, a food experience and academy and a chocolate experience.

The existing section 106 agreement from the approval in 2007 will now be linked to this approved application. The agreement between the developers, Oak Holdings, and the council ensures the area benefits from the plans and includes improvements to transport and access.

The agreement secured costs for a new bus service through the site between Rotherham and Crystal Peaks and significant improvements to junction 31 of the M1. A business case for a proposed train station the Huddersfield-Sheffield-Lincoln line in the vicinity of the site is also to be prepared and if not accepted, the developer would provide an enhanced public transport provision to Sheffield city centre.

The approval allows Oak to progress the YES! Project with the benefit of a revised scheme that facilitates phased development. The purpose built arena for the Sheffield Steelers together with a conference hotel are set to be in the first phase.

Steve Lewis, chief executive at Oak Holdings said: "This is a strategic step forward for the Company and, indeed, the region.

"The consent demonstrates Oak's commitment to the YES! Project and this major regeneration leisure project, allowing us to proceed with renewed confidence.

"We have been extremely encouraged by the support of our existing partners and tenants and by an increasing number of recent enquiries. We are grateful for the continued confidence in Oak by RMBC."

The plans for the new community at Waverley where also set to be rubber-stamped at the meeting. The outline application to create a sustainable, high density, mixed use community, including 3890 houses, community facilities and green areas, and a 60,000 sq m government office campus, were the largest, most complex, planning applications ever considered by Rotherham.

Oak Holdings website

Images: Oak Holdings