News: Updated plans for massive Rotherham development set for approval

Updated plans for a huge distribution centre development alongside the M18 motorway in Rotherham are being recommended for approval despite a large number of objections.

Outline plans were approved for "Interchange Park" at Hellaby last year and applicants said that it could be home to over 1,000 jobs.

Since then, Panattoni, the largest industrial real estate developer in Europe, has bought the Cumwell Lane site and has submitted further details and made changes to the plans.

The outline plans enable a 630,000 sq ft facility to be built along with a smaller 85,000 sq ft facility on former greenbelt land.

A report to Rotherham Council's planning board explains: "The developers wish to bring forward a Reserved Matters application [details not submitted at outline stage and "reserved" for later determination] as soon as possible, however with an amended access strategy which would include only two access points off Cumwell Lane, a main shared access for cars and HGV’s and a second access for cars only serving the smaller northern unit."

Changes to the parking strategy are also planned.

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The changes put forward now are considered to be less than substantial and this application is to ammend some of the conditions put in place with the determination of the outline application last year.

Objectors believe that the changes are substantial given the removal of a southern access to the site but transport planners state that the assessment of the approved outline plans only looked at proposed access to Cumwell Lane and so have no concerns.

Objections also focus on car parking and HGV parking but these issues are likely to be considered at a seperate Reserved Matters application stage. Issues with the traffic surveys being undertaken during Covid and the impact of the nearby operation of Thurcroft Colliery have also been raised.

The planning officers are recommending that the planning board, which is due to meet this week, approves the plans as they do not consider that the removal of the southern access point to the site would lead to any increased air quality issues, would not create any additional impact on noise and general amenity for the residents close to the site and is acceptable in highway safety terms.

The report concludes: "This application to vary the original permission is considered to be acceptable in terms of highway safety and general amenity, and would not result [in] any significant additional impacts which would adversely affect the residential amenity of nearby residents or the wider community. It is therefore recommended that planning permission be granted subject to ... conditions."

Images: Panattoni

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News: £7.5m upgrade on M1 through Rotherham set to start

Work is set to begin this weekend on a busy stretch of the M1 through Rotherham.

Highways England is investing more than £7.5m over the next 12 months on the "smart motorway" between J32 with the M18 at Thurcroft and J34 at Meadowhall. The work will include resurfacing, bridge and lighting improvements as well as barrier and drainage work, all improving safety for the 110,000 drivers who use this route every day.

Work has already been carried out at Tinsley Viaduct but more work is planned.

Highways England is replacing 228,000 sq ft of waterproofing on bridges along the M1. This layer protects the concrete base from the elements which could cause damage to the bridge structure or potholes in the road surface. Work on the northbound Long Lane and River Rother bridges close to J33 at Catcliffe will begin on Friday August 9.

The improvements will be carried out over two weekends. Between 6am and 10pm on Saturday and 8am and 10pm on Sunday, the northbound M1 will be reduced to two narrow lanes. The northbound carriageway will be fully closed overnight between 9.30pm and 6am on Friday evening, 10pm until 8am on Saturday evening and between 10pm and 5am on Sunday evening.

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A reduced speed limit will be in place for around half a mile near junction 33. Signed diversions will be in place during the closures. The same arrangements will be in place the following weekend starting on Friday August 16.

Mark Ramsden programme lead at Highways England, said: "We are carrying out £80m of maintenance improvements in Yorkshire and the Humber over this financial year and that includes investing more than £7.5m on this section of the M1.

"Work is due to start this month on the bridges over the River Rother and Long Lane. This work has been brought forward so we can continue to provide drivers with smoother and safer journeys along the M1 after a number of potholes in this area. We are working closely with Rotherham and Sheffield councils to minimise any impact while we carry out this work.

"We have just completed work on the southbound carriageway of the lower deck of Tinsley Viaduct and work has now started on the middle maintenance lane.

"There are a further five schemes planned over the next 12 months. This includes work to the upper deck of the iconic Tinsley Viaduct planned for later this year and upgrading the lighting around this busy junction in the new year."

Highways England website

Images: Google Maps

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News: Massive M18 development in the works

Plans have been outlined for a large distribution centre development alongside the M18 motorway in Rotherham - and it could help to create hundreds of new jobs.

Developers and landowners came forward during the creation of the borough's new local plan with a number of sites including those currently in the Greenbelt such as 16 hectares identified at Cumwell Lane, Hellaby, near J1 of the M18.

With the local plan now adopted, an outline planning application has been submitted to Rotherham Council detailing what sort of industrial development the Hellaby site could accommodate.

Applicants, Stretton Denman Ltd, have developed a scheme for 722,000 sq ft of new employment floorspace on just under 15.7 hectares of land bounded by the M18, Cumwell Lane and Sandy Lane. The applicants add that the proximity to the M18 motorway reinforces the suitability of the proposed development of warehousing and distribution.

The plans also state that: "Based on the maximum capacity of the proposed development, the proposals have the potential to deliver 1,119 full time equivalent employment opportunities."

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Currently entirely in an agricultural use, the proposal includes a range of employment uses - B1/B2/B8 , and approximately 62,000 sq ft of ancillary B1a (office) floorspace, HGV fuelling station and lorry washing facilities.

End operators have not yet been identified. An illustrative masterplan from Calderpeel Architects shows one 602,779 sq ft shed with an adjoining 51,667 sq ft office building and one 64,029 sq ft shed with an adjoining 3,100 sq ft office building.

The area was reallocated from Greenbelt to employment use in the Local Plan.

The plans, put together by agents, SATPLAN, add: "The allocation of the Site was needed that the Borough achieves their objectives for growth in compliance with the identified settlement hierarchy over the plan period, as set out in the Rotherham Core Strategy.

"The next stage in the planning process is the approval of outline permission, which will ensure the delivery of the Site and the associated benefits with the development are experienced as soon as possible.

"When fully operational this has the potential to provide to 1,119 full time equivalent employment opportunities for local people."

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The application also includes transport, ecological and landscape surveys highlighting appropriate mitigation for the proposed scale of development. Key design features are reserved for the detailed design stage to follow.

Not yet detailed is a proposed new junction to the busy A631 close to the motorway roundabout. The plans add: "The potentially high number of vehicles requiring access to the site may suggest the need for traffic management at the junction between Bawtry Road and Cumwell Lane."

The other side of the M18 at Bramley is the Government's preferred route for the HS2 line to Leeds.

Investor and developer, the Stretton Property Group has developed over six million square feet of commercial industrial and office property. It currently owns just over 1.5 million sq ft of industrial units.

Stretton Property Group

Images: Stretton Denman / Calderpeel

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News: New major road through Rotherham?

A new dual carriageway through the Rotherham borough is being looked at by a Sub-national Transport Body as a way of boosting the economy by improving the east-west connectivity across the North of England.

The proposed route would connect the M1 at Tankersley with the M18 at Micklebring.

It is being assessed by Transport for the North (TfN), which brings together representatives from across the North, as part of a wider study into a Trans Pennine Tunnel and reducing the journey time between Manchester and Sheffield.

As reported by Rothbiz in January, TfN is leading on developing alternative options after a long tunnel under the Peak District National Park was considered to be technically feasible but would have a cost that would be prohibitive and offer poor value for money.

Minutes for a recent meeting of the Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership confirms that: "TfN are about to commission the next stage of design work to further examine the "alternative" options which will involve a shorter (4-6 mile) tunnel, together with additional A616/628 upgrades and a new dual carriageway linking the M1 at J35a to the A1."

TfN studies have shown that the number, capacity, reliability and resilience of east-west road connections are seen as a constraint on the Northern economy. 40% of respondents in one of its surveys reported that they experienced problems, mainly congestion and queuing, on South Pennine routes.

Identifying its priorities around major roads, TfN picked out a broad corridor between the M1 potential interface with a trans-Pennine tunnel corridor (around J35 and J35a is the current favourite) and the M18 and M180 in the east, with onward connections to the Ports of Hull, Immingham and Grimsby. It said that improvements would provide long term connectivity and a "missing link" offering a viable alternative to the busy M62.

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Any new road starting from the M1 at J35 or J35a would need to cross the rail line between Chapletown and Elsecar and pass close to the villages of Harley and Wentworth, including the Grade I listed Wentworth Woodhouse and its follies such as Hoober Stand and The Needle's Eye.

Heading east, the road could pass between Rawmarsh and Swinton before crossing the busy A633, the rail line and River Don at Kilnhurst, before avoiding the golf club and reservoir at Thrybergh. Crossing the A630 around Hooton Roberts and joining the M18 somewhere between Micklebring and Clifton, the route would also have to contend with the proposed HS2 line which is also set to travel North-South alongside the M1 and M18.

Another proposed route could travel south of Wentworth between Greasbrough and Upper Haugh but would need to cross through the busy Parkgate and Rawmarsh area and the key specialist steelworks at Aldwarke.

A stage 1 report on wider transport connectivity around the trans-Pennine tunnel also includes a proposed intervention for a "new strategic link between M1 north of Rotherham and the A1(M)/M18, west and south of Doncaster respectively.

The study is aimed at identifying if additional transport investment could extend the benefits of the tunnel across a much wider area. It states: "Initial traffic forecasts indicate a significant level of traffic travelling south along the M18 and then north along the M1 to access the Tunnel. Such a route [the new dual carriageway] would cater for this traffic and provide improved connectivity via the Tunnel between Humber Ports and Greater Manchester, as well as to Doncaster-Sheffield Airport.

"It would also provide a direct link to the A1(M) for north-south freight traffic from the North West. This route would take traffic off the M18 and M1 between Doncaster and the Tunnel, along a route up to 15km shorter than the current route via the M1 and M18 and provide a significant benefit to freight traffic.

"This route would also lead to a reduction in the level on traffic increase on the M1 north of Junction 32 and this may avoid the need for a more substantial capacity improvement on the M1."

A second alternative option is also being looked at, a more northerly route providing a new strategic link between the M1 north of Barnsley and the A1 north of Doncaster, with an option to extend to the M18/M180 junction.

TfN website

Images: TfN

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