Barnsley Council has signed a £17.1m funding agreement with Sheffield City Region, as well as two development agreements with Harworth Estates, CRM and Hoyland Developments Ltd which will contribute to major road infrastructure works and provide serviced employment land at Junction 36 of the M1 near Hoyland.
The funding, providing through the Sheffield City Region Investment Fund (SCRIF), is being supplemented with significant private sector investment that will lead to the delivery of new commercial units and thousands of new jobs.
Barnsley Council Leader, Cllr Sir Steve Houghton, said: “The Sheffield City Region Investment Fund money will allow developers to provide the right key infrastructure needed to create the conditions for investment at Hoyland now and a critical supply of employment land into the future. This is essential in helping to attract and retain new and existing businesses, which in turn will create a more competitive private sector employment base.
“Confidence in the area is already growing, with developments at Harworth’s Gateway 36 site and local Enterprise Zones.”
Tim Love, Director of Strategic Land at Harworth Estates, said “The success of the first phase of Gateway 36 has shown its potential as a leading future employment site in the region. We’re delighted that Barnsley Council and the Sheffield City Region has worked together to secure this funding to help open up the remainder of the Gateway 36 site and we look forward to bringing the development forward with their support.”
The initial stage involves substantial road infrastructure improvements to the area around the Rockingham roundabouts. The tender will soon be awarded, with work due to begin in late spring.
The total future potential jobs to be created at Hoyland is in the region of 4,500, including future phases of Harworth’s Gateway 36 Business Park. A speculative 75,000 sq. ft unit is now under construction as part of the site’s first phase, with the second and third phases of the site estimated to deliver a further 1m sq ft of commercial space for a range of businesses.
This scheme will also lay the foundations for the future accessibility of the proposed employment site at Goldthorpe which cannot be opened up in the future without improvements at Junction 36.