Draft development plan is revealed

The draft Local Plan has been drawn up ready for ten weeks of public consultation.

Residents who saw the last draft of the plan in 2011 will notice a fall in the number of proposed development sites.

Previous maps featured the authority’s ‘preferred and unpreferred’ sites for future housing, with potential for up to 26,000 new homes.

Now the selection has been whittled downto land which could host just 12,750.

But nearly a quarter of these could be built in the south of the borough, in towns like Dinnington, Kiveton, Thurcroft, Maltby and Aston.

Also featured is space for a gypsy site on the outskirts of Kiveton Park. And the potential to turn part of the recently mothballed Maltby Colliery into a new employment site.

“The difference between the maps is quite powerful. This is not a minor tweak, there has been significant change in the amount of development we could see across the borough,” said Karl Battersby, the council’s strategic director of environment and development services.

Swathes of greenbelt to the east of Dinnington have been removed from the plan, and there is no land allocated for development in North Anston.

Mr Battersby explained that the final plan will define where developers could build in the future, subject to the normal planning process.

It also aims to promote job creation, encourage better town centres, provide community facilities and protect the environment.

Mr Battersby said public feedback and opinion had ‘undoubtedly’ helped to shape the plan. “It will give certainty to local people and developers about where we want to see development focussed,” he said.

If the authority does not submit a plan, central Government could dictate where development happens.

• See the plan at www.rotherham.gov.uk/localplan