Barratt Homes plan to build 269 homes in Wath to be given go ahead despite concerns for GP capacity

The council’s planning committee will hear the plans and has been recommended to approve them by planning officers.

The plans, which were first lodged in 2021, would see the terraced, semi-detached and detached homes built off Doncaster Road and Far Field Lane

Sixty-seven of the homes would be designated affordable housing, and all will be two-storey with off-street parking spaces.

A new access road will be built from Doncaster Road, and the existing access along the front of the site will be closed.

A children’s play area and public open space will also be included to the south of the properties on Gorehill Close.

A drainage basin on current agricultural land to the east of the site is also proposed.

A transport assessment has recommended that the 30mph speed limit be extended across the front of the site, and found that the new access will operate ‘safely’.

A road safety audit recommends that dropped kerbs be installed on Old Doncaster Road, and that hedges be removed or cut to provide visibility.

Nineteen objections and one letter of support have been lodged with RMBC, with residents raising concerns about traffic volumes, air pollution, flooding, wildlife, lack of doctors and dentists, overlooking, antisocial behaviour, and the siting of the play area close to existing homes.

Barratts will be required to contribute more than £1.5m in section 106 monies for the community, including £256,000 for four consulting rooms at ‘facilities close to the development site, £518,705 for Wath Victoria Primary School, £134,500 towards sustainable transport measures, £51,875 for bus shelter improvements, and £85,000 to upgrade a play area off Avenue Road.

Planning officers say that whilst concerns around traffic are noted, ‘there are measures in place to ensure that the impact is minimal’.

They add that the development will lead to around 700 new patients at Market and Crown Street surgeries, which ‘would struggle to accommodate further expansion.

However, health bosses say 700 patients would ‘not necessitate a new surgery and whilst some patients would likely be already registered at a practice there are concerns about the impact of this development on capacity’.