New homes planned for Catcliffe

Housing decision: Planners in Rotherham will have to decide on Catcliffe development.

A new estate of 85 homes will be built on an undeveloped three hectare plot of land in Catcliffe, which straddles the Rotherham boundary with Sheffield, if planners approve of the scheme.

Barratt housing want to develop the site, which would mean around two thirds of the land being given over to homes with the rest left as open space.

The company say the site would be split into three ‘character areas’ to break up the development and to reflect the different topography of the land.

They have told planners at Rotherham Council: “The creation of character areas within the site seeks to aid legibility to navigate a place by incorporating features that people will notice and remember.

“Creating a network of well defined streets and spaces with clear routes, local landmarks and marker features.

“Marker features, such as corner buildings and public spaces, combined with smaller scale details such as colour, variety and materials will further enhance legibility.”

Catcliffe is a village, but has larger commercial outlets nearby and a Morrisons supermarket and Boundary Mill store are both within 800 metres of the site, alongside a convenience store, pharmacy, hairdressing shop and other facilities.

The neighbouring villages of Brinsworth and Treeton are also within walking distance, Barratt have said, making them: “Accessible providing a range of shops, schools and employment opportunities.”

The site is off Poplar Way, a ‘B’ road which with Sheffield Lane is the main bus route through Catcliffe, with the nearest bus stop to the site around 80 metres away.

Because the development is large, the builders are required to give over 15 per cent of the new homes to ‘affordable housing’ and although no details have yet been supplied about how that would operate in practice, Barratt are intending to make up those houses with a combination of two and three bedroomed units.

An air quality survey has been conducted and concludes the scale of the development would have an undue impact on air pollution.

Measures would also be put in place to minimise dust during the construction period.