Green light for outdoor activity centre and skate park as part of new youth club
Plans for a new outdoor activity park have been approved for a youth centre which is under construction in Barnsley town centre.
The site will include a skate park, parkour area, cycling routes, and social spaces with canopies, at the site of the new Youth Zone on Schwabisch Gmund Way.
The development site was previously an unused electricity depot. The first phase, which includes the construction of the main building, is already underway.
The activity park will be sited behind the building, bordering Harbrough Hill Road, and includes plans for around 40 new trees and landscaping works.
Plans for a clubhouse and cafe, which were part of the original scheme, are no longer going ahead, after a survey found there was limited interest in a cafe on site.
A report as part of the application states that the youth club will provide affordable, subsidised food options for young people and their families, further reducing the need for a café. The park’s design will now include a flexible plaza, which can host pop-up food vendors.
One neighbour had objected to the scheme, on the grounds that it offers no social benefit for older residents, as well as disturbance during construction.
A report said the park will provide a safe, modern space for young people to engage in sports and social activities, which are considered to outweigh the objection.
The activity park was approved by Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council’s planning board on Tuesday (March 11).