Major new housing development would leave roundabout needing improvement to cope with traffic
Almost 20 hectares of farmland could be given over to housing in a Rotherham suburb under plans which would see the construction of 450 new homes.
The impact of creating so many new homes would create too much traffic for Worry Goose Roundabout to cope, but under planning regulations responsibility for financing upgrading work at that junction would rest with the developers.
Two landowners have joined forces to work on a project that would see a new estate being created on two fields bounded by Worry Goose Land and Lathe Road at Whiston.
Assessments of the site have been going on for several years, with the results of surveys showing development would not interfere with badgers or bats.
According to planning documents, there would be a need to protect the welfare of residents with homes which already back onto the site.
Care would also be needed to ensure as much hedgerow and trees as possible would be saved as the development progressed, along with keeping a footpath which crosses the site on its existing route.
It is proposed that a 15 metre buffer would be created where the site adjoins open countryside, with suitable border treatment around the site’s boundaries which have existing housing.
Although the current application is for ‘outline’ permission, to establish that homes could be built there, it is envisaged that access would be from Worry Goose Lane.
A traffic report compiled as part of the planning application concluded that other roads and junctions in the vicinity, including the Stag and Brecks roundabouts, would be able to cope with increased traffic.
Specialists who compiled the report suggested upgrading three zebra crossings in the area to pelicans, controlled by traffic lights, however.
If the scheme wins approval, it would need to provide 25 per cent of the houses build for ‘affordable’ use, to assist those who otherwise struggle to find homes they can afford.
The layout of the site would also involve open space with play areas, with the site expected to be developed in three phases, either by one house builder or by more than one development firm.