Planning experts overruled to reject ‘beach house’ eco home in Barnsley village

Applicant Steven Warsop wanted to build the house on a site off High Hoyland Lane in the Barnsley village of that name, with the design resulting from around two years of work with architects and specialists in the field of design.

Barnsley’s planning officers had recommended the plans for approval although the site is in the Green Belt, on the grounds that the design of the property and the ‘green’ technologies it would have utilised would have justified the special circumstances needed for such work.

However, councillors who make up the authority’s planning board rejected the scheme by 11 votes to ten after hearing of objections from residents, including a speaker who likened the flat roofed design, which would have been sunken into the quarry site, to a “Malibu beach house” in a village which included historic cottages.

Some Councillors, including Dave Griffin and Mick Stowe, spoke up in favour of the application, with Coun Stowe deferring to the advice given by professional bodies that the design – which had been changed substantially over the course of the design period – merited approval.

The design included green technologies such as rainwater harvesting and a ground source heat pump, with Coun Stowe stating: “It is not for us to like the technology, we have a big climate agenda on the horizon.”

Councillor colleagues including Paul Hand-Davis and Dave Greenhough spoke against the design, with Coun Hand-Davis stating: “I would much more warm to this if was in traditional materials. It is a very innovative design. Is that in keeping with the High Hoyland area? I don’t think it is.”

The design of the house had been planned to reduce its visibility from neighbours but objectors still questioned its appearance and other factors such as the suitability of access, though the meeting was told the route in and out of the site had been used by heavy lorries when the quarry was functioning.

*At the same planning meeting councillors also approved changes to a pedestrian footbridge which will span the town centre railway line at the old Jumble Lane crossing.

Changes to the lifts, for those unable to use stairs, have been changed to keep the project on budget, along with other detail changes such as glass sides to the walkways instead of lower metal parapets originally planned.

Barnsley Hospital was also given permission to build a new paediatric emergency department on the Gawber Road face of the building.

That entails the loss of some parking spaces from that area, though cherry trees facing Gawber Road will be retained.

Councillors who approved the scheme were told there would be no impact on neighbours from the development, with the closest homes being on the opposite side of the road some distance away.

Overall, the redesign means the hospital site will lose some bays designated for disabled parking, but the site will still retain more than regulations require.