New homes will boost regeneration of former pit village

It is more than two years since the council decided to move forwards with compulsory purchase orders to acquire 13 privately owned homes in Beever Street, Goldthorpe, and the authority had been working with the owners for two years before that to try to buy the homes through a negotiated deal.

The CPO decision was taken because, a report to the council’s ruling Cabinet states, “it was proving impossible to acquire the homes by agreement and the condition of these properties continued to deteriorate.”

Three tenants who remained in the houses have since been rehomed and work started to demolish the homes.

Originally it was planned to put six bungalows on the site, each with two bedrooms, but the quotes for building work proved uneconomic and the design has been redrawn to provide ten homes, including and additional three bedroomed home.

Different contractors will be used for the scheme and the result is a cost of £120,000 per unit, a saving of £30,000 per home on the previous sums.

It is expected the work will be completed by the Spring of next year and the work is part of the council’s wider goal of regenerating Goldthorpe and a council report states: “The re-development will positively impact on those residents residing or operating a business in the surrounding area as the new homes will be build within the footprint of the existing terraced housing, will provide private off road parking specific to the property and will be built to a sympathetic scale and design to surrounding properties.”

When completed the bungalows will be rented by Berneslai Homes, the arms-length company which manages the council’s housing stock.

Because of the way the building contract has been structured, students from Barnsley College and apprentices will be used in the construction work to help develop their skills.