Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) South Yorkshire
protecting the countryside - for the nation, for the future

GIANT TIN SHEDS THREATEN VALUED DONCASTER COUNTRYSIDE

CPRE, South Yorkshire’s countryside watchdog, are objecting to the potential destruction of 51 hectares of greenfield land south of Armthorpe near Doncaster. The area is slated for a huge new storage and distribution development.

The site contains medieval hedgerows which should be protected by national legislation. High quality agricultural land would also be lost. The development will also surround New Close Wood nature reserve and ruin its setting.

Whilst the development will offer access to New Close Wood, CPRE South Yorkshire Planning Officer John King said The site currently has important environmental assets which are rare in the Armthorpe area and their loss cannot be mitigated by providing access to the woodland. Who would want to go through an industrial estate to get to their favourite woodland?.

CPRE are also worried that inappropriate interim planning procedures are being used by Doncaster Council in their search for strategic employment sites such as Armthorpe. Doncaster should only bring these sites forward through Local Development Framework, where there are opportunities to look at the future strategic development of Doncaster as a whole said John, the LDF process will allow independent assessment of the need for employment in the storage and distribution sector, the capacity of the environment to absorb their impacts and ultimately identify the most appropriate locations.

CPRE SY believe that, to ensure development is focused in the most sustainable locations and countryside is not unnecessary lost, Doncaster should expand its Green Belt beyond the arbitrary eastern boundary which follows the East Coast Mainline railway.

The Armthorpe proposal is expected to be decided by Doncaster Council’s Planning Committee in October. The application has also attracted widespread local opposition, including Armthorpe Parish Council.