Safety fears raised over access road plan for market town

Members of Penistone Town Council say they have “serious concerns” about the access to a new multi-million pound office block in the town centre and its impact on car parking and pedestrian safety.

At their latest meeting, council members told representatives from developer Dransfield Properties that they were not happy with the proposed access via Back Lane to the £4.5m commercial development, which will include six commercial units and up to 21 offices.

The mayor, Coun Carol Bradbury, said: “We are very concerned about the proposed access as we feel it should be from the Tesco roundabout. We are not happy about just 25 parking spaces as there is not a public car park in the centre of Penistone.”

Coun Anne Rusby said the proposed access road to the office block in Bridge Street, which will create 80 jobs, would be a danger to pedestrians and was “totally unacceptable”.

The planning application for the project will be considered by Barnsley Council members at a meeting on Friday, April 15.

Development surveyor at Dransfield Properties, David Hale, has previously described the plans as the “final piece of the jigsaw in our plans for Penistone town centre”.

He said: “The development we are proposing is on a key site in the town and is one of the first things visitors see when they come in to Penistone. It is important, therefore, that we have the right development on the site.”