Employment development plans lodged at South Yorkshire scheme

Plans have been lodged for a substantial employment-led development as part of a major mixed-use scheme in South Yorkshire.Waystone Hargreaves Land is the joint venture behind the 650-acre Unity project. The company has submitted an outline application to Doncaster Council for a 29.8-acre site comprising the Unity ‘Park’ element of the scheme.Planning permission is sought for the construction of about 421,575 sq ft (gross internal area) at.This would comprise 391,575 sq ft of employment floorspace, up to 30,000 sq ft of ancillary community, leisure and commercial uses and associated works.The illustrative masterplan for the employment floorspace shows six units ranging in size from 37,500 sq ft to 110,000 sq ft.A design and access statement submitted as part of the application said the proposed development would “regenerate and bring into use an under-utilised and derelict brownfield site”.It added that the development would “generate a significant number of new job opportunities across a range of potential end uses, including training and apprenticeship opportunities”.The Unity Regeneration Project incorporates the Unity ‘Life’, Unity ‘Connect’, Unity ‘Link’, Unity ‘Living’, Unity ‘Town’ and Unity ‘Energy’ zones.Outline planning permission for the wider Unity development was granted in 2017, with the scheme set to comprise two million sq ft of commercial space and 3,100 homes in total. A new link road to support the scheme opened in December 2020.In February 2022, Waystone Hargreaves Land exchanged contracts with Aver Property LP for the sale of two units on the development.In July, planning permission was granted for a 191,000 sq ft logistics unit at Unity Connect.