Digital campus plans scaled back due to mounting costs

A scaled back plan for The Seam digital campus, in Barnsley, is being drawn up “to better suit the funding available and meet the changing needs of town centres.”Initial plans presented to Barnsley Council’s cabinet in 2022 for the digital campus were for an urban village with a multi-storey car park and a major residential development in the town centre.This new neighbourhood for the town centre was intended to bring forward more space for digital, tech and creative industries businesses.However the council has now said that due to mounting costs, in part driven by the pandemic and the Ukraine war, its cabinet has today – 16 August 2023 – approved a new approach. It will remove plans for the multi-storey car park, and also the residential development.Instead, the lower Seam car park will be refurbished to create a more welcoming space for visitors, commuters, and businesses.Plans will include public realm improvements, with enhanced lighting, CCTV, street furniture, and capacity for electric vehicle charging supported by solar power.The council also plans to create a new urban green space and improve cycle storage facilities.Councillor Robert Frost, cabinet spokesman for regeneration and culture, said: “We see The Seam as the heart of Barnsley’s future economy.“All economic growth will be powered by the use of digital and new technologies. This will help place Barnsley at the forefront of the digital productivity revolution and create opportunities for our residents to learn new essential digital skills for life and for work.“These updated proposals will allow us to get moving on improvements we want to see as soon as possible.“If we stand still, the borough’s economy will stand still. That’s why we’ve revisited our plans for the Seam and are moving ahead with this first phase, while we continue to look at funding opportunities and partnerships for a second phase.“Our digital campus in the town centre is a key part of our recently announced South Yorkshire Investment Zone.“This will bolster the already attractive offer for innovative businesses looking to invest in Barnsley alongside our existing digital and tech companies and strengthen the growing reputation for Barnsley as a destination for digital businesses.”Leader of Barnsley Council, Cllr Sir Steve Houghton, added: “We’ve taken a sensible look at our plans for The Seam given the huge rise in costs for major schemes.“This has given us another chance to reflect on what we want to see in this part of the town centre, and come up with what I think is going to be a better scheme for businesses and local people.“We’re going to focus our efforts on a really high-quality scheme of improvements on the lower part of the site, which will support the attractiveness of the site to businesses.“We’ll continue to look for opportunities to fund further enhancements to the wider Seam Campus as we continue to grow our digital business community and commercial opportunities as part of the new South Yorkshire Investment Zone.”