Green light for South Yorkshire employment development

Planning permission has been granted 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 submitted an outline application to Doncaster Council last year for a 29.8-acre site comprising the Unity ‘Park’ element of the scheme.A total of 421,575 sq ft (gross internal area) of space is proposed on the site.This would comprise 391,575 sq ft of employment floorspace, and 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.The council has now granted approval for the development, subject to conditions, under delegated powers.A planning officer’s report accompanying the decision said: “The principle of development is acceptable in this location, and on balance, the benefits brought forward by the scheme, coupled with conditions to ensure the proper consideration of the detailed reserved matters proposals, mean that the development is supported.”The Unity Regeneration Project incorporates the Connect, Link, Life, Living and Town 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.Planning permission was granted earlier this year for a 376,000 sq ft logistics unit a as part of the Unity Connect element of the scheme.