Waverley Regeneration Project Gets The Green Light

PLANNING proposals for the Waverley New Community and a new 60,000 sq.m (645,000 sq ft) Government Office Campus have been given the go ahead by Rotherham Borough Council.

After several months of speculation about the future of Waverley and years of careful planning, developers Harworth Estates, the property arm of UK COAL, and Helical Governetz are delighted that RMBC has given both projects their support, heralding a new era for the former surface mine located off the Parkway and together creating significant employment for the Sheffield City region.

The regeneration of Waverley, once one of Europe’s biggest mining operations, is the largest brownfield site development to be brought forward in South Yorkshire and once complete will be one of UK COAL’s largest regeneration projects with an investment of £100m. The masterplan for the 741 acre site, which covers an area bigger than Sheffield city centre, focuses on building a new sustainable, mixed use community complete with 3,890 new homes, public facilities, green spaces and the creation of a 9,000 strong population over the next 20 years.

UK COAL has worked very closely with the local community to bring the Waverley New Community plan to the public. The application was a revised submission following the original plans in 2008 and comes after extensive consultation with the community and collaboration with RMBC officers and steering groups to ensure all aspects of the development meet the future needs and aspirations of Rotherham.

Following Rotherham councils decision the outline applications will now be passed to the Secretary of State for final confirmation. The development of Waverley New Community is expected to commence during 2012. It will include two primary schools and a versatile mix of new homes, 21% of which will be affordable housing, which will go someway in helping to achieve targets set by The Regional Spatial Strategy for the provision of new homes in Rotherham.

Jon Lloyd chief executive of UK COAL, said: "We are very pleased that the applications for this major development of Waverley have been supported by Rotherham Council. This is an ambitious and exciting venture and demonstrates UK COAL’s long term commitment to investing in Rotherham. Over the next 20 years Waverley will deliver not only significant regeneration and economical growth to Rotherham and its surrounding areas but will be a lasting legacy for the town giving the community something to be proud of."

UK COAL and Helical Governetz, joint developers of the Government Campus - which was considered in parallel with the Waverley community proposals will provide thousands of new employment opportunities and will be a welcome boost to the economies of local communities such as Handsworth, Orgreave, Treeton and Catcliffe as well as South Yorkshire as a whole.

The intention of the new Highfield Commercial office campus is to enable government and other qualifying occupiers to co-locate and gain benefits from being close to and sharing facilities with each other.

The campus will complement the adjoining Advanced Manufacturing Park to create a nationally significant commercial hub and has the potential to become the central office for local Government in South Yorkshire, in line with recommendations in the 2007 Lyons Report.