April 6, 20200

Doncaster Council promised to take control of major schemes in town centre but how will it work with the wider south Yorkshire transport scheme being pushed from Sheffield?

Back in May Doncaster council stated it would take control of major schemes being led by external developers by taking control itself. Town centre schemes such as the new cinema and Doncaster girls school among targets struggling to get off the ground.

It wants to start projects Muse has not felt able to move forward, because of the economic climate.

The authority recently announced plans to develop land at Doncaster Lakeside called the Herten Triangle, after the scheme had stalled, by moving the scheme forward itself. It is now looking at a similar plan for several sites covered under the arrangement it had with Muse.

Mayor Ros Jones said: “The development agreement with Muse was signed in 2009 and it has delivered some good outcomes for Doncaster, making an important contribution to regeneration of the town centre. The Waterdale area particularly has seen some excellent new developments including our fantastic theatre Cast, a new civic square, civic offices, redevelopment of the multi-storey car park and new housing at The Gables. Unfortunately the agreement also coincided with the economic downturn, and not all of the outcomes anticipated in the original agreement were delivered. This includes a number of sites that the council still wishes to see developed, such as at the civic quarter and the old girls’ school site.

“By mutually agreeing to vary the development agreement now, it gives the council the opportunity to explore alternative ways of bringing forward these sites, to help drive forward our plans for the town centre and the economy of our borough.”

So where are we now and does it fit in with the potential £49million of transport improvements, currently `on the cards’ subject to Sheffield.

Mayor Ros Jones and her cabinet are to consider a Sheffield City Region Transforming Cities bid which could see Doncaster residents benefit from a raft of new transport initiatives.

The Transforming Cities Funding bid, includes up to £49.4million of transport improvement schemes worked up by Doncaster Council.

A new ‘Don corridor’ will create active travel routes and improved public transport from the west of the borough through the town centre, to the Unity development area at Hatfield and to Doncaster Sheffield Airport. As well as local enhancements, they would contribute to improving connections across the borough and wider region.

The Doncaster schemes would be part of a £220million Sheffield City Region Transforming Cities Funding bid which would see significant improvements in rail, public transport and active travel schemes across the region. The funding will help to reduce journey times, improve punctuality and reliability of public transport, and bring about a wide range of benefits associated with active travel.

Ros Jones, Mayor of Doncaster, said:

“We are determined to invest in schemes which help residents get to and from places across our borough. These schemes are to improve public transport for residents and communities, support job creation and deliver economic growth. The schemes would help cut journey times and improve punctuality and reliability of public transport.

“We also want to invest in our active travel network by enhancing existing or creating new cycling and walking routes. This would enable more people to travel in a more active way, delivering health and wellbeing benefits and leading to better air quality. It would also help support our Climate and Biodiversity Emergency agenda and our ambition for Doncaster to become carbon neutral.”

Dan Jarvis, Mayor of the Sheffield City Region, said:

“It is critical that we improve the transport system in our region, to create better access to jobs, and a safe, reliable and affordable transport network that is fit for the 21st century.

“That’s why it is so important that we get our full allocation of this funding and why we have been working with partners, including Doncaster Council to ensure our bid has the potential to drive transformational change for all our communities.”

The Doncaster schemes, including in the bid are designed to improve access to local train stations, offer better connections to key employment sites, enhance the transport network in the town centre, reduce bus journey times on key corridors and develop cycling and walking routes across the Don corridor.

Mayor Ros and her cabinet will consider the report on Tuesday 15 October 2019. More detail can be found at: Cabinet Agenda

The Transforming Cities Bid will be submitted to the Department for Transport