‘We are creating a ghetto’: South Elmsall ‘carbuncle’ housing application approved despite plea to get it demolished

Councillors approved the scheme for five homes at the site on Barnsley Road, South Elmsall, despite a local councillor calling for the properties to be demolished.

Wakefield Council’s planning and highways committee voted in favour of the retrospective application by a narrow majority.

Developer JAS sought permission for three-bedroom homes on the site of a former retail unit.

The properties have already been constructed.

A different developer was given permission to build them in 2015.

The project was later abandoned after the building work differed from the approved designs.

The previous owner was also prosecuted after an eight-year-old girl suffered serious injuries when a wall collapsed at the construction site in February 2018.

She suffered crush injuries to her foot which resulted in the amputation of her big toe.

An investigation found that the company had not assessed the safety of the wall.

The Castleford-based firm pleaded guilty to a breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act, was fined £22,500 and ordered to pay £11,998 costs.

Speaking against the application, Steve Tulley, councillor for South Elmsall and South Kirkby, blamed the girl’s injuries on “crass workmanship.”

Speaking on behalf of residents opposed to the plan, he said: “Nobody has ever taken into consideration the people who live there.

“Some of these people have lived here 50 to 60 years.

“Let’s not delude ourselves that this is some sort of wonderful development. It is a disgrace. It blights my community.

“We have knocked better buildings down.”

Residents living close to the site claim the development is “overbearing” and too close to their homes.

They also say the site has added to anti-social behaviour in the area.

Coun Tulley said: “When it’s not infested with vermin, it is infested with people dealing drugs.

“We are creating another ghetto on a piece of land that is no bigger than a postage stamp.

“We have overburdened these people. It is a disgrace.

“It should never have been built. This council, whether we like it or not, allowed them to do it.

“This development should have been stopped when the walls were barely two foot high.

“I would suggest that we refuse this application and we put measures in place to get this place demolished.

“It needs taking down and going back to the drawing board.

“I’m not here today because I haven’t got anything else to do other than torment this committee. I’m here because the residents are pig sick of looking at this carbuncle every day.”

Council officers recommend the development be approved, saying it would provide a good standard of housing.

A report said: “The application would enable the currently unauthorised scheme to be completed, which in itself would serve to enhance the appearance and amenity value of the area.”

The development was approved by five votes to four.

Committee chair, Coun Allan Garbutt, used his casting vote in favour of the scheme.