Fire-ravaged former care home demolished at last

A DERELICT former care home in Monk Bretton has finally been demolished to make way for more than 70 homes after years of arson attacks.

Outline planning permission was granted to demolish the Belmont facility, off Lamb Lane, and replace it with a residential development of up to 82 homes last year.

The building was erected in the late 1960s and it was originally used as a residential facility for elderly people but in June 1999, Barnsley Council’s asylum and migration service welcomed 180 humanitarian evacuees from Kosovo to the facility which was then called Belmont Induction Centre.

Its last use was as a care home but since its closure several years ago, it’s been a priority patrol spot for police officers responsible for the area due to long-running complaints from councillors and residents.

A reserved matters application – which goes into more detail – shows plans to demolish an existing farm house and farm buildings, as well as the development of 76 properties.

The education officer has calculated the development would generate a pupil yield of 17 primary and 12 secondary school pupils – requiring a contribution of more than £400,000.

A planning statement said: “The site is made up of two distinct areas, with a former care home to the western portion, and existing farm buildings and land to the eastern portion.

“Existing structures have been demolished in line with the previous outline application approval.

“The site currently has five points of access, two of which are onto access routes into the site, and a further two gated access points into the agricultural type land to the eastern portion of the site, all of which are suitable for vehicular access.

“A further point of access to the southern boundary providing a route to the existing row of dwellings has been reduced to allow for pedestrian traffic only, but has been previously accessible to vehicles.”

The site has been dubbed an ‘eyesore’ by local residents and councillors, who felt the building was causing a detrimental impact on the area.

Dan Jarvis, MP for Barnsley Central, told the Chronicle at the time he was delighted with the decision to demolish the building, and said the site had become a ‘magnet’ for trouble causers, vandalism and arson since its closure.

He added: “It is welcome that the building will be demolished and the land put to productive use.”

More than a dozen fires deemed ‘serious’ have occurred at the building – which was erected in the late 1960s – since January 2019.

Demolition work began last year, but was completed earlier this week with the site now empty.

The properties on the 1.81-hectare site – which has been vacant since 2013 – will be a mixture of two, three and four bedroom houses.

A total of 61 neighbours have been made aware of the application with no appeals to date.

Public consultation ends on September 6.