Barnsley West

Barnsley West represents one of the most ambitious and carefully considered masterplans in South Yorkshire. Over six years of collaboration, research, and dialogue have culminated in a transformative vision that will deliver more than 1,500 new homes, schools, employment space, and extensive green infrastructure. Our role has been both strategic and custodial—leading the masterplan and authoring the Design Code that now provides a legally adopted framework for its delivery.

What makes Barnsley West distinct is not just the scale of the project, but the depth of care invested in its making. From working with local authorities and landowners to engaging residents and community groups, every decision has been tested against real needs, long-term ambitions, and the historical and cultural context of the community. The result is a framework that safeguards quality, ensures consistency across multiple developers, and puts people and landscape at the centre of future growth.

Barnsley West delivers significant strategic value by embedding a forward-looking, cohesive framework that balances quality, operational efficiency, and long-term vision. The collaborative journey of stakeholder workshops, research-led visioning, and rigorous design coding has built trust with the council, strengthening institutional confidence and easing delivery risks.

From the developer’s perspective, the Design Code acts as a powerful asset: it delivers a clear, legally anchored set of rules that ensures design integrity regardless of who delivers it. Whether multiple housebuilders are working simultaneously, or phases are delivered by different teams over time, the Code ensures development quality remains consistent, efficient, and aligned with the original vision. That means fewer delays, smoother planning approvals, and a scalable model for future ventures and improvements.

For Barnsley Council, the Design Code provides assurance that the project will remain people-focused, landscape-led, and sustainable—protecting public interest over decades, not just in the initial phases. It embeds community priorities—play spaces, connected green areas, and walkable neighbourhoods—into enforceable planning requirements, allowing the council to secure long-term value for residents without the overhead costs of managing every detail of each scheme.

The masterplan and Design Code act as a powerful dual-purpose tool: ensuring the developer can deliver at scale—efficiently, with confidence—while the council safeguards quality, unity, and public benefit across multiple phases. Together, these roles drive better value, faster delivery, and future resilience.

Read more: For further insight into how the Barnsley West plans were developed—including the masterplanning process, stakeholder engagement, and how the Design Code was framed—click here. To learn more about the community these plans will create—click here.

The true impact of Barnsley West extends beyond its boundaries. The development has been masterplanned to grow with, and for, the wider community, ensuring its benefits ripple across the borough. At its heart is a careful balance of economic, social, and infrastructural gains. With 41 hectares of employment space and new commercial opportunities integrated alongside housing, Barnsley West will generate thousands of jobs and contribute an estimated £3.3 million in council tax revenues—direct reinvestment into the local area.

Equally significant are the social investments embedded in the masterplan. A new primary school will support over 420 children, while community buildings, allotments, and orchards will provide spaces for connection and shared activity. The new link road will reduce congestion and improve permeability, while a network of pedestrian and cycle paths will strengthen connectivity between surrounding neighbourhoods. Each intervention is carefully placed to serve both new residents and the existing community, helping Barnsley West become a hub for wider growth.

By embracing heritage while creating a forward-looking identity, the project strengthens Barnsley’s evolving character. It is not about imposing change but weaving new life into the existing urban fabric—helping Barnsley grow in a way that is purposeful, inclusive, and enduring.

Sustainability at Barnsley West has been approached with both humility and innovation. Recognising the site’s history as a former mining ground, the masterplan has worked with, rather than against, its inherited conditions. Instead of extensive disturbance, the scheme builds upon resilient ecosystems that have naturally regenerated over time, conserving habitats while introducing new layers of biodiversity. Ancient woodland, community orchards, wetlands, and allotments will provide residents with accessible natural spaces, while also protecting long-term ecological health.

Nature-based solutions are embedded across the project. Sustainable urban drainage systems (SuDS) manage stormwater naturally, reducing flood risk and creating biodiverse habitats. A vast network of cycle and pedestrian routes prioritises active travel, while public transport links are strategically strengthened to reduce car dependency. Parking is located away from street fronts, ensuring that the landscaping—not vehicles—continues to take centre stage in the neighbourhood.

Housing typologies have been designed to mirror the diversity of the landscape, allowing the community to adapt to demographic and lifestyle changes over time. This flexibility ensures resilience, not just environmentally, but socially and economically. By treating sustainability as both ecological stewardship and community wellbeing, Barnsley West offers a model for development that is future-ready, responsible, and deeply rooted in its context.

Barnsley West is a landmark project for Barnsley and the wider region: a vision-led masterplan shaped by six years of listening, learning, and careful design. With its legally adopted Design Code, it provides a framework that will safeguard quality and coherence for the next generation of development.

We are proud to have guided its journey to approval and to remain involved as custodians of its vision—ensuring that Barnsley West grows into a neighbourhood where people, place, and planet thrive together.