Latest news with #BarnsleyCouncil
BBC News
4 days ago
- Health
- BBC News
Barnsley doctor appeals to parents as vaccine uptake falls
Parents in Barnsley have been urged to have their children vaccinated against preventable diseases amid a decline in routine uptake of than 500 cases of measles have been reported in England this year, according to government data, while earlier this month a child in Liverpool became the second to die from the disease in the past five councillor Dr Alex Burnett said using inoculations to overcome disease was a "triumph of human society" and he was "filled with sadness" at the decline in told a council meeting: "In the name of those around the world who [cannot] access these safe, life-saving vaccines, please get you and your children vaccinated." Dr Burnett said: "The thought of a child dying is one that sends chills into the heart of every parent."He condemned "those who spread lies and division" through vaccine misinformation or conspiracy theories, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service."At the turn of the 20th Century, nearly one in every four children born in Barnsley died," he said."Two of the leading causes were smallpox and measles."He asked people to get vaccinated in memory of the "thousands of Barnsley children who died of preventable infectious diseases before the advent of vaccines".Barnsley Council's public health team has been carrying out targeted work with residents to address and understand vaccine hesitancy, particularly in groups where uptake is notably low, such as among eastern European community champions have been recruited to do work including leading focus groups and distributing information in multiple Burnett welcomed the measures, but stressed that barriers to vaccination went beyond cultural said: "This is not a problem solely confined to any one ethnic group."Not being able to get time off work and not being able to afford transport costs to GPs also are barriers to vaccination that need addressing." Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North
BBC News
4 days ago
- Automotive
- BBC News
A616 Crow Edge speed limit cut to improve safety
A stretch of road outside Barnsley will have its speed limit reduced and parking restrictions imposed after numerous crashes, some A616 will see the 40mph zone through Crow Edge village extended, with 50mph buffer zones added to slow approaching drivers, Barnsley Council said."No stopping" zones will also be added, following complaints of vehicles parking on measures come after two people were killed at Hazlehead crossroads in the last five years, while the road has seen three major pile-ups between October 2023 and May 2024. Crow Edge residents have raised repeated complaints about vehicles blocking pavements and obstructing views when pulling out onto the main road, according to the Local Democracy Reporting James Higginbottom, cabinet member for environment and highways said: "These measures target the specific problem spots where bad parking causes danger and blockages, and we've planned for where parked vehicles might try to move to."Some people had called for a stricter 30mph limit, but police had concerns about enforcing it, said a council stated the new 40mph/50mph buffer plan was the best achievable also said the parking restrictions for lorries would not affect on-street parking directly in front of measures would cost about £68,500, paid for by the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined council said it would now make the legal orders needed and its highways team would carry out the work. Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North
BBC News
22-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Disused Barnsley care home to be converted into flats
A disused care home which was closed in 2022 due to health and safety breaches is set to be converted into 24 Council has granted planning permission to redevelop the former Rockley Dene facility on Park Road in proposal stated the scheme would support the council's Local Plan to boost housing plan was submitted by Sheffield-based developers EDGE AD Ltd on behalf of Kruidberg Capital, a real estate company in Barnsley. The site was earmarked for development due to its proximity to services, schools, and public transport links, according to the Local Democracy Reporting of the original structure will be retained and the mix of studio, one-bed, and two-bed homes will support Barnsley's housing needs, the applicant council has asked for a biodiversity net gain plan, protections for existing trees and habitats and restrictions on construction said the plan "should be viewed favourably" given its contribution to local housing supply, economic activity, and environmental and construction must begin within three years, and all biodiversity and drainage conditions must be satisfied before work gets underway. Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North
BBC News
16-07-2025
- BBC News
New Elsecar visitor centre celebrates village's industrial past
A new visitor centre has opened at Elsecar Heritage Centre as part of a £4m-project to improve the updated displays, exhibits and activities, the centre tells the story of Elsecar's development from a quiet hamlet to a thriving industrial work has been funded through a £3.93m grant from the Arts Council's Cultural Development Franklin, cabinet spokesperson for regeneration and Culture at Barnsley Council said the improvements had made the centre "an outstanding resource for everyone". Among the new displays are a "phone line to the past" allowing visitors to hear pieces of oral history from the Barnsley Museums archive via an old black council said they had also worked with Barnsley Blind and Partially Sighted Association to make the centre more was a model industrial village concept, built and developed over many years by the Fitzwilliam family in connection with Wentworth is home to the Newcomen Beam Engine, one of the oldest steam engines in the world still in its original location. Franklin said: "This project is a fantastic example of how community engagement can create something truly special. Every contribution has helped to make this centre an outstanding resource for everyone, and it's truly fascinating to explore Elsecar's long and impressive history."Plans to develop the site further include work to repair and repurpose two mill buildings and a 19th Century railway station into "creative workspaces".Barnsley Council said people could expect to see drainage and public realm works later this year as part of preparations for other developments, with buildings including the former Ironworks due to be completed in Spring 2026. Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North
BBC News
14-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Will a Green Book revamp help bridge the North-South divide?
Changes to the way the government hands out money to the North have been welcomed - but cynicism remains about whether anything will actually improve. BBC Yorkshire Political Editor James Vincent investigates whether a rewrite of the Green Book will help to bridge the North-South Green Book, the government's document that guides decisions on whether projects are value for money, will be updated by Chancellor Rachel the past, the rules have been seen to favour the South because returns on investment are easier and quicker. Not many people have heard of the Green Book and - if you're not knee-deep in politics like some (hello!) - there is no reason why you should not a book of policies or plans that the government wants to achieve - it's the next level of decision making, behind the a project value for money? How much risk is there? Will it have an impact?Civil servants use it to say yes or no to investment plans and some in Yorkshire think it's holding us back. Sir Steve Houghton has been on Barnsley Council since 1988 - and though there is a risk of him sending me an angry text if I say this - he's been around local government for longer than most."Changes to the Green Book are really, really welcome. We've been calling for this for years and years," he says."To ask places, small towns in the North to give economic returns at the same rate as London for public investment has been a nonsense and still is a nonsense."Sir Steve knows that something built in Barnsley will not have the same immediate financial impact as it would in the South East - but says that's why it is needed more here."Having recognition that you're going to get different returns, you're going to get different benefits in different parts of the country, is a real win for us."It might not hit the public agenda, the Green Book, but in terms of making sure the government can invest in places other than those big cities like London, it's a real step forward." For a long time, whether you had a good business case defined whether you were going to get government money or Cost Ratios (BCR) are the assessments of what the number crunchers in the Treasury think they might get of the changes to the Green Book is to rely on BCRs less and have other benefits included, like societal ones, rather than just government also wants the Treasury to look at what transformational changes might happen in an area because of also wants the Green Book to be smaller. At the moment the guidance can run into thousands of pages. We've been here before though. The Conservatives changed the Green Book under Rishi Sunak's said it was to help areas in the North, but that was undermined by the PM's comments to voters in Tunbridge Wells where he told them he had taken money out of urban deprived Conservatives' Levelling Up Fund was also criticised for weighting the prime minister's constituency of Richmond as in higher need than asked the Conservatives for their view on these changes but they did not respond. 'Raise investment across the country' I sat down with Treasury Minister Torsten Bell to ask him whether Labour would also be accused of funding bias."You obviously do need cost benefit analysis of transport schemes but what we can't have is a system for doing that that is biased against certain parts of the country, that only funnels money to parts of the country that are already successful," he says."We all deserve a public realm that functions, and just because somewhere has lower incomes today doesn't mean that is always the case, in fact our policy should be to start turning that around."But are they heading down the same road as the Conservatives in favouring their own areas?"No, what we're doing is saying we need to raise public investment levels right across the country and we're making sure Yorkshire benefits from that like we are for every region."It's not about setting parts of the country against each other." The reality is that different parts of the country are wealthier than that ever changes is a huge question, and one that has faced every new the gap between North and South is the aim of these structural long will we have to wait to find out if it works? Well, no government has cracked it so far.
