Development with potential to create more than 1,100 jobs is approved

Plans have been passed for a 25-acre development of retail, leisure, food and drink, community and health space and new homes in Hayfield Green, near Auckley, Doncaster, which should ultimately create more than 1,100 jobs.

Doncaster Council’s Planning Committee has granted permission for Peel L&P’s Central Plaza mixed-use scheme, which includes shops, community facilities, offices, apartments, restaurants and up to three hotels.

Central Plaza would be built close to Peel L&P’s proposed Innovation Quarter – an advanced manufacturing and logistics hub which already has planning consent.

The scheme would also provide amenities for Doncaster Sheffield Airport (DSA) such as hotels and a petrol filling station.

Both schemes are key components of Peel L&P’s £1.7bn GatewayEast development.

This is South Yorkshire’s largest opportunity for sustainable social and economic growth, which overall will boost Sheffield City Region’s economy by £6.5bn within 15 years, creating 35,000 jobs across the region and up to 3,000 new homes across GatewayEast.

When complete, the Central Plaza development itself is expected to be worth around £250m per year to the local economy, creating around 1,160 full time jobs.

Around five acres of green infrastructure are included in the plans.

Neal Biddle, development director for Peel L&P’s GatewayEast, said: “Our plans for Central Plaza and our advanced manufacturing and logistics hub at the Innovation Quarter are all part of a wider masterplan with DSA to boost local and regional economies and level up the country by creating more opportunities for local people.

“We’re working with DSA, Doncaster Council and South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority to create a hub for innovation, green industries and high-tech manufacturing at GatewayEast, building on the success of South Yorkshire’s industrial past to attract further innovation investment from across the globe.

“This is alongside prime logistics space to accommodate the increasing fast-paced demand for consumer products and business supplies, providing a broad range of job opportunities.

“Central Plaza is an essential component of our vision as it will provide much-needed amenities for people who already live and work locally as well as those we hope to attract in years to come and we’re pleased the council has resolved to grant planning permission for the development.”

Daniel Fell, chief executive officer at Doncaster Chamber, said: “GatewayEast and Doncaster Sheffield Airport are strategically important sites for business growth and innovation in South Yorkshire as well as the North of England.

“The Central Plaza development complete with homes, local amenities, retail, leisure and office space is a much-needed asset to support this growth and this planning approval is a step in the right direction to help secure future investment in the area.”

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