Land to the east and west of Engine Lane, Grimethorpe, Barnsley Data via plota.co.uk

2024/1096 - Full Refused

Proposal

Installation of ground mounted photovoltaic farm with associated infrastructure, engineering works, access, and landscaping Data via plota.co.uk

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View original council record ↗Last checked 20 Oct 2026, 04:17

Application progress

✓

Received

23 Dec 2024

✗

Refused

20 Jul 2026

Appeal

Not lodged

Refused on 20 Jul 2026 · Planning Regulatory Board · Last checked 20 Oct 2026

Planning committee

Decided by Barnsley Planning Regulatory Board on 14 Jul 2026.

Refused

Against officer advice: officers had recommended approval.

Officers advised approval because renewable-energy benefits clearly outweighed Green Belt and other harms.
The committee voted to refuse the application, against officers’ advice, because it would contribute to urban sprawl in the Green Belt.

Read how the committee decided The proposal, site, officers’ assessment, public views, committee votes and reasons for refusal.

Source: Plota analysis of Barnsley's committee minutes of 14 Jul 2026.

Documents

View the documents on the council's website ↗

Site constraints 5

Green belt: South and West Yorkshire

Inappropriate development needs very special circumstances.

Green belt policy allows a short list of exceptions, such as limited extensions and replacement buildings. Anything else needs very special circumstances that clearly outweigh the harm. Some green belt land can count as grey belt, where it does not strongly serve the green belt's purposes. The council decides this in its green belt assessment or on each application, so we do not mark it here.

Read the government guidance ↗

Agricultural land, grade 3a

Best and most versatile land (grades 1, 2 and 3a). Source: the Predictive Agricultural Land Classification Map (Defra and Natural England, 2025; the Welsh Government's Predictive ALC Map 2 in Wales), a model rather than a site survey. Natural England's Provisional ALC map (1:250,000, 1970s) agrees.

Where development of farmland is needed, policy prefers poorer land over the best and most versatile (grades 1, 2 and 3a). Three sources: Natural England's post-1988 field surveys, which are definitive where they exist; the Defra predictive map for England (2025) and the Welsh Government predictive map, modelled from the soil map with 3a and 3b split; and the 1970s provisional map, which planners and other services still show, coarser and with grade 3 undivided. Where the provisional and predicted grades disagree, treat the predicted grade as the current estimate and expect an application to carry its own survey.

Also on the record

Radon affected area, class 3; Nature improvement area: Dearne Valley Green Heart; Coalfield, development low risk area.

Not affected

Outside flood zones 2 and 3 · No scheduled monument at the site

Checked on 17 October 2026. The pin for this application is the centre of its postcode rather than the building, so distances to nearby designations are measured from the postcode and can be out by the width of the postcode area. Historic England, the Environment Agency, Natural England, the Mining Remediation Authority, the British Geological Survey and UK Health Security Agency (radon, contains BGS materials © UKRI) and council datasets, Open Government Licence. A boundary can run through a site and the council holds the definitive record: confirm with the council before relying on this.

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Important details

Council: Barnsley
Application type: Full
Received: 23 Dec 2024
Validated: 23 Dec 2024
Ward: Cudworth Ward, North East Ward
Parish: Shafton
Case officer: Show
Target decision: 24 Mar 2025
Decision: Refuse
Decision date: 20 Jul 2026
Decision level: Planning Regulatory Board
Applicant: Show
Agent: Stantec

How this decision compares

Decided in 574 days from validation, 500 days slower than Barnsley's median of 74 for full applications. Refused, as 12% of full applications here are.

This one574d

Council74d

UK56d

38%decided within 8 weeks

88%approved

215decided in the last year

Plota live figures for full applications decided by Barnsley in the last twelve months, from validation. Barnsley decision record →

Consultation & key dates

Comments by: 28 Apr 2025
Env. assessment: No

Barnsley

Planning Authority Score

4.1/10

Below average

#189 of 296 councils

Relevant to this application:

Householder decisions

Barnsley is slower than most councils at deciding householder applications, ranking #252 out of 296. Householder applications are slightly more likely to be approved here (94%) than the national average (90%).

Slower than most councils

for householder decisions

These figures are council-wide context, not a prediction for this application. View full council performance

Barnsley decision statistics

Based on MHCLG data, the year to March 2026

92%

Overall approval rate

Above avg (87%) #74 of 296

94%

Householder approved

Above avg (90%) #98 of 296

45%

Decided in 8 weeks

Below avg (63%) #252 of 296

44%

Extended time limit

Above avg (41%) #174 of 296

97%

Minor dwellings approved

76 decided (1-9 homes)

83%

Major dwellings approved

12 decided (10+ homes)

80%

Change of use approved

54 decided

673

Total decisions

53 refused in the year to March 2026