New masterplan outlines bright future for Cudworth town centre

We're developing exciting plans for the next phase of Cudworth’s town centre regeneration under our Principal Towns and Local Centres Programme. 

We have drawn up a draft new masterplan focussed on improving public spaces, helping our businesses and community to thrive, and giving everyone a safe and pleasant shopping experience.

As part of this vision, we’ve submitted a planning application for a new urban park at the top end of the high street on Barnsley Road.

The site is currently occupied by the row of buildings known as The Crescent, which are in poor condition and are largely unoccupied. We plan to demolish this row of buildings to make way for the new urban park. 

This will be somewhere everyone can all meet, relax and unwind: a haven at the heart of the high street.

The park will have appealing landscaped areas - which we aim to involve the local community in planting - as well as new paving, seating and a small clock tower, which will make an attractive ornamental feature at the centre of the park. These plans are subject to planning approval.

We are now inviting people to see and comment on our wider masterplan for Cudworth town centre, including proposed measures to ease traffic flow, provide extra parking and improve the public realm.

The masterplan will build on the work of the Town Centre Investment Plan published presented to the council’s cabinet in 2022, which was developed in consultation with local people. This the first in a collection of new masterplans for our six Principal Towns of Cudworth, Goldthorpe, Hoyland, Penistone, Royston and Wombwell.

We’re holding two public engagement events at the newly-refurbished Cudworth Library, where you can see some of the design concepts used in the plan, as well as the key sites we are aiming to improve:

·      Friday 28 November from 12.30pm to 4pm

·      Monday 8 December from 9am to 12.30pm

Barnsley Council has made major improvements to community facilities and key sites across Barnsley through the Principal Towns and Local Centres Programme.

This programme is all about supporting our high streets and town centres to flourish and enabling everyone to have a pleasant and safe shopping experience. 
 
We've already made these improvements by investing in Cudworth: 

• Given 55 businesses a helping hand to improve their shopfront through our Shopfront Grants Scheme 

• Boosted public safety with CCTV cameras 

• Created extra car parking 

• Resurfaced the Barnsley Road/Cudworth Parkway roundabout to improve sightlines and safety.  

• Transformed a disused space on Barnsley Road into the attractive St John's Gardens 

Cllr Robin Franklin, Cabinet spokesperson for Regeneration and Culture, said: “Our Principal Towns and Local Centres Programme has already delivered significant improvements for high streets, town centres and communities across the borough.

“I’m delighted we are now bringing forward these exciting plans for a new phase of investment in Cudworth’s already-busy and welcoming town centre.

“We believe Barnsley is the place of possibilities, and this investment in Cudworth supports our mission through the Inclusive Economic Growth Strategy to ensure that everyone in the borough can share in this vision.

“Please come along to our community engagement events to see what we have planned to drive Cudworth’s future prosperity.”

Through the Principal Towns and Local Centres Programme, we’ve already delivered improvements at locations across Barnsley, including Wombwell High Street, Mapplewell and Staincross Village Hall and Library, Hoyland Town Square, Great Houghton Miners’ Welfare Hall and New Lodge Community Centre.

Earlier in the autumn, we unveiled plans for an extra cinema screen and new café bar at Penistone Town Hall, where the Penistone Paramount Cinema is located.

We will continue to invest in community facilities and town centres across Barnsley so everyone can benefit from new opportunities and experiences.

Find out more about our investment in Principal Towns and Local Centres at https://www.barnsley.gov.uk/services/regeneration/principal-towns/.