Application submitted for events on land previously proposed for housing

The applicants are Pocket Sports Bar Ltd, whose director Peter Eyre was previously behind the proposals for 116 houses on the land.

The company has also run sports venues in Mexborough and Langold.

Those plans were eventually rejected at appeal in late 2021, when the inspector decided building the Newett Homes development would have a “significant adverse impact” on the level of protected green space in Rotherham.

Now licensing papers with Rotherham Council are seeking permission to use the land for performances of plays, exhibitions of films, live and recorded music, and dance performances.

The friends group is still keen to see the land return to sporting use, a member told the Advertiser this week.

But they want as many people as possible to feed into RMBC’s consultation on the licence, which closes early next week.

The application seeks permission to sell alcohol for consumption on the open space, and for events to take place between noon and 10pm any day of the week, with a site closure time of 11pm.

The appeal took two weeks in November 2021 after Rotherham Council rejected the housing plan last March.

A previous move to build properties on the land was thwarted by opposition in 1997.

The applicants suggested that the protection on the land was outdated, and pointed out that there was no surefire mechanism to sports provision back to the Pitches because it remains in private ownership.

Although the land was not being used for sport, the friends’ group made the case that allowing homes on the urban greenspace would open the door for other protected green spaces in Rotherham to be lost.

The hearing was also told that Rotherham Council did not need to reclassify the land as it could demonstrate much more than the five-year requirement for residential space.

Representations for the events proposals can be made at www.rotherham.gov.uk/licensing-regulation no later than July 3, after which the council will decide on the plans.