V4 Services were engaged by the Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council (BMBC) in 2022 to deliver a fully costed options appraisal, business case, and delivery plan for the rationalisation of public sector assets and the regeneration of the town of Penistone.
BMBC had already spearheaded significant regeneration activity in Barnsley Town Centre. This stemmed from recognising the need to invest in peripheral town centres in the borough, and directly led to a principal towns regeneration programme. Each of the principal towns had several public sector assets and so, as a first step, the Council had secured One Public Sector Estate (OPE) funding to review those public sector assets with a view to releasing capital, reducing revenue costs, and contributing to the wider regeneration of the town.
To support BMBC in achieving this, V4 Services undertook a detailed analysis of each of the public sector assets in the town and each of the obvious regeneration opportunity sites. This was done following extensive engagement with stakeholders and ensuring the involvement of the community and residents through visits. The desktop analysis phase consisted of a review of the current position of the assets and their use, planning policy position, site constraints, and site values.
Following the desktop analysis, the V4 Services team spent several days on site/location in Penistone itself, further engaging with residents and stakeholders. This allowed us to identify further opportunities and to gain first-hand engagement with key property owners and prospective strategic partners. For example, the MoD owned significant surplus land on the periphery of the community – the V4 Services team engaged the MoD at the right level to ensure dialogue and transparency for any proposed future plans.
The team also visited neighbouring conurbations to assess need and opportunity across the wider locality.
The draft findings were presented to a BMBC key stakeholder group in advance of being finalised, allowing us to engage these stakeholders and ensure their opinions and concerns were reflected in the final report.
V4 Services provided a multi-disciplinary team of professionals, incorporating Commercial, Architectural, Town Planning, and Regeneration Specialists to ensure the final output was both robust and deliverable.
V4 Services produced a detailed analysis of each public sector asset and each identified opportunity sites within the locality. This analysis set out the current position, opportunity, and constraints, and provided a recommended delivery plan for a wholesale rationalisation of assets and targeted investment in the locality.
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