Margaret Bruff News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

× CONTROVERSIAL plans to develop on a flood-prone ‘wildlife haven’ - that were initially deferred due to concerns raised by locals - are again set for approval. The housing scheme on green space off Darton Lane, Darton, was expected to be granted outline planning permission at last month’s meeting of the planning board. But amid fierce opposition, led by local Richard Denton and backed by Barnsley Central MP Dan Jarvis and Darton East Coun Steve Hunt, and questions over suitability, the plans will instead be considered at a meeting next week. The l...

× BARNSLEY’S councillors collectively pocketed almost £1m in the last year through annual allowances and expenses, figures obtained by the Chronicle revealed. There are 63 councillors, three in each ward, and each received a basic allowance of £11,620 in 2020/21 - a rise on last year’s £11,309 according to a report. However, it is only £645 more than they were paid a decade ago. Back then, in response to huge budget cuts from central government, councillors voted to cut their own pay by five per cent, and it didn’t increase at all until 2015/16...

× A total of five primaries and one secondary school have already had to close classes. Rebecca Paddock, headteacher at Worsbrough Common Primary School - one of the schools with a closed bubble - said there’s been high attendance despite it. “On Monday we had 99.6 per cent attendance which is amazing,” she said. “We’ve taken the guidance from Public Health England to make sure our staff and pupils remain safe and we have online provisions to make sure that no student misses out on their education while at home.” Coun Margaret Bruff, cabinet spokesperson for chi...

× MEMBERS of a Barnsley teachers’ union say they are worried about safety as schools prepare to reopen to all pupils. Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced in his ‘coronavirus roadmap’ that schools would be allowed to reopen from March 8 due to a fall in Covid cases. Currently schools across the borough are closed except to children of key workers to help keep the infection rate low. The new move would mean that the 87 schools across the borough would be permitted to open their doors after a two-month absence. Now, the Barnsley National Education ...

× NO new school places have been created in Barnsley despite more than 1,200 homes being built in the last two years, a document has revealed. Obtained through a Freedom of Information request made by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), figures show 1,240 new homes have been built in the borough since the council’s local plan development blueprint was adopted in January 2019. The 335-page document allocates land for 28,840 jobs, 21,546 new homes and plans for a ‘vibrant and attractive town centre’. Although the plan says primary school p...