Tankersley Parish council is very disappointed with BMBC for its lack of action over the Motocross and Motorbike Trials site.  The Planning Enforcement department has totally changed its stance over the use of Westwood woodland.  When the Motocross Site first opened last year, Barnsley Council were quick to persuade the landowner to remove it.  They were also asked to remove the Portacabin from the area and remove the advertising hoardings and return the land to its previous State.  Barnsley Council were satisfied with the work done to restore the site.  After this time however the wood adjacent to the Field continued to be used for Trials bike use, and both Barnsley Trials and Hillsborough Motorcycle Club were running advertised events in the woodland, which prompted complaints to the Parish Council.  Barnsley Council informed both Tankersley Parish Council and the landowner that under  provisions known as Permitted Development Rights, in "The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995 ", it allowed them to run 14 motorbike events per calendar year, and another 14 days for setting up/dismantling the event .  The landowner allowed a Portacabin to remain on the site for more than the allotted time and the Parish Council had monitored its presence and reported this to the Planning department.   Planning enforcement officers confirmed that the 14 day limit was used up and no further events could run.  However when further events were listed  the council backed down from taking any further action against the land owner.  The email to a Parish Councillor from a Planning enforcement read:-

Although, technically, the 14 day permitted use rights have been used up by the portacabin I have been advised by Matthew Smith, the senior planning officer for the area, that it would be difficult to substantiate any enforcement action on this basis in the event of an appeal against an enforcement notice. It is considered, therefore, that it would not be expedient to take enforcement action unless the number of motor cycle events held in the current calendar year exceeds the 14 days permitted under planning legislation. .

To quash a few rumours that are circulating :-

• Tankersley Parish Council does not support the use of the site for this purpose, nor has it approved any plans for such a site.
• Barnsley Council and Tankersley Parish council have not received any plans for approval.
• The site is Greenbelt, and the wood land protected by policy HN8 and HN9 , an Nature Conservation Site, as seen in the Barnsley Unitary Development plan dated December 2000. Rumours to the contrary are unsubstantiated.
• It is understood by Tankersley Parish Council that the Tree protection order that previously existed on selected trees has been upgraded to a full woodland wide protection order.