Regeneration in Barnsley

Barnsley is in the UK. It is in the region of Yorkshire and the

Humber and is in the county of South Yorkshire, in northern
England. Barnsley is situated on the river Dearne which is a
tributary of the river Don. It is also within a green belt region
that extends the borough and other surrounding counties.

According to figures published by the Office of national statistics (ONS), the population of Barnsley was
244,893 in mid-2020 to mid-2021. Barnsley has a life expectancy of 79 years old. The average life
expectancy for males is 77.1 and 81.1 for females as of 2019. The average salary is £31,217, the average
property price is £165,579 and the average crime rate is 10,775 per 1000 people. Barnsley is ranked 38 th
out of 326 on the index of multiple deprivations. The areas of Barnsley with the highest deprivation
rates are Athersley (69.4%), Thurnscoe (67.4%), Worsborough Common (66.6%), Kendray (66.5%) and
Worsborough (63.5%).

Barnsley is an old market town and had early-wire drawing and linen industries, but its major growth
came in the 19th century as a coal-mining town. Coal mining peaked in the beginning of the 20th century.
The main sector of employment in Barnsley used to be primary and secondary. This mostly consisted of
glassworks and coal mining. This has now changed due to the global shift of industry causing
deindustrialisation.

Reasons/causes for change in Barnsley

De-industrialisation began in the 1950s in Britain. Barnsley Main was the last mine to close and it closed
in 1991. This means they lost its main industry leading to unemployment which led to a spiral of decline.
External factors such as competition from abroad and new technologies led to industries and businesses
reducing workforce and relocating. This means there are less jobs meaning skilled people migrate in
search for jobs meaning population declines meaning local shops and services get less income and
customers meaning shops start to close leading the area to become derelict. Also, people are
unemployed meaning more people are on benefits meaning less people are paying taxes meaning
healthcare and schools get less funding leading to worsened health and less education which means
people have less qualifications so they can only get low skilled jobs. This repeats meaning Barnsley is
stuck in this spiral of decline. This had led to Barnsley being one of the most deprived areas of the UK.

Management/regeneration and how successful has this been?

Barnsley council is in partnership with the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) to help
invest and regenerate the town centre. Their plan aims to create 39,000 jobs and attract 1600 new
businesses to Barnsley by 2033. The plan has 5 main themes: invest in infrastructure, attracting inward
investment, improving the town centre, growing existing businesses, encouraging high productivity
start-ups.

The Glass Works is a £200m town centre development project to create a modern, vibrant town centre
with a diverse retail and leisure experience whilst preserving the town’s traditions and heritage,
including the historic Barnsley Markets, one of the oldest in Britain, dating from 1249. The glassworks
opened in September of 2021. It has many shops, restaurants, a cinema, a multi-storey carpark and
leisure spaces such as the Superbowl. These are designed to attract people and tourists to help improve
Barnsley’s economy. So far this has been effective as since this opened the town is livelier and more
popular. Also, the town attracts more tourists to this area to these areas such as market kitchen and
Dolly’s Desserts. Personally, I think Doll’s Desserts has helped Barnsley’s town centre the most as it has
it has become very popular on TikTok as it has 1.6 million followers. This has helped attract tourists from
other parts of England. Also, the homeless people around town have been relocated to make it look
more attractive
However, the regeneration of the town centre hasn’t been all positive. Since the opening of the
Glassworks, the shopping centre Alhambra has seen a decline in customers and is most of the time
empty. This has led to shops like shoe zone having to relocate. Also, other areas of the town don’t look
as lively as the centre meaning fewer people go there. Also, other areas other than the town centre such
as Worsborough and Kendray have yet to be improved meaning these areas are still deprived. Overall,
the regeneration of the town centre has been successful both economically and socially as more people
are now going there meaning businesses are earning more money. Therefore, so far this has helped
Barnsley escape its spiral of decline.

References
Northern Mine Research Society. (n.d.). Barnsley Coalfield. [online] Available at:
https://www.nmrs.org.uk/mines-map/coal-mining-in-the-british-isles/yorkshire-
coalfield/barnsley/.
Construction, H.B. (n.d.). The Glass Works. [online] Henry Boot. Available at:
https://www.henrybootconstruction.co.uk/projects/the-glass-works.
Northern Mine Research Society. (n.d.). Barnsley Coalfield. [online] Available at:
https://www.nmrs.org.uk/mines-map/coal-mining-in-the-british-isles/yorkshire-
coalfield/barnsley/.
‌Varbes. (n.d.). Barnsley Demographics | Age, Ethnicity, Religion, Wellbeing. [online]
Available at: https://www.varbes.com/demographics/barnsley-demographics
[Accessed 17 May 2023].
Encyclopedia Britannica. (n.d.). South Yorkshire | region, England, United Kingdom.
[online] Available at: https://www.britannica.com/place/South-Yorkshire.
‌ ww.nomisweb.co.uk. (n.d.). Labour Market Profile - Nomis - Official Labour Market
w
Statistics. [online] Available at:
https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/reports/lmp/la/1946157120/report.aspx.
‌