Growth Point Status
The Government, bless its little cotton socks, has come up with plans to concrete over a large area of Britain. Announced in December 2005, the Growth Points initiative is designed to provide support to local communities who wish to pursue large scale and sustainable growth, including new housing, through a partnership with Government.
The Government invited local authorities to submit strategic growth proposals which were sustainable, acceptable environmentally and realistic in terms of infrastructure to be assessed by Government and its agencies. And of course Rotherham Council applied.
The projected figures of house building in Rotherham are therefore necessary to fulfill the requirements that central government have imposed for the town to qualify for Growth Point Status. This 'status' means the council will have access to all sorts of grants and funding. I could also mention a bit of empire-building here as I'm sure this comes into the equation.
The whole of Rotherham has been surveyed and pretty little maps produced detailing areas that could be developed for housing from small plots to vast areas. So even if you have nothing to do with Bassingthorpe Farm you can bet your bottom dollar that housing development will come to an area near you pretty soon