Latest news with #RotherhamCouncil
BBC News
2 hours ago
- Business
- BBC News
Grant to support Rotherham council housing developments
A grant of more than £450,000 could help support the delivery of 27 new council homes on brownfield sites in Council is hoping to receive £432,000 for the project from the Brownfield Housing Fund, pending a decision later this approved the money would support developments in the Boston Castle, Hoober and Kilnhurst and Swinton Brownfield Housing Fund is a government-backed scheme, managed locally by the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA). It aims to help councils like Rotherham turn previously used or neglected land into new housing grant will help fund new homes at Warden Street in Canklow, Albert Road and Princess Street in West Melton and the former Ship Inn site in of the homes are already under construction and are scheduled for completion by March 2026, according to the Local Democracy Reporting 27 homes are to be delivered in areas of high housing demand, with more than 7,000 households currently on the council's housing majority of funding for the developments comes from the council's Housing Revenue Account (HRA) – a ring-fenced budget used to build and manage council housing. Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North
BBC News
2 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Pump track plan for Rotherham recommended for approval
Plans to build a pump track in Rotherham have been recommended for on greenbelt land off Magna Lane in Dalton, the facility would be open to bikes, scooters, skateboards and rollerblades and would cater for all Council planning officers said the scheme would meet national and local planning policy and would represent "not inappropriate" development within the green plans have attracted more than a dozen public comments, with roughly half in support of the facility. A planning statement submitted to the council said the track would help improve health, support inclusive activity and enhance the existing green space without harming its character or council's ecologist agreed and said there would be a biodiversity net gain of more than 10% on track would cover 0.6 hectares of land and sit at least 32ft (10m) from all boundaries and 65ft (20m) from Dalton Brook, according to the Local Democracy Reporting the 17 public comments received, supporters said it would provide a much-needed facility for young people and encourage physical activity in a safe, purpose-built setting. However, others raised concerns about traffic, noise, and the potential for anti-social behaviour, particularly potential misuse of the track by off-road motorbikes. Residents also cited Magna Lane's existing road safety issues, with one objector pointing to a past fatality plans will now go before the authority's planning board for a final decision on 3 July. Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North
BBC News
3 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Plans for new railway station in Rotherham take a step forward
Plans for the new Rotherham Gateway railway station have taken a major step forward after regional leaders approved more than £11m in development money from the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) will allow Rotherham Council to push ahead with detailed design work, land assembly and preparation for station would sit on the main line between Sheffield and Leeds/Doncaster, reconnecting the town centre with the wider rail network for the first time in approval means the project can now move into the design and planning phase. The full scheme is expected to cost between £133m and £167m and is part of broader ambitions to transform the area with new commercial spaces, green infrastructure, 250 new homes, and improved public realm. The station would also be a vital transport link for the nearby Bassingthorpe Farm development site, which could see 2,500 homes Council estimates that the station and surrounding development could create more than 400 jobs and add more than £113m to the local economy over the next 30 modelling has identified potential journey time benefits for new passengers, though further studies are underway to minimise any delays to existing layout options are on the table, one with two platforms and another with four, alongside a new tram-train stop to improve links with Parkgate and Sheffield.A further £10m from the Town Deal programme has been earmarked to support land acquisition and planning consents. Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North
The Irish Sun
7 days ago
- Politics
- The Irish Sun
My Rotherham grooming gang rapist was offered access to our son from jail… it felt like his rights were put before mine
SHE was viciously raped and beaten hundreds of times, forced to have an abortion and used 'like a sex doll' from the age of just 14. Grooming gang victim Sammy Woodhouse gave birth to her rapist's baby - yet even when her abuser was behind bars her ordeal wasn't over. 4 Grooming gang victim Sammy Woodhouse was viciously raped and beaten hundreds of times Credit: PP. 4 Arshid 'Mad Ash' Hussain was jailed in 2016 for 23 offences including rape and assault on victims as young as 11 Credit: Handout The 39-year-old mum, targeted in Rotherham, South Yorks, had a child at 15 following sexual and physical abuse by gang ringleader Arshid Hussain. She said she had to face a further 'nightmare' when she was told the convicted paedophile could apply for parental rights over her son, despite serving a 35-year prison sentence. After being repeatedly abused from the age of 14, Sammy has tirelessly campaigned for victims. She welcomes the newly announced national inquiry but called Sir Keir Starmer 'vile' for initially opposing it, then finally making a humiliating U-turn last week as he travelled to the G7 conference in Canada. Sammy told The Sun on Sunday: 'I support a national inquiry as long as it will bring real change. They're saying it could take three years, but I'd wait a lifetime if it's effective. 'As well as holding people to account — including those in positions of power at the council, police and social services — I'm hoping it will address the issue of children born to perpetrators. 'Almost laughable' 'I haven't seen anything yet about abusers losing parental rights to children conceived as a result of rape, and that is something I have been campaigning for since 2018. 'Surely it's just common sense that they should be stripped of having access to their kids born as a result of grooming?' She said of her own son, born as a result of rape: 'Rotherham Council invited his father to apply for parental rights over my child without informing me, even though it was proven in court that he was a danger to myself and other children. 'It was another nightmare I had to live through. He'd had no involvement with my son, was in prison for the abuse I suffered, and wasn't even on the birth certificate. 'But I was told that the council had reached out to him — he hadn't even requested access himself — because human rights laws meant he had a right to family life. 'It's almost laughable. What about my rights, my son's rights?' Sammy's campaign to change the law has been backed by politicians including Rotherham MP Sarah Champion and former shadow policing minister Ms Champion said ministers could sign off new guidance making it clear that any rapist, abuser, or anyone who is a risk to a child does not have the right to comment on their future , adding: 'They could do that today but they don't. 'They sort of shove it out to councils to make their interpretations.' As it stands, the law allows a father to apply through courts for access or visitation rights to his children. That means he could have a say over his child's education, healthcare and where they can live. The victim and their children would have to attend court and could be cross-examined — having to relive the trauma all over again. A law introduced last year means perpetrators will automatically have parental responsibility stripped, but it applies only to those who have raped a victim aged under 13. It also applies only when someone has abused their own child or stepchild. CHANGE TO LAW IS VITAL By Natalie Fleet, Labour MP, Bolsover ONE in four of us has been raped or sexually assaulted, yet barely anyone is speaking about it. My rape was statutory rape, I was 15 and he was an older man. I have my birth certificate, my daughters, and a DNA test that proves it. Most women don't have that kind of proof a rape has been committed. That's why I'm using my platform to speak out about rape, despite me wishing it wasn't my story to tell. We estimate there are ten births per day from rape in the UK, yet there is no advice on the NHS website to tell you where to get help, no charity to support you, very few laws to protect you. I'm fighting for a change to the law. As it stands, a man can rape a woman, cause a pregnancy and have rights over the child he does not deserve. I'm tabling an amendment to the Victim and Courts Bill that means where a child is born as a result of rape, the father does not get parental responsibility. It's shocking children are the only proceed of crime a criminal can have lifelong access to. I'm determined to change that. Sammy, who has written a book about her ordeal, Just A Child, bravely waived her right to lifetime anonymity to expose the Rotherham grooming scandal. But she became pregnant at 15 in 1999, so the law would not apply to her. She said: 'I don't see how the Government can carry out a national inquiry and fail to address this huge issue. It hasn't just affected me and my son — so many victims of grooming gangs have suffered the same. 'It has happened all over the country, not just Rotherham. 'Children are being removed, being given to rapists and murderers, for their families to have access. I call it child trafficking through the system. 'Rape victims are also having to go to support centres to share access and see the men that raped them. 4 Sammy was repeatedly abused from the age of 14 4 Top row from left to right: Arshid Hussain, Bannaras Hussain, Karen MacGregor. Bottom row from left to right: Basharat Hussain, Shelley Davies, Qurban Ali Credit: Handout 'Women and children are being put at direct risk. It's just wrong, plain and simple.' Arshid 'Mad Ash' Hussain, who is ten years older than Sammy, was jailed in 2016 for 23 offences including rape and assault on victims as young as 11. He is not named on Sammy's son's birth certificate and has never had parental responsibility for him under its legal definition. But he was listed as a respondent in court proceedings instigated by Rotherham Council in 2017. Officials told him he could seek visits from his son and promised to keep him informed of all future proceedings. At a family court hearing, Sammy was told — with no prior warning — that Hussain could attend and seek legal representation. He chose not to, but would have been entitled to request visitation rights, or for his son to be given into the custody of his relatives. I just felt like a dead body on a slab in a morgue. Sammy Woodhouse Sammy said: 'Thankfully he never wanted any part in his son's life so never applied. But the point is, he should never have been given the option. I felt like his rights were put before mine or my son's.' In a statement at the time, Rotherham Council said: 'At no stage has it been the intention of the council to put any child at risk, or to allow any convicted child sexual exploitation offender to have care of any child.' It sought clarification from the Ministry of Justice as to how legal directions relating to Family Court proceedings should be applied. An MoJ statement said: 'Local authorities can apply to courts to request permission not to notify parents without parental responsibility about care proceedings, and courts should consider the potential harm to the child and mother when making this decision. 'This is obviously a very distressing incident and the relevant departments and local authority will work urgently to understand and address the failings in this case.' Victims' Commissioner Baroness Newlove said it was a 'perverse situation', adding: 'A victim of the worst sexual violence faced the prospect of continuing to be abused by her perpetrator, this time via the family courts.' Sammy's 2018 campaign calling for the amendment of the 1989 Children Act to 'ban any male with a child conceived by rape from applying for access/rights' attracted nearly half a million signatures. 'Absolute monster' She is also campaigning for grooming gang victims to have their criminal convictions quashed when they were coerced into crimes by their abusers. And she wants those in positions of power who turned a blind eye to the gangs to be held to account. She said: 'They should face criminal convictions. It's the only way to stop it happening in the future. 'At the very least, they should be stripped of their pensions.' Sammy has also campaigned — successfully — for children born from rape to be legally recognised as victims, so they can access any support they may need. She felt passionate about the issue after witnessing at first hand how hard it was for her son to come to learn that his father was a rapist. The new law was introduced in 2023, making Sammy was subjected to horrendous abuse from the age of 14, including rape, assaults and coercion, with threats to kill her family at the hands of Hussain. She has previously said: 'I was pretty much his sex doll. He was an absolute monster. 'I just felt like a dead body on a slab in a morgue.' In 2013, after years of abuse, she approached The Times anonymously with her claims. The resulting coverage led to the 2014 Jay Inquiry, which exposed the Rotherham gang and led to the discovery of more than 1,400 abuse victims in the town between 1997 and 2013.
BBC News
17-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Rotherham library and markets project goes over budget
Rotherham Council has asked for a £6.5m pound bailout after costs for a new market and library development council has approached South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority for the funding after the redevelopment of the town's markets and library complex rose to nearly £41 expected to cost about £31.7m, the council has already received £3.4m from the mayor's council said the extra funding was need to cover a sharp rise in costs following further design and survey work. 'Structural challenges' The scheme will deliver a new library, upgraded indoor and outdoor markets and improvements to public is a central part of wider regeneration efforts to transform the town centre into a more vibrant, mixed-use space as well as aiming to reduce crime and increase Council said it had identified extensive structural challenges, including reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) and asbestos, as well as the need for utility service full business case now seeks to increase the authority's total contribution to £9.9m - around 24% of the total scheme council has defended the increased cost, saying "it reflects essential safety and infrastructure upgrades and aligns with the town's long-term economic vision".Without the additional investment, officials warned the viability of the markets, and footfall in the area, could be put at is already under way, with a planned three-year timeline. The council said it had committed to covering any further overruns and had built contingency funding into the remaining funding comes from a mix of central government grants and council investment. Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North
