AN INCREDIBLE public bust-up has broken out between three borough councils after talks over a scheme to transform what was Europe's pollution capital in the days of the coal mines, into an "eco-valley".

Barnsley and Rotherham authorities – in concert with Wentworth MP John Healey – are preparing a new future, in which the once-polluted Dearne Valley is rebuilt on a set of green principles.

Plans for new transport links include a new train station sited in the heart of the Dearne, a tram network, improved bus links and even a return of the old trolley buses – plus a university centre, a wind farm, housing and leisure projects, employment, plus schemes to reduce carbon emissions emanating from the thousands of homes across the area.

The wide-ranging plan also sets out to knit together the towns of Conisbrough, Mexborough, Denaby, Swinton, Wath, Brampton, Goldthorpe, Thurnscoe and Bolton-on-Dearne.

BUT, in an outspoken interview with the Times on Wednesday, new Doncaster Mayor Peter Davies poured scorn over the plans.

He said: "We are not prepared to hand over any political control of these important areas of the Doncaster borough.

"We are fast reaching the point where, unless we can see a return from our time and our investment –£10,000 a year – in these talks, then we will stop participating, and spend our time and money on policies that will benefit our residents in Mexborough, Denaby and Conisbrough."

The Mayor went on: "Doncaster is always willing to talk to adjoining local authorities to see if we have matters of mutual interest and if we can provide better services and quality of life. We especially want to get better value for money from any arrangement we might enter into.

"In relation to the Dearne Valley we have been talking with Rotherham and Barnsley to see if there is anything beneficial to Doncaster residents for an agreed joint objective to access government funds.

"So far we have talked a lot but seen little evidence of any such benefits."

He made his eleventh-hour outburst as the Times went to press.

Before it, Barnsley Council leader Steve Houghton, who is heavily involved in the scheme, had said: "It needs all three councils pushing it forward, for it to work.

"The old Manvers pit site was the most polluted place in Eastern Europe. The pollution problem has been cleaned up, and now we want to move it on a stage further, with the eco-valley project.

"We want to create something special no-one else has got. We want the Dearne to have the lowest carbon footprint in the country.
"We want the Dearne to have a clear identity as an 'eco-valley' in the 21st century."

But project manager Joanne Wehrle stressed the plans are not set in stone, and the project is only at early stages. She said: "These are ideas rather than firmed-up proposals, but we are going to be looking at which ideas we can turn into proposals.

"It is basically a question of 'if the sky's the limit, then what would we like to see?'."