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Plans passed for Skills Centre site Controversial plans to transform the former Skills Centre site in Wakefield have been passed for the second time. The Wakefield-based builder Lemmeleg has finally triumphed in its long-running bid to build a multi-million pound mixed use development on Doncaster Road. Plans were initially passed by Wakefield Council more than two years ago but a chemical company based near the prospective site took the decision to the High Court. The development will be the first in a series of major schemes planned to kick-start the regeneration of the east of the city. A spokesman for Lemmeleg said: "We are very pleased indeed to have finally received full planning permission for the site, and feel we have a very nice building to put up there. Plans for the site have gone on for a number of years, but we are now confident we'll be able to start building before summer." He added that the Michael-Self-designed building would be made up of 84 residential apartments and 100,000 sq ft of office space. He anticipated building of the development would last just over a year. The final cost will run to millions of pounds but the project hasn't been precisely costed yet. The future of the Skills Centre site at Fall Ings has been dogged with uncertainty for more than three years, with the site once being used, among other things, as a skate park. Lemmeleg's plans were initially tied in with the £100m Waterfront regeneration project, which includes the planned £20m Hepworth Gallery. The city's Civic Society dubbed plans for the original complex "bog standard", "uninspiring" and "excessively high." The builder also faced opposition from nearby Brotherton Chemicals, who claimed plans for a residential development so close to a chemical plant clearly breached health and safety rules. Wakefield Council passed the initial plans, but were taken to the High Court by Brotherton in 2003, who said the council had failed to consult with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The council was forced to admit it had made an error and was ordered to pay Brotherton £46,275 in costs. Revised plans were then entered and the site is no longer part of the Waterfront development. A council spokesman said: "The buildings on the site have been demolished and the site has been vacant now for some years. The council welcomes the plans as part of the regeneration of this quarter of the city centre." Reproduced courtesy Wakefield Express
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