Business
Yes Project Update
Yes Project Update.
About this update from Mindflair Plc
[{"type":"text","content":"\n \n Oak Holdings plc / Epic: OAH / Index: AIM / Sector: Property Development \n\n14 July 2006\n\n Oak Holdings plc (`Oak' or `the Company') \n\n YES! Project in South Yorkshire Update \n\nOak Holdings plc, the AIM listed property development and consultancy group,\nhas been informed that the Government Office for Yorkshire and Humber has\nentrusted the local planning authority of Rotherham Metropolitan Borough\nCouncil (`RMBC') with responsibility for the planning application for the\nCompany's YES! Project, a £270 million entertainment destination planned for\nSouth Yorkshire. Prior to this, on 11 May, members of RMBC planning board voted\nunanimously in favour of the project.\n\nIn correspondence with the RMBC, Government Office stated that `local planning\nauthorities are normally best placed to make decisions relating to their areas'\nand that `having carefully considered the relevant planning issues raised by\nthis proposal, together with all the representations received, the Secretary of\nState has concluded that her intervention would not be justified'.\n\nLocated on a 327 acre ex-coalfield site adjoining the Rother Valley Country\nPark in Rotherham, the Company hopes to develop a state-of-the-art leisure and\nentertainment resort. It has a number of Memorandum of Understanding's (`MOU')\nalready in place with leading entertainment, leisure and utility operators\nincluding most recently an agreement with E.ON, the world's largest\ninvestor-owned power and gas company.\n\nOak Holdings CEO Steve Lewis said: \"This approval has come some months in\nadvance of our expectations and is a major step for us. It is very rare that\nprojects of this size are not called in for government consideration and thus\nwe are delighted that the Government has given RMBC the power to grant the YES!\nproject with planning permission, having already received confirmation of their\nsupport earlier this year.\n\n\"Naturally there are still various hurdles to jump, including sourcing funding\nand tennants, but we are nevertheless confident that construction at the site\ncould soon be underway, bringing significantly enhanced environmental benefits\nto the area. The site, as it stands now, is contaminated and the proposed\ndevelopment will offer a more natural habitat, allowing greater public access\nthrough the expansion of jogging routes, foot...