A PORTRAIT OF STAINFORTH

The Stainforth neighbourhood area lies between the Stainforth and Keadby Canal to the north and a rail line to the south.  Stainforth is a small town located about 7.5 miles to the north east of Doncaster within the local authority area of Doncaster Council.  The town is a former mining community and the neighbourhood area includes built heritage assets associated with the former Hatfield Main Colliery. 

The neighbourhood area extends over 898 hectares in total and comprises the largely built up area of the town and spoil heaps, and undeveloped areas of open countryside to the north east and south west.  The M18 slices through the east of the area but access to J5 (1.5 miles away) and the M180 is currently poor.  Hatfield and Stainforth Station lies just within the neighbourhood area boundary with rail services to Doncaster and on to Sheffield, Scunthorpe and Hull.

Stainforth had a population of 6,282 usual residents on Census day 2011, with a median and mean age of 38 years; which is slightly younger than the national average age of 39.4 (mean) and 39.0 (median).  There were 2,683 dwellings on Census day and of these 44.8% were semi-detached and 32.3% were terraced. Since 2011 there have been several areas of new housing development especially the significant King’s Park development by Gleesons Homes, which has brought in many new affordable homes into Stainforth.

The following has been taken from the 2016 Public Health England Report1 for the Stainforth Ward: The deprivation indices for Income, child poverty and older people are all significantly worse than the England average. Child development and GCSE achievement in Stainforth are both significantly worse than the England average. The general bad and very bad health indicators, including long term illness and disability are all significantly worse than the England average.

Local schools include Kirton Lane primary, Long Toft primary, and Holy Family primary. There is a well-used library and several community centres and halls such as Stainforth Resource Centre, Poulton Close community bungalow, and Stanley Gardens community bungalow. However, many of the community centres are very small in size or aimed solely for the use of the elderly, and it is recognised by the plan that Stainforth actually needs more community centre space, especially for children and young people.

Shopping facilities are provided in small local parades around the residential areas, for instance One Stop, and the town centre area along Church Road where there is a supermarket (ASDA) and a range of local shops, cafes and other businesses.

Stainforth has 13 Listed Buildings, all Grade II, and the neighbourhood area includes several areas of wildlife value including part of a Local Nature Reserve, several Local Wildlife Sites and part of a Nature Improvement Area.

There is a strong local sense of community and there have been several major projects in the recent years to help redevelop and regenerate Stainforth. These include S4ALL, a community regeneration group operating from the local library; SERV volunteer group, helping to uplift the town’s image by street cleaning and planting flowers around the town. There is also a Stronger Stainforth community group that has been established by DMBC to consult the residents on local issues and how DMBC and Stainforth Council can help to tackle them. The NDP will provide an opportunity to continue this approach of community led regeneration by allowing the local people to have a say in the town’s development.

A new Local Plan for Doncaster is at an early stage or preparation, but the evidence base of the new emerging Local Plan is relevant for the Stainforth NDP. For planning purposes, the adopted Core Strategy links Stainforth with the neighbouring settlement of Hatfield as a Potential Growth Town in need of physical and economic regeneration.  The emerging new Local Plan identifies a cluster of settlements, Dunscroft, Dunsville, Hatfield and Stainforth as one of 7 Main Towns.  The proposed Unity development includes an area to the south west of Stainforth neighbourhood area, and this will be a major regeneration scheme comprising a mix of uses including housing and a new direct link to J5 of the M18.