HOW BARNSLEY HAS BOUNCED BACK

Everyone will remember the initial images of an empty town centre as lockdown first started.

It was sad to see such a flourishing high street become empty in a matter of days.

It was rightfully closed for our safety but no one could have ever imagined the town’s streets looking the way they did when the pandemic first struck.

It makes it all the more remarkable to see how the town centre looks now.

The highly-impressive Glass Works regeneration project has made people proud of their town centre.

The town is now always full and it’s a much safer place for residents to go - and that’s mostly down to the council and South Yorkshire Police for cracking down on the bad behaviour.

More than half a million visits were made to the town centre in October 2022 - the highest footfall figures since the Glass Works opened in September 2021.

The number of visitors coming to the town centre continue to soar month-on-month, with data showing an increase of more than 30 per cent footfall when compared to the same time frame before the pandemic.

Coun Robert Frost, cabinet spokesperson for regeneration and culture, said: “Momentum has been building since day one of the Glass Works opening, with the launch of our new 13-screen Cineworld helping push visitor numbers to new heights this autumn.

“We’ve got a great mix of activities across the whole town centre now, with popular leisure venues like Superbowl UK and Parkway Cinema, cultural venues like Experience Barnsley and the Cooper Gallery, and many new shops, museum hubs, cafes, bars and restaurants.

“The town centre is buzzing right now and offers something for people of all ages and interests.”

It led to Barnsley Council leader Sir Steve Houghton to call the new town centre project an ‘unrivalled success’ - and it’s hard to disagree with him.

“The 1,100 full-time jobs created include a combination of new jobs, existing jobs and temporary construction jobs,” Sir Steve said.

“The Glass Works is an unrivalled success with the many fantastic retail, leisure, and hospitality additions to the town centre, driving increased footfall and visitors and an extremely positive reaction form the vast majority of people.”

Public transport became obsolete for many, with individuals feeling it wasn’t safe due to the worry of catching the virus.

But if you look at the figures from 2022, it’s clear to see the hard work of people spreading the message of safety, we’re getting back to a new normal.

More than one million people used trains from Barnsley Interchange in a year, according to figures.

By far the town’s highest for footfall, 1,033,054 visits were registered in the year up to September, with Silkstone Common’s 28,164 making it the least-used station. Barnsley Interchange was followed by Wombwell’s 160,182, Elsecar’s 133,294, Penistone’s 127,012 and Darton’s 104,096.