During September 2008, I attended the first of several meetings of community representatives with LBB planning officers to discuss the early draft of the Local Development Framework (LDF).  On November 11th 2009, I was present at The Civic Network (at North London Business Park) where, again, the subject was the LDF. 

Some 100 mixed delegates, council officers and councillors were present.  During the intervening year LBB had updated the early draft to ‘The Core Strategy - Direction of Travel’ (it’s officialese for ‘preferred options’), but there was scepticism that LBB were really listening or had moved on. 

Answers to queries and comments often appeared to sidestep the issues.

Publication of the consultation document will be during Summer 2010 and Society Members are encouraged to comment.  A planning background is not necessary to make common sense observations about ones environment or personal space.  The LBB ‘three strands’ approach is supposed to underpin the fundamental thinking, but Members may question the reality of this.

We continue to be represented at the FORAB meetings (Federation of Residents Associations of Barnet).  This body, chaired now by David Howard, delves courageously into every significant planning issue and is not hesitant to make its views known.

Currently FORAB, with Brent FOE, have written to John Denham, Secretary of State, asking that the planning application approved for Brent Cross be called in for full ministerial consideration. (Post Script: June 2010 - Minister wrote to say he will not now call it in)

Through FORAB we have also given support to the adventurous, but practical, ‘North West Light Railway Proposal (Brent Cross Railway)’.  With possible links to Finchley Central, Hendon, Wembley, Cricklewood, Finchley Road and beyond, it makes imaginative use of little or non-used track (or beds) as well as finding sensible extra spaces.  As an alternative to road congestion, it should surely be properly debated but sadly the Brent Cross developers do not wish to engage in discussions and LBB is publicly unsupportive.

We have responded to the North West London Waste Plan, the next version of which will be published in late 2010.  Of more interest may be the leaflet promised to residents (catchment unknown) providing details of the waste disposal arrangements proposed for the site of the former Friern Barnet Sewage Works.

There is still a proposal for waste disposal in the Brent Cross plan and we will update members when we can.

The Gaming Shop has probably not gone away, but is in a new chrysalis form.  The Residents’ Forum gets our regular involvement at the bi-monthly meetings where there are regular reminders to the council of topics that have not ‘gone away’.  At the ‘ordinary’ planning level, both CAAC and we try to stem the tide of flatted developments creeping into areas of owner occupation, whether new-build or alterations to existing (with the loss of family housing and gardens). We are pushing LBB to take action to save a number of crumbling Edwardian shopfronts in the High Street.

The Dollis Valley regeneration proposals, dropped so abruptly in Autumn 2008, have been brought back to the drawing board, literally.  LBB are currently short-listing three or four ‘Private Sector Development Partners’ to work with the Council in developing a ‘suitable’ revised scheme. Each of the ‘partners’ will have to prepare layouts which will meet the requirements of the Council to balance the books in the long term.

LBB maintained that the previous proposal did not do so, despite having reached a very advanced design stage under the direction of the Council itself. The balance sheet appears to be more important than the layout, storey-heights or bus route, and it remains to be seen how much of the ethos of that community-developed scheme will find its way through.

The Barnet Society is a ‘stakeholder’ and we shall continue to meet with the Council to make sure we know what is happening.