“ Sadly the Barnet Society seems to want to promote a series pipe dreams over the legitimate concerns of a lot of residents living close to this development. The Society has been keen to give a voice to the Spires management (who have everything to gain from this project being given the green light) when they tell us that the centre has some major names lined up should the hotel be built. The Spires has provided no actual evidence for this (according to a conversation with a BS member I had at the consultation) and the Spires' record of making such claims and having nothing to show are there to be seen (similar claims were made in the aftermath of the opening of H&M - all we've seen since then has been the closure of New Look, the jewellers and the Victoria Bakery).
The article above also makes reference to the redevelopment of the pop-up park. First, why does this have to be tied to the building of a hotel? Second, again, there appears to be little evidence of this having any grounding in reality. It's just a nice idea that someone at the Barnet Society has had that has never even got into a formative stage, yet the BS mentions it in such stories knowing that it could help shape public opinion. Hugely disappointing behaviour from a society claiming to represent local opinion.
At least Premier Inn have spoken to the BS. They've not bothered turning up to any of the consultations I've been to, leaving everything to developers GL Hearn. (Did you know that GL Hearn is owned by Capita, by the way? Did you also know that Capita and the Barnet Council have embarked on a number of lucrative joint ventures? It's something that raises alarm bells for me, and many others of social media...) I was saddened by how little the GL Hearn representatives seemed to know about the area too. At one point in discussion during the consultation, one of the GL Hearn manager pointed from the market site roughly in the direction of the hospital and said "There are no pubs in that direction". Anyone with a vague knowledge of the area would know that the Black Horse, Sebright and Lord Nelson were in the direction he was pointing. These people obviously care little about the local area, and as long as they can fund studies that show what they want them to show regarding parking or traffic, they've ticked all the boxes they need and they can sit back and count their money. What a shame that the local associations that claim to represent the people living in Barnet are so taken in by these people.
The hotel that Premier Inn want is too bag - far too big - for that area. The surrounding infrastructure simply won't support it. The potential for a traffic snarl up around Bruce Road is big. The potential for noise from stag, hen and wedding parties (who WILL use the hotel - in spite of GL Hearn's claims at the consultation that they won't) is worrying. Based on other hotels in similar areas, this one will primarily be used for people wanting to drive to London but wanting somewhere to stay on the outskirts with easy access to the centre of London (as a northerner, this is what all of my friends and family do, staying in Watford, Stanmore, Borehamwood, etc... barely using their local surrounds in that time as they want to spend all their time in the tourist areas). I'd be surprised if Barnet sees anything other than minimal economic advantages from this, all for a whole lot of upheaval. The Barnet Society has lost all credibility in my eyes based on their response to this development. ”