Hadley Green residents line up in opposition to housing development in their conservation area

Fine period houses in their own sizeable grounds and gardens are a feature of the tree lined roads and footpaths around Hadley Green – all adding to the character of the Monken Hadley Conservation Area.

That settled harmony of the locality with its clusters of mature trees is about to challenged by a contentious proposal to seek planning permission to build a large new architect designed house with its own swimming pool.

A wooded plot on the western edge of Hadley Green – alongside Christ Church Lane at the junction with Sunset View – is the proposed site for what would be a new five-bedroom double fronted property to be built in the Arts and Crafts style.

Nearby residents say the vast majority of those living in adjoining roads are firmly opposed to new housing on the one-acre plot because it would threaten protected trees and disrupt a local wildlife corridor.

They fear they are faced with a speculative proposal aimed at getting planning consent to build inside the conservation area.

Mounting opposition within the neighbourhood was all too apparent after the developers Christchurchgrove Ltd held a public consultation to unveil their plans – opposition to which was led by residents in Gladsmuir Road, Hadley Gove and Christ Church Lane.

Stuart Lees of Alan Cox Architects told Jenny Remfry, a nearby resident and Barnet Society vice president, that steps would be taken to safeguard mature trees on the site, most of which are already covered by tree protection orders, and there would be other measures to enhance the biodiversity of the woodland.

In fact, the new house would be surrounded by trees and as a result would be hardly visible, which had been one of the aims in the design.

But Dr Remfry asked why have such restricted views of the new property when much was being made of the fact that it was in the Arts and Crafts style in a design which reflected the Arts and Crafts houses in Sunset View – see above.

“What makes this area so appealing is that people admire the magnificent period houses and villas in and around Hadley Green. They like looking at them.

“If the developers are going to all the trouble of designing an Arts and Crafts style new house surely it should be more visible?”

Mr Lees accepted that the new house would be larger than other nearby houses, but it matched the scale of the plot and was in character with the historic pattern of residential development in sizable plots with cultivated gardens.

Most of the objections revolve around the loss of natural habitat if the woodland becomes the site of a new house.

Stuart Robinson, planning adviser for the project, acknowledged that there might have been a case for building more than one house but trees on 70 per cent of the site were safeguarded by protection orders.

However, the site had “relatively low ecological value” at present largely due to the prevalence of invasive non-native plants and general neglect.

If the site was properly managed, it would contribute more to the biodiversity of the area, and the developers would be legally bound for 30 years to ensure there was a net biodiversity gain.

Similarly, in order to reassure local residents that they were not planning to build more houses on the land, there would be a covenant on the planning application to restrict the site to one house.

Project manager Andrew Robinson said that the purpose of the public presentation was to answer rumours about their intentions and to reassure residents that the application was restricted to one house and that with enhancement they were proposing there would be a biodiversity gain for the next 30 years.

Nonetheless nearby residents told the Barnet Society they remained sceptical about the likelihood of the proposed house ever being built.

They were also concerned about the ownership of the land which is currently in the joint ownership of Barnet Recreational Trust and Barnet Council.

Christchurchgrove Ltd has a purchase agreement with the council, conditional upon obtaining planning permission.

An application for planning approval is due to be presented to the council early next year.