A small industrial estate behind hoardings and cafes at Pricklers Hill on the Great North Road will be replaced by a new self-storage facility if Barnet Council gives planning approval.

The Meadow Works complex – which was once the site of a hand laundry and small holding – has been purchased by Compound, a development company which is developing self-storage facilities around London and the south-east.

Compound intends to redevelop the site with self-storage for commercial and residential clients combined with flexible co-working spaces designed for local use.

One business which has been promised space along the new frontage on to the Great North Road is Hole in the Wall Cafe which trades on being Barnet’s oldest cafe, established in 1935.

Nearby residents and tenants of premises on Meadow Works estate were shown an image of the new self-storage facility and its frontage on to the A1000 Great North Road at a consultation meeting at the Hole in the Wall.

Compound say they want to work with the local community. One result of the redevelopment is that Dale Close at the rear of Meadow Works will become a cul-de-sac – something residents have been demanding for years to stop their road being used as a route for commercial vehicles.

Jacob Sandelson (above right) Compound’s chief executive, seen with development manager Jo Winter, said the company was anxious to ensure their development supported the local business community. There would be space for small commercial enterprises and co-working offices along the Great North Road frontage.

“We are very conscious of the fact that London has lost 20 per cent of its industrial space since 2000. We are anxious to back commercial enterprises and specialist businesses,” said Mr Sandelson.

“Around 40 per cent of our new self-storage capacity will be for commercial undertakings. We expect the other 60 per cent will be taken up by local householders and residents.”

There would be 15 parking spaces at the rear of the self-storage unit providing sufficient room for clients of the facility.

Compound purchased the Meadow Works complex in May from the Morris family which had owned the site since the late 1880s and established a hand laundry and small holding.

James Morris (above), the eldest of two surviving brothers, says his grandfather Jack was born in the farm cottage in 1910. He was photographed standing by one of the doors of the original building.

It was his grandmother who asked for the hoardings to be erected along the side of Pricklers Hill because dust from traffic on the Great North Road was disrupting the work of the laundry.

In later years the site was redeveloped with buildings for commercial tenants.

Currently Meadow Works – which is made up of numerous small workshops – has 46 tenants who will be displaced when the site is redeveloped after the demolition of the cottage and surrounding buildings.

Businesses in operation include small garages and vehicle repair firms, MOT testing, car exhaust and battery suppliers, and specialists in moulding, metalwork and joinery.

“I have worked here all my adult life and I’ve been running Meadow Works since the death of my father Stuart in 2021 so selling the business has been a wrench,” said Mr Morris.

“Will I be happy to leave? Well, yes and no. The site needs new investment and money spent on it if the business is to succeed long term.

“We only agreed to sell Meadow Works because the new owners are committed to continuing the site’s commercial use. That is important to us as a lot of people have their livelihoods tied up in their workshops.”

Kevin Callaghan, proprietor of the Hole in the Wall Cafe, welcomed the prospect of the site being cleared as a new cafe was included in the design of the redevelopment.

“I shall be happy as long as the Hole in the Wall retains our frontage on the main road. Yes, we are a popular cafe, but we do depend on being where we are on Pricklers Hill.

Residents in Dale Close told the Barnet Society they would welcome the clearance of the site and creation of a cul-de-sac in their road.

“We have been plagued over the years by vans and cars speeding up and down on their way to the various workshops so we can’t wait for that to stop.”

Three-quarters of an acre of land at the rear of Meadow Works has been retained by the Morris family and their intention is to redevelop the site with three or four houses.