planning Archives - The Barnet Society

Posted on 22 October 202622 October 2026 by Nick Jones — Leave a comment

Fiery exchanges as Labour and Conservative councillors clash over accuracy of list of green belt sites for housing around High Barnet

Concern about threats to the green belt and the loss of popular open spaces dominated a question-and-answer session held at the annual meeting of Barnet Residents Association.

Councillor Richard Barnes (Barnet Vale), who is chair of Barnet Council’s planning committee – see above with association co-chair Ken Rowland (left) and Emma Morgan, membership secretary – set out the options following publication of a draft plan for London which is proposing the construction of up to 7,000 new homes on green belt land within the borough.

He ended up getting caught in crossfire between Labour and Conservatives councillors as they argued about the authenticity of a list of sites – including playing fields, golf courses and cemeteries – which could be redesignated as grey belt with potential for redevelopment for housing.

The list emerged earlier this month with Labour councillors accusing their opponents of political scaremongering whereas Conservative councillors hit back accusing the Labour-controlled council of not coming clean with residents about the potential loss of precious amenity land and much-appreciated green spaces.

The controversial list – the wording of which Councillor Barnes insisted was “misleading and inaccurate” – includes sites such as Ark Pioneer Academy playing fields, King George V playing fields, Quinta Open Space, Hendon and Finchley golf courses, cemetery land at Edgwarebury and Hendon, land north of Totteridge Common Road and Hadley Common Road.

Councillors Barnes said these sites and others were listed as being “suitable for grey belt designation” but this wording did not exist in any official document.

“This description is inaccurate and perhaps deliberately so for political effect. The list includes sites like cemeteries and playing fields which are never going to be redeveloped.”

But he did acknowledge that the sites were listed in a 400-page London green belt assessment which was published alongside the draft London plan – a plan that was out for consultation and which he thought would take at least two years to implement.

He was supported at the meeting by Councillor Emma Whysall (High Barnet, Labour) who deplored the scaremongering taking place on social media.

An important point of the whole exercise was that some green belt land might be downgraded to grey belt while other sites might be upgraded to merit full green belt protection.

She maintained that many of the sites which had been listed were more than likely to be included in the council’s plans for a possible regional park which could be created to include green belt land around Arkley and Mill Hill.

She and Councillor Barnes were challenged by Councillor James Esses (High Barnet, Conservative) who insisted the list was part of formal document published alongside the draft London plan.

He thought it was wrong to suggest the list was “not official” when it was in the current plan. As it was unlikely the London plan would be revised, the Conservatives had voted against it.

Councillor David Longstaff (Barnet Vale, Conservative) said that Labour councillors were in no position to challenge the wording of the London plan which was clear that 7,000 houses would have to be built on green belt land within the borough.

The ten-year target set by the Mayor of London was for Barnet to build 32,000 new houses – a target which Councillor Longstaff predicted would see an increase in the borough’s population of 310,000 ten years ago to 430,000 in ten years’ time.

“If people don’t start objecting now in a big way, this plan will be steamrollered through, and an awful lot of the new homes will be one- and two-bedroom flats instead of family homes.”

Councillor Barnes agreed that housing development was likely on some of what is now designated as green belt, such as land in Arkley along Rowley Lane, Arkley Lane, and Galley Lane, and land north and south of the Stirling Corner roundabout.

Gordon Massey, who leads for the residents’ association on planning, warned of the consequences that lay ahead if there was extensive redevelopment in Arkley, especially in view of the London plan acceptance of the need for blocks of flats as high as nine storeys.

He thought there were as many as four sites in Arkley which were vulnerable, posing the threat that tower block could be built there.

“I hope you are wrong,” replied Councillor Barnes. “We would not support tower blocks in Arkley. Green belt at the edge of the borough needs to be protected and I have not heard of any plans to develop that land.”

Earlier Mr Massey criticised the failure of the Deputy Mayor of London to publish his reasons for overturning Barnet Council’s rejection of a Transport for London plan to build high-rise flats on the car park at High Barnet tube station.

He thought the failure to release the official notification – which could trigger a possible legal challenge – was down to the developers getting “cold feet.”

Major housebuilders were pulling out of Greater London schemes because the Mayor of London’s targets for the construction of affordable homes made these schemes unviable.

One high point of the meeting was news from several members that residents of Sunset View and Hadley Grove have been successful in their bid at an auction to buy half of a one-acre copse alongside Christchurch Lane.

A plan to build a large house on the site was rejected by Barnet Council and the residents made a joint bid to purchase half the site to ensure it remained protected woodland.

In view an offer from the Woodland Trust to maintain the small deciduous wood, the residents are hoping that Barnet Council, which owns the other half acre, might release it to the Woodland Trust.

The meeting was told that formal consultations are about to start on establishing a 20mph zone in streets in and around Alston Road and Stapylton Road.

Councillor Whysall said the plan was to create a safer zone in the streets in an area bounded to the north and west of Wood Street, High Street Road and St Albans Road.

Posted on 19 October 202619 October 2026 by Nick Jones — 3 Comments

Small stretch of Barnet Playing Fields at Underhill set aside for new Dollis Valley community orchard

Early next year volunteers aim to start planting what is destined to become a community orchard in Underhill situated in a corner of Barnet Playing Fields, between Ark Pioneer Academy and Grasvenor Avenue.

Along one side of the new orchard will be a freshly-seeded wildflower meadow – another of the initiatives backed by the Orchard Project which organised a display of apples and other fruit at the nearby Rainbow Centre.

Chipping Barnet MP Dan Tomlinson was shown the site of the new Dollis Valley Community Orchard by organiser Daniella Levene (above, far left) and Catherine Watling of the Friends of Underhill Green Spaces, who hope to help maintain the orchard.

There has been some mounting concern locally about the long-term future of Barnet Playing Fields in Barnt Lane, Underhill, following the publication of the London Plan and speculation that the status of Green Belt land could be downgraded to Grey Belt.

Barnet councillors for wards in and around High Barnet say they are keen to contradict misguided that claims that protected playing fields and open spaces along the Dollis Valley are at risk of being replaced with housing.

No final decisions had been taken about the future designation of local Green Belt land around High Barnet and whatever the eventual status there was no possibility of the council relinquishing community green spaces for housing.

After being shown the site of the new community orchard, Mr Tomlinson said he looked forward to returning next February when volunteers hope to plant up to a dozen mixed fruit trees including apple, pear, quince and medlar.

“I am confident there is no chance that Barnet Playing Fields will be built on. Our green spaces are so important to the health and wellbeing of our residents. We need to do all we can to enhance their protection.”

Councillor Zahra Beg, the Mayor of Barnet – and an Underhill ward councillor – admired a display of autumn fruit. She was delighted to give her backing to the Orchard Project.

“I am proud to be here and support a new community orchard for Underhill.

“Local residents and children will want to see the planting of the fruit trees, and I am sure they will help take care of the wildflower meadow.”

Orchard Project communications manager Sarah Cossom – above, left with Rainbow Centre manager Sarah Snell – said the planting of a wildflower meadow was the first step in building up support and interest in developing a community orchard.

Spring flowers would help with pollination in the area and especially for the new fruit trees.

Small corner of Barnet Playing fields set aside for Dollis Valley community orchard at Underhill, an iniiative supported by Mayor of Barnet Councillor Zahra Beg and Chipping Barnet MP Dan Tomlinson

Daniella Levene, founder of the Community Harvesters project, was keen to show visitors a full range of the various varieties of apples, pears and other fruit which could be grown so easily in gardens at home.

She said that given warmer summers, pomegranate was one of the fruits which now fared well in the UK and could withstand prolonged dry weather.

Posted on 7 October 20267 October 2026 by Nick Jones — 4 Comments

Barnet residents alarmed at prospect of a second site for travellers’ caravans in Arkley’s Green Belt

An application to Barnet Council for planning approval for a site for 12 travellers’ caravans in former woodland off Rowley Lane, Arkley, is meeting stiff objections on the grounds it would be a significant breach of the Green Belt.

Nearby residents say the caravans would overlook their homes and would result in further damage to a designated site of importance for nature conservation.

Woodland has already been cleared to create an entrance from Rowley Lane. On the plot itself, mature oak trees have been felled without permission.

A For Sale sign has been erected by a gate at the entrance to the site, which is bounded by Rowley Lane and Windmill Lane, and which extends to around an acre and a quarter.

Barnet Council failed in April to halt the go ahead for another travellers’ caravan site on a field in Green Belt land off Mays Lane, Arkley.

An attempt to secure a full judicial review of a planning inspector’s decision in favour of the travellers was rejected in the High Court allowing work to go ahead on preparing the site for two static caravans, two mobile homes and two day rooms.

The Rowley Lane application, which is for six pitches, each with a static and a touring caravan, has been made in the name of an agent, Philip Brown Associates of Rugby.

Objections include comments from residents of Windmill Lane who say approval would breach Green Belt policy and set a precedent for further development in woodland which the applicant claims should now be designated as “grey belt”.

Robin Bishop (above right), who leads on planning and the environment, said the Barnet Society was “strongly minded” to object to the application.

“Not only would it contravene Green Belt and Travellers policies in Barnet’s Local Plan, but it is also outrageous that protected trees have been illegally felled to clear the site.

“If approved, it would set a deeply worrying precedent for the remaining greenery between Akley and Borehamwood.”

Earlier this year Arkley residents protested to Barnet Council about the unauthorised felling of trees in the Rowley Lane protected woodland.

Trees were cut down across the plot which is one of ten in a ten-acre woodland which is at the rear of Rowley Lodge, and which were sold off for a combined total of £1.3 million.

So far, no work seems to have started preparing the site for travellers’ caravans in Mays Lane. The two-acre paddock was previously used for grazing horses.

Quinta Village Green Residents’ Association, which opposed the Mays Lane site and which was disappointed by the High Court setback, expressed its determination to continue doing all it could to protect the Green Belt along Mays Lane.

Gina Theodorou, chair of the association, said at the time that she feared the council’s failure to halt the scheme would result in further applications for travellers’ sites in Arkley’s Green Belt land.

Posted on 1 October 20261 October 2026 by Nick Jones — Leave a comment

With a rapidly approaching deadline for bids, Quinta Village Green residents step up their campaign to take over derelict youth club

A packed meeting at Underhill gave enthusiastic support to a community bid to purchase the derelict former Quinta Youth Club in Mays Lane which is being sold off by Barnet Council.

Fears that the building might go to the highest bidder because of the council’s dire financial position led to a last-minute appeal to local residents to demonstrate the strength of their campaign to secure a new combined community hub and youth centre.

Gina Theodorou, chair of the Quinta Village Green Residents Association, made a passionate plea to the neighbourhood to demonstrate to councillors why the council should respect the wishes of those who lived in Underhill.

Provision of services and support for young people was lower in the Underhill area than in the rest of the Borough of Barnet and the meeting was adamant the former youth club, which the community built in the mid-1960s, should be returned and redeveloped for their benefit.

Leaders and representatives of other groups and organisations from in and around High Barnet lined up to give their backing to what they agreed was a well resourced and imaginative bid to buy back a building on which the council has placed a £300,000 valuation.

“Of course, there are other bidders, and we know there is a major risk that another group or organisation might try to outbid us, but Barnet Council should realise this is the preferred scheme of those who live in Underhill,” said Ms Theodorou.

Quinta Village Green Residents Association has campaigned long and hard for the restoration or replacement of the former youth club and secured a six-month pause in the sale of the building after they succeeded in persuading the council to declare it an asset of community value.

Plans and artists’ impressions of the proposed community hub were presented to the meeting by architect Simon Kaufman – with the help of his daughter Ana.

A preferred option was for the new hub to have a central corridor with a sports hall on one side and activity rooms on the other with a new community café looking out on to Quinta Village Green.

All the rooms would have sliding walls offering flexible space for different activities together with plenty of storage space.

A single storey building was proposed but if there was sufficient funding there could be an upper floor.

Full advantage would be taken of their site in the Green Belt with community gardens and perhaps an orchard alongside the building.

Along the Mays Lane frontage there would be 19 parking spaces, including accessible spaces for wheelchairs, plus 40 cycle spaces as the new hub could become a stopping off point for cyclists along the Dollis Valley green walk.

Ms Theodorou stressed the importance of residents expressing their support before the deadline for bids on 23 October – even the smallest donation would help https://gofund.me/70e0fe9c2 as would responses to their community survey https://forms.gle/Ynmib6DYGKxCTcoD7

Two charities – Hadley Trust and Common Nature – have told the residents association that financial assistance might well be available towards the purchase and reconstruction if the local community unites around the plan and succeeds with its bid.

Quinta Village Green residents step up campaign to take over derelict yourh club as deadline approaches for bids to Barnet Council

Among those attending the meeting – see above, from left to right – were Underhill Councillor Josh Tapper, Chipping Barnet MP Dan Tomlinson, Gina Theodorou, and Julian Desborough, trustee of the Hope Corner Community Centre which was re-opened as part of the Dollis Valley regeneration.

Mr Desborough said the 12,500 residents of the Underhill ward were in desperate need of more community space and services for young people. What was so important about the Quinta project was that, unlike Hope Corner, it was in the middle of an open space in the Green Belt.

His plea for more services and activities for Underhill’s youngsters was reinforced by Amber Jones of the Young Barnet Foundation.

Out of 223 organisations offering services for young people across the borough, there were less than 20 in the north of the area and only four in Underhill.

Andy Rimmer, vicar of Christ Church, Barnet, added his support for Ms Theodorou’s argument that Underhill was in desperate need of a safe space for young people and a centre offering warm surroundings for the elderly in winter.

Among those to be canvassed later this month for ideas for a youth centre will be students at Totteridge Academy – an initiative welcomed by Eve Rogers, managing director of Grow, the academy’s school farm.

After the meeting, both the Chipping Barnet MP and Underhill councillor, stressed the importance of the council considering all the bids free of political interference.

Dan Tomlinson said that nonetheless he hoped the council would “consider very carefully the strength” of the Quinta community bid.

“We have to bring the derelict youth club back into use and bring it back in a way which serves the local community. There is a massive need for space which helps provide activities for young people.”

Josh Tapper insisted that as a Barnet councillor he could not take a position and had to remain neutral during the bidding process, but he had been anxious to attend the meeting and listen to the case being put forward by the community.

Posted on 30 September 20262 October 2026 by Nick Jones — 2 Comments

“Welcome to High Barnet” declares a brightly coloured mural which it is hoped will provide an eye-catching greeting for visitors

A large mural painted by students at Barnet and Southgate College – which features iconic images of the town – will welcome visitors to High Barnet once a site has been agreed.

Chipping Barnet Town Team decided to commission a welcoming mural as a way of building up the appeal and attraction of the town centre while also strengthening local identity.

Barnet College was keen to get involved in a project which the town team hopes will be the first of other initiatives to engage local students in the life and history of Chipping Barnet.

“What the project has been all about is helping students build up their relationship with Barnet and engage with the town’s rich history,” said Isabella Tessier, acting art and design course leader, at the unveiling of the mural.

It reflects Barnet’s role in the Wars of the Roses – a feature which will connect with medieval banners on display in the High Street each summer – and depicts well known buildings such as the Everyman cinema and Barnet Parish Church.

For the students, it was their first chance to engage in the production and painting of a mural.

They were guided in their work by two professional street artists – see above Julian Phethean (left) and James Titchner – from the community arts company Positive Arts.

They were as excited as the students at the official unveiling because it was the first time four separate panels had been lined up together and they could all see the finished mural.

“It has all been so rewarding. The students really enjoyed painting the mural, working collaboratively in this way.”

The mural is in weather-proof paint and will be finished off with a lacquer to protect the colours.

One possible site for the mural is the wall of The Corner Café alongside the Chipping Close car park in St Albans Road, just before the junction with the High Street.

This is the location preferred by the Town Team as it would be a dramatic position at the one of the main approach points to the High Street – a site which has yet to be agreed with the owners of the building and would require planning approval.

An alternative location is at the front of the courtyard outside the main entrance to the Barnet and Southgate College.

Eamonn Rafferty, secretary to the Town Team, said he and his colleagues were amazed to see what the students had been produced.

“We hope it is going to be the first of more collaborations with the college” – a hope endorsed by Gail Laser, founder of Love Barnet.

She was sure a welcoming mural would be appreciated by people walking or driving into Barnet and would be a reminder to the students themselves of their contribution helping to strengthen the appeal of the town.

Mural painted by students at Barnet and Southgate College will welcome visitors to Barnet once a site agreed for its location

For Barnet Vale Councillor, Sue Baker, attending the mural unveiling was a welcome return to the college where she had been a teacher, lecturer and curriculum manager.

“A project like this provides students with direct involvement with the community. Residents and local groups can see the students gaining an understanding of the historical and cultural life of Chipping Barnet.

“The teachers have said how much the students got immersed in their project and with the help of Barnet Museum, took an interest in local history.”

Chipping Barnet Town Team contributed, with Barnet College, to the cost of the mural and the team will be seeking further sponsorship from businesses in the area to help with installation costs.

Posted on 28 September 202629 September 2026 by Nick Jones — 3 Comments

Community offer to assist after four e-bike vandals chased on golf course and photographed by a dog walker

After four youngsters on e-bikes and e-scooters caused fresh damage to greens at the Shire London golf course, a group of High Banet residents are hoping to discuss with the club’s management ways to prevent further vandalism.

Dog walkers and other locals are anxious to preserve uninterrupted access to a perimeter path around the 27-hole course which is set in 220 acres of Green Belt land just north of the Barnet boundary.

Nearby residents are seeking a meeting with the club’s director Tony Menai after contacting neighbourhood police officers to pass on information from dog walkers who witnessed the latest incursion.

Four youngsters wearing balaclavas, riding three e-bikes and an e-scooter, were seen speeding across the greens, leaving deep cuts in the turf.

Two members of the staff drove round the course to try to stop them.

“Their bikes were reaching speeds in excess of 40mph, and we were unable to catch them,” said Mr Menai.

Later, when the youngsters were seen stationary on the perimeter path, they were confronted by a woman walking her dog.

She took close-up photographs of them –without their balaclavas – in the hope this might deter them.

Regular dog walker Chris Nightingale is helping to organise a community response in the hope of co-operating with the golf club to come up with a joint solution to curb vandalism while maintaining access to the path.

A meeting attended by dog walkers and local residents agreed to write to the club seeking a meeting and inform Hertfordshire County Council which is the footpaths authority for the golf course site.

“We should be able to work together,” said Mr Nightingale who has been discussing what to do following complaints after access to the golf course path was blocked by eight-foot-deep trenches in a bid to thwart the e-bikes.

“We have informed neighbourhood police officers about what has been happened in the latest incident and told them that we have photographs and two witnesses.

“We fear that if the youngsters go onto the course again it might lead to an horrific accident. It is only too easy to imagine one of them falling off while golf club vehicles are in hot pursuit.”

Mr Nightingale’s initiative is aimed at defusing a rapid deterioration in relations between the golf club and local walkers who enjoy using a permissive path which was agreed when the golf course, designed by Steve Ballesteros, was granted planning permission in the early 1990s.

After the first incursion by e-bikes the club dug eight-foot trenches at the boundary between the golf course and Byng Road playing fields to prevent e-bikes entering the site.

Club director Mr Menai said that a wooden pallet was placed across the trench, and this provided access for another incursion by e-bikes riders.

“The damage which they are causing is devastating. This cannot continue any more as it is having a serious impact on our business.

“We also have a legal responsibility and duty of care to our members, staff and visitors from dangerous situations caused by kids wearing balaclava and riding illegal e-bikes.

“Over the years we have continually had kids draw phallic symbols on the greens with sticks, stealing flags and tee markers, and throwing them into the lakes around the course.

“We have also had dogs off their leads attacking swans and killing cygnets.

“Surely the question should be how can we protect the golf club and the wildlife from this nonsense? How can we as a community stop these abuses and protect what is a haven for wildlife?”

Dog walkers and others also have complaints. They claim that fallen trees and trenches are being used to block the perimeter path.

Mr Nightingale said he hoped a meeting with Mr Menai would be a chance to explain that the community wanted to work together with the club.

“I am sure that neither of us would want to return to the bad old days of the early 2000s when we were having to contact Hertfordshire County Council frequently about lorry movements and blockages to the perimeter path.

“Our hope is that by meeting Mr Menai we can resolve these issues in a spirit of helping each other.”

Photos of e-bike damage to golf course greens courtesty Shire London Golf Club

Posted on 22 September 202624 September 2026 by Nick Jones — 4 Comments

Conversion of Barnet Post Office into flats means now more homes than shops in High Street

High Barnet’s former Crown Post Office is to be converted into nine self-contained flats if an application is approved by Barnet Council – a change of use which highlights the rapidly changing nature of the High Street.

Consultants for the owners say conversion of its interior and former sorting office into nine one- and two-bedroom flats will have “no impact” on the significance of what is a locally listed building in the Wood Street Conservation Area.

Over recent years vacant space above retail and commercial premises within the town centre has increasingly been converted for residential use.

High Barnet’s High Street now has more homes than shops.

Registration of residential addresses for postal deliveries reveals the scale of a dramatic increase: currently there are a total of 398 residential addresses listed along the High Street, up from around 50 ten years ago.

Longer than many high streets at 0.7 kilometres, it extends from the junction with Meadway and the upper entrance to High Barnet tube station, through the town centre, passed the parish church and The Spires shopping centre and on to Hadley Green.

Most of these homes are flats above retail premises with front door entrances either onto the High Street or at the rear.

The application to convert the Post Office into flats is just one of several conversions and new builds which are currently underway or are about to start.

By far the largest recent development in the High Street was the new Lightfield estate of houses and flats on the site the site of the former Brake Shear House complex of offices and workshops.

But it is the continuing conversion of vacant space above shops and offices which is dramatically increasing the number of people who now live along the High Street – driving the number to levels not seen since before World War II.

Post war expansion of nationally owned retail and business chains led to a dramatic fall in the number of individual shopkeepers and traders who used to live “above the shop”.

This has resulted in much of the accommodation on the upper floors having remained vacant for decades – a trend which is now being rapidly reversed.

Opposite the Post Office, approval has been obtained for the construction of a new four-storey building with 11 new homes on the site of the former Foxtons estate agency at the corner of the High Street and Moxon Street.

New retail premises with “luxury apartments” above have recently been constructed in the High Street in vacant shop premises opposite Queen Elizabeth’s Girls’ School.

A few doors further up the High Street, the former Barnet Court House was converted into flats some years ago.

Three one-bedroom apartments “with terraces and views towards the city” are on offer following a conversion nearing completion in a former High Street health store between Rymans and Boots.

However, an application to convert the upper floors of Hadley House – formerly The King George public house – was recently withdrawn.

Robin Bishop, the Barnet Society’s lead on planning and the environment, comments, “The Society has long supported converting unused upper floors in the High Street into homes. We also welcome sensitive roof and rear extensions, provided that they respect the character of the Wood Street and Monken Hadley Conservation Areas. But it’s disappointing that many developers prioritise profit over adding to our historic town centre’s attractive architectural heritage.”

Planning consultants say the former post office, which is sited on a “gentle curve” of the High Street, is “a fine example of Edwardian commercial architecture designed in the Near-Jacobean Revival style”.

It was constructed between 1903 and 1905 to the designs of Jasper Wagner for the Office of Works and by 1925 offered a wide range of functions as an important postal facility– “head post, telegraph, telephone, money order, savings bank, insurance, annuity and parcel post office”.

Noted for its ornate Edwardian architecture, notable features include detailed stonework, a stone carving of the coat of arms, and additional stonework above the top floor windows with the initials ER – the motif of King Edward VII.

An historic carriageway to the side of the post office reveals ancillary buildings at the rear including the former sorting office.

Architects Alan Cox Associates say the application, made under permitted development rights, is to convert the premises into four one-person studio flats; four two-person one-bedroom flats; and one two-person one-bedroom duplex flat.

There would be a 12-space cycle park at the rear but no car parking space. The applicant states there would be an agreement with Barnet Council that no parking permits could be obtained.

An independent commercial unit, facing on to the High Street, would be remain.

Under a permitted development rights application there can be no changes to the exterior of the existing buildings, so the architects say there will be “no change” to the aesthetic of the building.

“The proposed internal alterations are discreet and will be virtually imperceptible from the public realm.

“Accordingly, the proposals will sustain the heritage significance of the site and its positive contribution to the surrounding historic environment, without resulting in harm to any heritage assets.”

At present, included in the frontage, is an integrated red-letter box which has remained in use since the closure of the crown post office last year when it became a franchised post office with premises on the other side of the High Street, managed by the UOE store group.

Barnet’s crown post office had a distinguished history, originally having been a regular stopping off point for mail coaches heading out of London for Scotland and the north.

Until the 1930s Barnet was one of the best-known coaching towns on the outskirts of London.

When the mail coach for Scotland left St Martins-le-Grand one of the first stops on the Great North Road was Barnet post office where it picked up mail.

Application to convert Barnet Post Office into nine self contained flats which will increase stlll further number of people living in a High Street with more homes than shops

Set in the wall, just above the pavement, between the front door and the letter box, is one of the original boundary stones of the ancient parish of Chipping Barnet – which is regularly pointed out during the annual ceremony to mark the Beating of the Bounds of the parish of Barnet.

Posted on 27 August 202627 August 2026 by Nick Jones — 1 Comment

Concern over added pressure which new housing developments in Barnet area will place on already busy GP surgeries

New housing developments around High Barnet and New Barnet are likely to lead to an increase of well over 2,000 in the local population but residents’ groups say there is no sign of health authorities delivering on promises to boost capacity at already over-stretched doctors’ surgeries.

Of the five GP practices within a two-kilometre radius, three already have fewer doctors than recommended by the British Medical Association.

Long-standing Save New Barnet campaigner, John Dix –above – says assurances given by developers when recent planning applications were approved have turned out to be misleading and so far, have not been honoured.

Despite the absence of any plans to expand GP practices, developers are continuing to claim that these five local surgeries are accepting new patients indicating that there is “some spare capacity in the local area”.

Mr Dix told the Barnet Society that these assurances are not supported by the latest Barnet-area statistics from the General Practice Workforce for the ratio of patients per doctor.

A failure to get meaningful replies from the integrated care board for north Lonon highlighted what he believes is the failure of the health authorities to address the extra demand being placed on doctors’ surgeries by the scale of housing redevelopment underway in High Banet and New Barnet.

When permission was given for nearly 500 new flats which are being built on the site of New Barnet’s former gas works, local residents were led to believe that there were proposals to merge three nearby doctors’ surgeries to create a combined practice to be housed at the East Barnet Health Centre.

Concern over the extra demand which will be placed on doctors' surgeries in High Barnet and New Barnet as a result of new housing developments adding over 2,000 to local population.

To his consternation Mr Dix has discovered that the original proposal to increase the number of doctors and enlarge East Barnet Health Centre – at an estimated cost of £1.4 million – appears to have been shelved.

He has now been told by the integrated care board that it disputes whether there was ever a proposal to merge The Addington and The Village surgeries with the practice at the East Barnet Health Centre.

“Apparently the developers Fairview did offer some of the retail space in the Park Quarter development for a new GP surgery, but this was considered unsuitable and the board said it did not get the money it needed to enlarge the East Barnet Health Centre.

“So, the net outcome is that we are going to have 486 new flats at Park Quarter and no additional GP services for 1,000-plus new residents.”

Mr Dix said the GP shortfall had been acknowledged by Berkeley Homes when it obtained planning approval for 80 new homes next to Park Quarter on the site of the former gasometer.

“Berkeley Homes’ consultants recommended that Barnet Council should undertake measures to increase GP capacity through the use of community infrastructure levy money, but again there is no sign that any action is being taken.”

The GP shortfall in New Barnet is likely to be mirrored in High Barnet where major housing developments could add nearly 600 new homes – 145 in Moxon Street; 115 at Whalebones in Wood Street; and 328 at High Barnet tube station.

There is still the possibility of a High Court challenge to the decision by the Deputy Mayor of London to approve the construction of five blocks of flats on the station car park and adjoining land, but Mr Dix says consultants for Transport for London relied on the same assurances given by other developers.

A consultants’ report for TfL’s subsidiary, Places for London, said there were “five GP surgeries within 2 kilometres of the site, all of which are accepting new patients”, and that any increase in demand could be offset through financial contributions from Barnet Council’s income from the community infrastructure levy.

Mr Dix believes the failure of the integrated care board and Barnet Council to address the local GP shortfall results from their concentration of resources into the provision of primary care facilities for major housing developments at Brent Cross and Colindale.

“Unfortunately, the health authorities and the council are failing to look at the bigger picture and recognise that all the infill developments around High Barnet and New Barnet are having a significant cumulative impact on already over-stretched GP services.

“To be fair, the integrated care board insists it continues to keep local primary care capacity under review and remains interested in exploring future opportunities to expand services at East Board Health Centre should funding become available.

“The new draft London Plan says we need to build 32,730 new homes in Barnet so there is real concern that the health infrastructure, including hospital beds, will not be in place to meet the demand.”

General Practice Workforce statistics published in June indicate the strain current demand is placing on GP services at the five surgeries which the developers have referred to in their planning applications:

(The British Medical Association recommendation is 1 full-time equivalent qualified GP per 1,800 patients.)

The Old Court House Surgery, Wood Street – 10,239 patients; 5.2 full-time equivalent qualified doctors; 4.2 qualified doctors; ratio of patients to qualified GP, 2,420.

Longrove Surgery, Vale Drive Primary Care Centre – 17,186 patients; 11.5 full-time equivalent qualified doctors; 9.5 qualified doctors; ratio of patients to qualified GP, 1,793.

The Village Surgery, New Barnet – 6,339 patients; 3.1 full-time equivalent qualified doctors; 3.1 qualified doctors; ratio of patients to qualified GP, 2,016.

Addington Medical Centre, New Barnet – 9,806 patients; 3.4 full-time equivalent qualified doctors; 3.4 qualified doctors; ratio of patients to qualified GP, 2842.

East Barnet Health Centre – 11,290 patients; 7.1 full-time equivalent qualified doctors; 6 qualified doctors; ratio of patients to qualified GP, 1,859.

Posted on 25 August 202625 August 2026 by Nick Jones — 1 Comment

Barnet Council faces dilemma over deteriorating state of condemned blocks of flats at Dollis Valley Estate

Vandalised blocks of flats and maisonettes awaiting demolition are likely to remain an eyesore for months to come following the sudden and unexpected collapse of a deal previously approved by Barnet Council to complete the regeneration of the Dollis Valley Estate.

Homes which were condemned as unfit some years ago were about to be replaced by developers Vistry under a scheme which had qualified for a £58.85 million grant from the Greater London Authority.

In a rarely used procedure Barnet’s Conservative councillors called in the agreement on the grounds it lacked “financial sustainability” – a process which halted the deal and resulted in the loss of the GLA grant.

Barry Rawlings, Labour leader of the council, told the Barnet Society that it would be early next year or even later before it would be possible to come up with an alternative scheme.

In the meantime, the council faces a dilemma. The cost of demolishing the flats and maisonettes, which was due to start in September, could be as high as £3 million – money which Councillor Rawlings said the council had not budgeted for.

The only alternative might be to fence off the whole site with secure hoardings to prevent access and deter further vandalism.

Given the presence of squatters in some of empty flats and the general state of decay – with large pools of stagnant water formed by leaking pipes and mains – the owners of nearby houses on what is now the Brook Valley Gardens estate say they should not have to put up with such gruesome dereliction.

Conservative group leader Councillor Peter Zinkin recognised that the cost of securing the abandoned blocks of flats was high, but he thought the council probably had no option but to wait for the housing market to improve.

His preferred course of action – one backed by a Brook Valley Gardens residents’ group – was for the council to return to the original proposal to finish off the Dollis Valley regeneration with 126 new privately-owned and 95 affordable homes.

When Vistry declared this scheme was unviable, the council negotiated a fresh agreement with the developers to complete the regeneration with 208 new affordable homes, a deal which qualified for the £58.85 million GLA grant towards the cost of new affordable housing.

Once the renegotiated deal was called in by the Conservatives on the grounds it lacked “financial responsibility” the council was unable to meet the GLA’s deadline of Friday 31 July for approving the project and the offer of a grant was withdrawn.

A hurriedly arranged meeting was held on Tuesday 4 August at which a group of residents and the Barnet Society were excluded on the grounds that issues regarding the “financial responsibility and financial sustainability” of the council’s agreement with Vistry had to be discussed in private.

This was the first time for 14 years that the call-in procedure had been triggered and the Conservatives’ action was defended by Councillor Zinkin.

He said it was “really important” for the opposition to test whether the council’s cabinet had taken the “correct decision” in approving the Vistry deal.

In a note setting out their case, the Conservatives said the Vistry group was under severe financial strain, and they considered the cabinet meeting had not been provided with “sufficient assurance as to the financial viability and delivery risk” for the scale of the commitment.

Councillor Zinkin’s action in calling in the deal was supported by Peter Esposito who was allowed to ask questions on behalf of residents who were opposed to the latest Vistry scheme and who believed those who had purchased new houses had been misled about the GLA funding for the scheme.

These residents were against the Vistry agreement because it abandoned the original undertaking that 60 per cent of the new homes in the Dollis Valley regeneration would be privately owned with only 40 per cent available for social rent.

By switching the completion of phases 4 and 5 to the construction of 208 affordable homes, the balance would be reversed with only 40 per cent of the houses on the estate remaining privately owned, a proportion which they argued would make it more difficult to obtain mortgages and could depress the value of their properties.

Vandalised flats and maisonettes on Dollis Valley Estate will continue to be an eyesore following collapse of Barnet Council deal to build 208 new affordable homes

The Dollis Valley estate was built in the 1960s and 1970s and Barnet Council acknowledges that the five-storey blocks of flats and maisonettes suffered from many of the problems such as dampness and condensation which affect post-war estates.

The first three phases of the regeneration, with the construction of 408 homes of mixed tenure, was completed in 2023 but the council has been dogged with problems over agreeing a scheme to build the final 208 new homes.

The deal agreed with Vistry to build 187 homes for social rent and 21 for key workers for living rent – to be managed by Barnet Homes – was described by the council as the “only one viable option”.

Councillor Rawlings told the call-in meeting which probed the collapse of the deal that he did not think the issues raised in the scrutiny process did “materially affect the decision which was made”.

After the meeting he said he feared yet another delay in completing the Dollis Valley regeneration would create more uncertainty for those residents who had been moved out of their “unsafe and leaking flats” and transferred to other temporary council accommodation.

“These residents had been forgotten in all of this. When they were moved away, they were promised they would get a chance to move back to Dollis Valley.”

He said that the first three phases of the regeneration – and the creation of the new Brook Valley Gardens estate with 400 new homes – had been a success.

“Years back people used to say that Dollis Valley was a no-go estate, but the area has been transformed, and we are anxious to see that regeneration completed.”

Posted on 14 August 202614 August 2026 by Robin Bishop — 2 Comments

Mayor Khan’s proposed London Plan puts pressure on Barnet

view of derelict Green Belt land near Stirling Corner

Barely five years after Mayor Khan’s current London Plan came into force, he’s consulting on a new one. The good news is that it will be a lot slimmer than the present version. The bad news for Barnet is that he’s upping his target for new homes in our borough, and he’s identified places in the Green Belt where some of them could be built.

The draft new Plan was published in July and is open for comments until 15 October. Its housing target for Barnet is to build 32,730 new homes between 2028 & 2037 – a 38% increase on the present London Plan. That still won’t be enough to deliver the Labour government’s pledge of 1.5 million new homes over the lifetime of this parliament. The Mayor and other Labour politicians are increasingly keen to pull any levers that might boost housing supply.

Since brownfield sites within Barnet are limited and more expensive to build on, the Mayor wants the Council to build 7,000 homes in its Green Belt (see map below). He states a preference for using those parts of it deemed ‘Grey Belt’, which could include derelict land in Arkley such as the site illustrated above. But he acknowledges that some greenfield areas will have to be sacrificed.

On his election as MP for Chipping Barnet, Dan Thomlinson said, ‘Our green spaces and the beautiful Green Belt here in this constituency is something that I will always fight for and protect’. We hope he still keeps that promise.

The Plan would require at least 50% of new homes in the Green Belt to be ‘affordable’, or 35% in the case of schemes for 10-35 homes. (Developments of fewer than 10 homes are exempt.) These are ambitious targets, significantly higher than normally offered by developers. If they can be achieved, the Barnet Society might consider that a reasonable trade-off for the loss of some poor-quality Green Belt.

The Plan would subject any residential development in the Green Belt to conditions. Notably, the vast majority of the new homes would have to be located either within 400m of an eligible bus route or 1.2km – 15 minutes’ walk – from one of seven ‘well-connected’ rail and tube stations in Barnet. But that puts most of the constituency of Chipping Barnet in the frame, i.e. from Arkley to Hadley, and from New Barnet to Whetstone.

In addition to these seven ‘broad locations for growth’ (BLGs), the draft Plan also identifies ‘future industrial-led Green Belt candidates’ around the A1 at Borehamwood. This could include the extensive tract of land north-east of Stirling Corner (pictured at the top of this post).

Other industrial-led sites are by the M25 in Enfield, possibly associated with a 21,000-home new town at Crews Hill. That proposal is supported by the government and the Mayor of London, though – since the May local elections – no longer by Enfield Council.

The Plan also sets out strategic criteria for the construction of additional data centres across London to meet the growing demand. These are typically enormous boxes that consume large quanties of electricity and water (for cooling).

The draft London Plan makes no mention of the proposal in Barnet’s Local Plan to create a new Regional Park on the Green Belt and Metropolitan Open Space stretching between Arkley, Scratchwood and Mill Hill. Unless kept to the absolute minimum necessary for sustainable management of the Park, residential or commercial development within this zone would defeat its whole point.

You can read more about these threats and opportunities in my previous web post on the Green Belt.

Barnet Council has declared its objection to the Mayor’s proposals for housing and the Green Belt, which contradict the Local Plan that it adopted only last year. Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Homes and Regeneration, Cllr Ross Houston, said:

“Barnet Council will carefully assess the detail of the draft London Plan before submitting its formal response to the consultation and we will continue to work with residents, communities and partners to ensure any future growth delivers the homes, opportunities and neighbourhoods that people need and want to see.”

Cllr Houston, the Barnet Society would be delighted to work with you, especially on the existential threat to our Green Belt.

Above: Cllr Ross Houston speaking at a Barnet Society public meeting on housing in Barnet in 2023

You can view the draft Plan here. Tell Mayor Khan your views by doing one of the following:

– complete the online survey,
– email londonplan@london.gov.uk(External link

– write to Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, Draft London Plan, London Plan Team, Planning & Regeneration, City Hall, Kamal Chunchie Way, London, E16 1ZE.

The deadline for comments is 5pm on Thursday, 15 October 2026.

Posted on 3 August 20263 August 2026 by Nick Jones — 3 Comments

Dollis Valley redevelopment delayed yet again after Barnet Council loses out on £58 million Greater London housing grant

Barnet Council has had to abandon an immediate go ahead for the final stage of the Dollis Valley redevelopment following the sudden withdrawal of a £58.85 million grant from the Greater London Authority for building new affordable homes.

A council cabinet decision two weeks ago to proceed with the construction of 208 new homes – despite protests from some of the residents – has been called in for further discussion.

As a result, the council has failed to meet the GLA’s deadline of July 31 for approving the project.

Conservative councillors demanded that the cabinet’s decision should be called in – and therefore postponed – because of their concerns about the financial viability of the scheme and the lack of adequate consultation with residents.

Council officials will now have to draw up fresh proposals for the completion of what has become the Brook Valley Gardens estate.

Vacant blocks of flats and maisonettes – see above – have been awaiting demolition for the last three years and this fresh postponement is only the latest setback in a long, drawn-out saga.

A group of Brook Valley Gardens residents – where 60 per cent of the 400 homes are privately owned – have fought a sustained campaign against the council’s decision to finish off the estate with 208 affordable homes.

They say this would result in the estate having 60 per cent of homes for social rent which they argue is a breach of the undertakings they were given when they bought their homes and were told it would be 60 per cent privately owned.

Under the scheme approved by the cabinet on July 21 the council said it had reached an agreement with developers Vistry to construct 208 affordable homes which would be managed for the council by Barnet Homes.

To qualify for access to £58.85 million of GLA affordable housing grant the scheme had to be approved by July 31.

In confirming the funding was no longer available, the GLA said there was no longer “sufficient certainty” the grant conditions could be met and there were other schemes around London which could qualify.

Barnet Council has to abandon immediate completion of Dollis Valley redeveopment following withdrawal of GLA affordable housing grant of £58 million in another setback to troubled scheme.

Demolition of the block of flats and maisonettes deemed unfit for occupation and a start on the construction of the new homes was due to begin in September.

When approving this plan two weeks ago, the cabinet meeting acknowledged the “potential guilt” felt by some councillors for letting down the private owners.

What cabinet members and council officials had not taken into account was the determination of the private residents’ group to press for the decision to be called in.

Once this action was taken by Conservative councillors, council officials were no longer in a position to give the guarantees which were needed by the GLA over access to the £58.85 million grant.

A full report on the setback is to be considered by the council’s call-in sub-committee on Tuesday 4 August.

Residents who have been consulted by the Dollis Valley Partnership Board have welcomed the news that the grant is “no longer available” and say it has strengthened their argument for the council to start again and undertake meaningful discussions with them.

Among the financial issues facing the call-in sub-committee will be the demand for more information about the council’s contribution to finishing off the Dollis Valley estate – said to be another £40 million.

Unless the deal with Vistry can be renegotiated, the council might be left with no other option but to demolish the vacant blocks and clear the site with the hope that conditions in the housing market might improve or that the site can be sold to a private developer.

Posted on 30 July 202630 July 2026 by Nick Jones — 2 Comments

Redevelopment of Dollis Valley estate due to restart in September after three-year delay in demolishing vacant flats

Completion of the redevelopment of the Dollis Valley estate – where blocks of flats and maisonettes have been awaiting demolition for the last three years – is finally to go ahead with access to a £58 million grant from the Greater London Authority.

Regeneration of the estate was stalled in 2023 because the developers Vistry said the scheme previously agreed with Barnet Council for 126 new privately-owned and 95 affordable homes was no longer viable.

A revised plan approved at a cabinet meeting will now provide for the construction of 208 affordable homes which will be managed for the council by Barnet Homes.

The new Dollis Valley houses – 187 for social rent and 21 for key workers – will provide what is described as a “significant” contribution to Barnet’s target to deliver 1,000 new council homes.

But by abandoning the previously agreed construction of over 100 new private homes, the council has angered owners of new Dollis Valley houses who fear this will alter the balance of an estate which was supposed to be a 50/50 split between private and social ownership.

Despite what was described at the meeting as the “potential guilt” felt by some councillors for letting down the private owners, the cabinet decided there was no other viable option than to accept Vistry’s latest proposal.

To qualify for access to £58.85 million of GLA affordable housing grant, construction of the new houses has to start by September this year.

If the council failed to meet the deadline one option would be to demolish the vacant flats and maisonettes and retain the empty site until the housing market improved but that would expose the council to further financial risk.

The first three phases of the Dollis Valley regeneration have delivered over 400 new houses in what the council describes as “a low-rise, gentle density garden suburb style development dominated by houses with gardens and traditional streets.”

Dollis Valley regeneration to restart after Barrnet Council agrees new deal with developers Vistry for 221 new homes

The final two phases of the scheme – which would result in the demolition of the vacant Garrowsfield and Mill Bridge blocks – were originally intended to provide 126 private and 95 affordable homes.

Poor market conditions and increased construction costs were said to have made this “significantly unviable” which resulted in Vistry proposing the construction of 208 affordable homes at “a fixed price” and 13 private homes, the scheme which has now been approved.

Posted on 17 July 202621 July 2026 by Nick Jones — 6 Comments

Approval for new High Street retail premises and housing at junction with Moxon Street as demolition underway on two other nearby developments

Planning approval has finally been given after four years of negotiations and discussions for a new four-storey building at a prominent site in Barnet town centre at the corner of High Street and Moxon Street.

Architect Simon Kaufman is confident the new building – see above – with 11 new homes over commercial premises with a traditional shop front will enhance the character of a site at the heart of the Wood Street Conservation Area.

Moxon Street itself is currently being transformed by new housing developments.

Demolition is underway at the former Checkalow Tiles showroom, where there will be 21 new homes, and at the much larger site of the former Intec House, where there is approval for a new block of flats.

Discussions over how to redevelop the two empty shop premises at the corner of High Street and Moxon Street – where there had been a photo-copying business, a Foxtons estate agency and then a community pop-up shop – began six years ago.

Simon Kaufman Architects consulted planners, conservation officers, the Barnet Society, nearby residents and other local stakeholders.

“A collaborative design process has helped shape a scheme which responds positively to both the site and its historic setting while delivering an exciting new future for this important High Street building,” said Mr Kaufman.

Once the planning application was submitted, negotiations with Barnet Council’s planning department took another four years.

“This has been a long journey.”

“It is tremendously rewarding to see this prominent High Street building restored and given a new lease of life, making a positive contribution to the local community once again.

“The approved design carefully restores and enhances its historic character through the recreation of a traditional shop front, sensitive restoration of the masonry and architectural detailing, and a carefully designed roof extension that complements the historic townscape.

“This will bring 11 new homes, fresh investment and new life to this important part of Chipping Barnet.”

Dan Tomlinson, MP for Chipping Barnet, said he had worked closely with Simon Kaufman Architects to ensure that the site – 98-100 High Street – was brought back into life after such a long delay.

“This site spent years stuck in process and paperwork, and it was my intervention that finally stopped the administrative ping-pong.

“I am over the moon that through hard work, alongside my team, Simon Kaufman Architects, and local groups like the Barnet Society, we will finally see this eyesore turned into a new retail site and, most importantly, housing for residents.”

Demolition work is now underway on the Checkalow site in Moxon Street where a car-free mews with two rows of terraced homes is to be built to provide a total of 21 new homes for Barnet Homes.

The new tree-lined mews will connect Moxon Street to Tapster Street and will be open to pedestrians but have no access for motor vehicles.

Half the new one- and two-bedroom houses will be affordable housing, some perhaps under shared ownership.

Planning approval granted for new retail premises and housing at High Street corner with Moxon Street as demolition is underway on two other nearby housing developments

Demolition of the former Intec House, a three-storey office block, will make way for the construction of a six-storey block of 113 homes of which 17 will be for social rent.

Approval for the redevelopment by Moxon One Ltd was given by Barnet Council in October 2024 despite opposition from some nearby residents in South Close who fear that because of its height the new block will overlook their homes.

Top image Simon Kaufman Architects

Posted on 12 July 202612 July 2026 by Robin Bishop

Planning Inspector dismisses appeal to build mansion in Christchurch Lane spinney

An Inspector has dismissed an appeal by developer Christchurchgrove Ltd against Barnet Council’s refusal of its planning application to build a 5-bedroom house in a wood in Chipping Barnet. The decision concludes a successful campaign by local residents, with help from the Barnet Society, to save a cherished natural habitat in the Monken Hadley Conservation Area. It also sends a message to developers about the Council’s commitment to protecting green spaces in Barnet.

Although only one acre in area, the spinney beside Christchurch Lane forms a link in a green chain connecting Old Fold Manor golf course and Hadley Green, both in the Green Belt. Both are also designated Areas of Particular Importance for Biodiversity in the Mayor of London’s Nature Recovery Plan. Many trees in the wood are subject to Tree Preservation Orders (TPOs) and it is a haven of wild life, for example the Muntjac deer and her fawn in the photograph above (courtesy of neighbour Marianne Nix).

Planning Inspector dismisses appeal to build mansion in Christchurch Lane spinney

Concerns arose two years ago, when it emerged that the Council had authorised the sale of the part of the spinney that it owns for £430,000, subject to the buyer obtaining planning consent. But its own planning and biodiversity officers took issue with aspects of the preliminary ecological appraisal commissioned by the developer and breaches of Barnet’s Local Plan.

In parallel local residents monitored wildlife in the wood, photographing and recording a fascinating range of birds, bats and animals coming and going within 200 metres of Barnet High Street (as reported in our web post on 31 January). A petition to Save Chipping Barnet Woodland was started in September 2025, and within a few months had been supported by over 2,250 signatures.

A planning application was eventually submitted in January this year. It comprised a new mansion, designed in the Arts & Crafts style of existing houses in Sunset View, with a private garden and an enclosed swimming pool. In response to Society suggestions, the house boundaries were softened to integrate the garden more closely with the existing vegetation, and a plan was offered to manage the whole of the spinney. Despite constructive pre-application discussions between the developer and the Society, however, the final proposals did not go far enough to safeguard the existing environment and we objected to them – as did 278 other members of the public. Not a single comment was submitted in support.

Barnet planners recommended refusal of the application. Not only did the application breach several policies in its Local Plan (adopted only last year), it would have contradicted the Green Manifesto which had formed part of Labour’s platform in the 2022 local elections. Perhaps with an eye on the impending May local elections, the Council rejected the application on 10 March.

Almost immediately, the developer appealed against the Council’s decision.

The Planning Inspectorate’s verdict, published on 10 July, is unambiguous:

‘…the development of the site would have a harmful impact on the character and appearance of the area…and would fail to preserve the character or appearance of the Monken Hadley Conservation Area [MHCA]’, as well as being contrary to policies in The London Plan and the Barnet Local Plan.’

The Inspector echoed the opinion of local residents:

‘The sense of depth and scale that the woodland currently possesses is of considerable value…It provides a characterful wooded setting to the adjacent development and ties these roads into the wider landscape character of the MHCA…’

S/he also noted that,

‘This impact would be exacerbated by the proposed design…the proposed dwelling would appear to sit within an overgrown garden without a clear visual and spatial connection to the road or the sense of grandeur that many dwellings in the area possess.’

Regarding the hedge proposed around the site perimeter, the Inspector commented,

‘It is however highly doubtful that it would be possible to plant and successfully establish a continuous hedge in this location given the number of trees that would be retained around the edges of the site and their scale.’

Furthermore,

‘…the value of the woodland and the presence of a veteran tree, have not been accurately assessed, resulting in an unreliable biodiversity net gain calculation.’

The Society and campaigners have welcomed the Inspector’s decision. Retired GP Richard Norris commented,

‘Very definite rejection from Planning Inspector Tucker, very detailed, gives me faith in our institutions.’

Marianne Nix, who was instrumental in setting up the Save Chipping Barnet Woodland website and petition said,

‘I am delighted and hugely relieved that the Planning Inspectorate has dismissed the Appeal. The local community has worked together tirelessly to raise funds to publicise and to fight the potential destruction of this precious pocket of green on our doorsteps. Together we have gained the support of thousands of Barnet residents as well as petition signatures from all parts of the UK and even overseas. The World is waking up to the fact that we need to protect even the smallest pockets of nature and biodiversity that we in Barnet are lucky enough to enjoy.’

She thanked everyone who had objected to the planning application. But she went on to warn,

‘Although the veteran trees and wildlife are safe for now, I have a feeling there will be another application, this time with two or three houses.’

So we can’t relax. The Barnet Society was founded specifically to protect London’s Green Belt and the wider environment, and these are under greater threat than ever. We need funds to continue doing so. If you haven’t done so already, please join us or donate – just go to the top of this page.

Posted on 24 June 202611 July 2026 by Nick Jones — 18 Comments

Strong objections registered to a possible threat to a much cherished and historic setting at Monken Hadley

Residents and conservationists have reacted with alarm at a proposal to include the historic gate at Monken Hadley within an eruv – a symbolic boundary for Orthodox Jews – which would require the installation of two 5.5metre high poles with a crosswire over the road.

If planning permission is granted, an eruv would be created largely within the Borough of Enfield which would take in the United Synagogue in Hadley Wood, but which would also require eruv installations at three boundary points which are within the Borough of Barnet.

The application affecting Monken Hadley – establishing a boundary from Hadley Common – is for permission to install a 5.5metre pole on the footpath outside Rectory Close; another 5.5 metre pole on the other side of the road on the footpath outside Clocktower Cottage; and an overhead a connecting wire.

A series of objections posted on the Barnet Council’s website (closing date 25.6.2026) claim the two poles would be unsightly and an unacceptable intrusion into the most sensitive and significant setting within the Monken Hadley Conservation Area.

The Reverend Francesco Aresco, recently appointed rector of Monken Hadley Parish Church, says that as a nearby resident he objects to the installation because it would result in visual harm to an historic setting and create hazards for pedestrians.

The pavements outside Rectory Close and Clocktower Cottage are both “very narrow”.

They are used regularly by school pupils, requiring pedestrians to step into the road when trying to pass parents pushing prams.

Among the objectors was the Hadley Wood Neighbourhood Planning Forum Committee which considered the eruv would be of no benefit to the population at large and hoped that an alternative option would be to use the tollgate itself as a symbolic boundary – a suggestion which is apparently to be considered by the relevant “eruv” authorities.

Monken Hadley Common Trust agreed with the planning forum committee that the white tollgate might itself form the eruv boundary.

In its application, the United Synagogue Trust Ltd – of which the Hadley Wood Jewish Community of 471 members is a constituent member – says the proposal would encourage social cohesion within the community.

Residents and conservationists alarmed by application for an eruv installaton close to historic gate at Monken Hadley

There would need to be three eruv installations at three locations within the Borough of Barnet – two poles and a crosswire at Monken Hadley; a tubular steel arch at Bakers Hill at the Hadley Wood railway bridge; and an installation at the Cromer Road/Lawton Road entrance to the pedestrian tunnel under the main railway line.

These three installations would achieve linkage with an existing New Barnet eruv.

An eruv allows observant Orthodox Jews to carry and push objects – such as housekeys, medication or prams – between private and public domains on the Sabbath.

According to biblical law, carrying anything in a public space is considered a form of work, which is forbidden on the Sabbath. An eruv solves this by symbolically turning a neighbourhood into one large, unified “private domain”.

A comment from a supporter of the application sets out the case: an eruv would enable observant Jewish families to attend synagogue, join community events and maintain normal social connections, especially family visits and celebrations.

Eruv boundaries have been installed across London and the UK during the last 15 years including in nearby areas such as Stanmore, Bushey, and Camden apparently without objections and at no public cost.

Posted on 24 June 202625 June 2026 by Nick Jones — 1 Comment

Proposed new multi-use sports hall at Queen Elizabeth’s School will be available for hire by Barnet community sports groups

Plans are being prepared to seek approval from Barnet Council for the construction of a new sports hall and ten classrooms at Queen Elizabeth’s School.

Fund raising will start next year if permission is obtained for what the school says is part of a continuing programme to upgrade facilities within its existing site off Queens Road.

QE Boys – as its is still known locally – is a state-funded grammar school for boys with an annual intake of 192 pupils, a figure which will remain unchanged.

The new sports hall will be available to hire for community use – as is QE’s swimming pool and new recital hall – during evenings, weekends and school holidays.

A former music block next to the swimming pool – see above – will be demolished to make way for the new sports hall which will look out onto the school rugby field at the rear of the main QE building.

The new four-storey building will have changing rooms on the ground floor, a high ceiling multi-use sports hall with ten classrooms on the top floor.

The layout will accommodate basketball, five-a-side football, badminton and table tennis.

Other sports improvements will include additional fives courts and cricket nets.

To meet growing curriculum demand QE will refurbish and provide additional science laboratories.

Richard Henley, of planning consultants HGH, told the Barnet Society, the improvements to sporting and other facilities were all being made within the site of the existing school buildings.

“It is a tight campus which explains why have to intensify the use of existing buildings and those areas which can be redeveloped.”

New sports hall which will also be available for hire for community use is to be built at Queen Elizabeth's School, Queens Road,, if Barnet Council grants permission

QE, which was named the 2026 State Secondary School of the Year by the Sunday Times, says that if planning approval is obtained by early next year, fund raising will begin immediately.

Applications will be made for government financial support and sports grants and an appeal launched among ex-pupils. The aim would be to start construction in 2028 and complete the work in 2929.

When a presentation of the plans was held at the school, residents in nearby roads – Regina Close, Elizabeth Close and Queens Road – expressed concern about the additional traffic and parking that the sports hall would generate out of school hours.

They claimed the school already did nowhere near enough to control traffic on school days when numerous coaches and cars deliver pupils from a wide catchment area across north and west London.

“This expansion of the school’s facilities is not fair on nearby residents. The new sports hall will double the evening, weekend and school holiday traffic yet Queen Elizabeth’s does little if anything to ask parents and visitors to respect those living in the neighbourhood,” said one of the school’s neighbours.

For more details and a feedback form see: https://www.qebarnet.co.uk/sports-hall-planning/

Posted on 19 June 202619 June 2026 by Nick Jones — 2 Comments

Deputy Mayor of London has high praise for a new High Barnet estate of houses and flats being built on former farmland at Whalebones

Construction of new houses and flats is well underway on what was the last remaining field on the border betweenHigh High Barnet and Arkley – a development described by a Deputy Mayor of London as a “fantastic example” of delivering new homes while preserving a green space and respecting the heritage of the location.

Work on the new Whalebones Park housing estate began last year after those campaigning to preserve the Whalebones woods and farmland finally admitted defeat.

Barnet Council voted narrowly in favour of the scheme and the Mayor of London gave the final go-ahead for the construction of 115 new homes, a mix of houses for private sale and affordable homes in blocks ranging from two to five storeys in height.

The first of the new homes are expected to be completed by the summer next year.

Deputy Mayor of London praises controversial redevelopment on farmland at Whalebones for its contribution to providing the high quality and affordable homes needed by Londoners

Tom Copley, deputy mayor of London for housing and development, was welcomed on an official visit to the site by Greg Hill, deputy chief executive of the developers, The Hill Group, and Joe Mashall, chief investment and development officer for affordable housing charity Sovereign Network Group.

(Hill Group photo, See above, Tom Copley, with spade, and on his left London Assembly Member Councillor Ann Clarke and Greg Hill; and on his right, High Barnet Councillor Emma Whysall and Joe Marshall).

The purpose of the visit was to review progress on a development aimed at addressing London’s housing need while “preserving and enhancing” the character of an important heritage site.

Mr Copley praised the commitment of the Hill Group and SNG in preserving green space around the development and enhancing biodiversity.

“Whalebones Park is a fantastic example of how we can deliver the high-quality, genuinely affordable homes Londoners need while creating places where communities can thrive,” said Mr Copley.

“Developments like this are vital to building a better, fairer London.”

Mr Marshall said a total of 54 affordable homes – one, two and three-bedroom apartments – would be delivered through a partnership between The Hill Group and SNG and they would give local people greater access to affordable rent and shared ownership in an area where demand remained high.

“Combined with the new green spaces, community facilities and long-term investment in the landscape, this development will make a lasting positive impact for both new and existing residents.”

Andy Hill, founder and group chief executive of The Hill Group, has always insisted the Whalebones Park development will respect the heritage of the Grade II listed Whalebones House, formerly the home of Cowing family, proprietors of the Barnet Press.

Around half of the 12 acre-site will be retained as publicly accessible open space, “ensuring the natural beauty and heritage of Whalebones Park is protected for future generations”.

“Residents and the wider community will benefit from attractive meadows, healing gardens, ponds, natural play areas, a woodland walk and accessible routes.”

A biodiversity net gain of 10 per cent would be achieved through the planting of 200 new trees and 750 metres of new hedgerow, alongside a long-term management plan to protect habitats and green infrastructure.

The new homes will feature air-source heat pumps, solar panels and sustainable urban drainage systems to ensure the neighbourhood is “low carbon, energy efficient and environmentally sensitive”.

The development will retain a site for an agricultural smallholding to replace the original Whalebones farm; a new community building including a new studio for Barnet Guild of Artists; and one site parking.

Posted on 16 June 202617 June 2026 by Nick Jones

Volunteer guardians of Chipping Barnet’s open spaces, countryside and community initiatives praised by MP Dan Tomlinson

Volunteers who look after the countryside and manage outdoor activities met their MP Dan Tomlinson at a reception at the House of Commons where he congratulated them for all they did to preserve the greenery which he said was such an attractive feature of the Chipping Barnet constituency.

What linked his guests was that they were all nature lovers determined to help others enjoy the natural world – whether it was growing fruit and vegetables, caring for the natural environment or protecting the green belt.

Seven allotment sites in the constituency had representatives at the reception as well volunteers from Barnet Environment Centre in Byng Road and the campaign to keep Dollis Brook clear of litter.

Another guest was award-winning Wendy Alcock, founder of Incredible Edible Barnet, a community group which encourages home cultivation in gardens and on un-used land.

“What people love about Barnet are our green spaces and all of you are the corner stone in protecting them,” said Mr Tomlinson.

A team of supporters from GROW, the school farm at The Totteridge Academy, were delighted to hear the MP’s praise for a project which produces fruit and vegetables for the school kitchen as well for sale to the community.

Team Grow – above, from left to right, Sam (trustee), Dan Tomlinson, Tara (communications lead), Marta (senior grower) and Lynn, volunteer – were keen to use their meeting with their MP to help promote a series of events at the farm in Barnet Lane: Open Day on June 27; Pick Your Own Flowers on 25 July, 8 August and 5 September; and Pumpkin Time on 24 October.

Mr Tomlinson reminded his guests that after his recent launch of a community action network for his constituency he was hoping to help promote initiatives where local people could get together to assist with non-partisan campaigns and projects.

His search for a project met an immediate response from leading members of Friends of Tudor Park and Pavilion who have launched a bid to rescue and renovate the abandoned former cricket pavilion in Barnet Vale.

He told their deputation – above, from left to right, Simon Kaufman, Alexander Cohen, Dan Tomlinson, Hannah Lawrence and Simon Cohen – that he was very supportive of their campaign to save the pavilion.

“I will be looking to see what more I can do as their MP to help get the project off the ground.”

Currently the abandoned pavilion is considered unsafe and is cordoned off but what concerns the activists is that the building is deteriorating quite rapidly – a crack in the western elevation has expanded to two inches in width within a year.

“A structural engineer has told us that this crack needs to be repointed to stabilise the building otherwise it could become a risk to public safety,” said Mr Kaufman.

“We are frustrated by the length of time it is taking Barnet Council to finalise the paperwork for the Friends to sign an agreement to lease the building, so any help from our MP would be much appreciated.”

MP Dan Tomlinson praises nature lovers who care for green spaces in his Chipping Barnet constituency and who encourage home cultivation of fruit and vegetables

Robin Bishop, who leads for the Barnet Society on planning and the environment, (above right with Barnet Society member Kim Ambridge) used the reception as a chance to impress on Mr Tomlinson the need for action over the long-standing proposal to create a regional park to the west of Barnet.

A large swathe of green belt and metropolitan open land stretching west from Arkley and south to Mill Hill was earmarked as a possible regional park in the Barnet strategy plan for 2019-2030.

Given all the pressure for new housing – and the likelihood that substantial parts of Barnet’s green belt could be designated ‘grey belt’ for residential development – Mr Bishop said a regional park designation could safeguard farmland and open spaces and open them up to the public.

“A regional park designation would become a significant planning consideration, to which any planning inspector would have to give it due weight. It is proposed in Barnet’s Local Plan, but so far nothing has been done about it,” said Mr Bishop.

“Safeguarding this open land from development is the only way we can preserve a green gap between Barnet and Borehamwood.”

Posted on 12 June 202612 June 2026 by Nick Jones — 5 Comments

Up went the hands in favour of Barnet Society members contributing to any appeal to fund a legal challenge to High Barnet station flats

Barnet Society members have voted decisively to support and contribute to any campaign to mount a legal challenge against the Deputy Mayor of London’s decision to overrule Barnet Council and authorise the go ahead for blocks of flats on the car park at High Barnet tube station.

The deadline for an application for a judicial review is Tuesday 7 July.

Although Barnet Council has yet to announce if it has any intention of challenging the mayor’s decision in the High Court, Barnet Residents Association says it is seeking advice on whether there might be grounds for pursuing a judicial review.

When asked for their response at the annual general meeting of the Barnet Society, members voted unanimously in favour of the society contributing towards the cost of an application for judicial review.

There was also a unanimous vote by those who were present to contribute personally to a legal fund – and half the members who were there indicated they would contribute £100 each if necessary.

Robin Bishop (above), the society’s lead on planning issues, told the meeting that possible grounds for judicial review might be that the deputy mayor had pre-judged the application and ignored Barnet’s local plan which limited the height of any blocks to seven storeys – when the proposed scheme included one tower block of 11 storeys.

A High Court challenge would be costly: initial legal advice would amount to around several thousand pounds, and a full legal challenge could cost around £40,000, which might double if costs had to be paid to Transport for London.

Committee member Nick Saul (above, left) advised the meeting that the deputy mayor’s decision could be challenged on the grounds it was a test case when it came to applications to build on Transport for London land.

Calling in the High Barnet station scheme for the mayor’s approval was not a first in itself, but was the first to be considered and decided upon at a hearing at City Hall.

Similar applications for developments at Stanmore and Canons Park stations were called in, but both were withdrawn before a hearing took place.

An alternative suggestion made at the meeting was that local groups might launch a petition to persuade Barnet Council to declare the station car park as an asset of community value – a step which would prevent the land being developed by TfL’s investment subsidiary Places for London and developers Barratt.

Mr Bishop promised to keep the society abreast of any moves within the community to launch a judicial review and consider other options such as seeking ACV status for the car park to block the scheme – a safeguard that would remain in place for around 5 years.

The possibility of getting involved in legal action only served to underline the significance of a separate decision at the annual meeting to prepare the necessary documents for an application to convert the society into a company limited by guarantee.

Barnet Society members ready to support and contribute any fund to mount legal challenge to Deputy Mayor of London's decision to give go ahead for blocks of flats over High Barnet tube station car park.

Committee member Mahender Khari (above) explained the importance to voluntary community groups of taking advantage of the legal protection which this structure offered to committee members.

Increasingly non-profit groups such as charities and clubs were becoming a company limited by guarantee because it created an up-to-date and more stable financial structure and assisted when seeking grants or other funding.

Mr Khari thanked the annual meeting for their support and said the committee would now proceed with the preparation of the paperwork which would be needed to register with Companies House.

Once the documentation had been completed it would be sent out to members before being voted on at an extra-ordinary general meeting.

John Hay, the society’s chair – who is also trustee treasurer for the Friends of Tudor Park and Pavilion – told the meeting that there had been some progress at last on the bid to rescue and renovate the abandoned former cricket pavilion.

A head of agreement had been settled with Barnet Council and the friends’ committee was waiting to sign an agreement to lease the pavilion.

Once that step had been completed there would be a chance to examine the state of the building – at heightened risk because of a widening crack on the west elevation – and that could lead on to a signing of the lease itself.

Mr Hay acknowledged the frustration over the time this was taking but the council had now agreed that no rent would be charged on the pavilion for the first five years, followed by a pepper corn rent, and that £191,000 was available in a fund set aside by the council for repairs.

Posted on 9 June 20269 June 2026 by Nick Jones — 2 Comments

Park Quarter flats reshaping New Barnet as final deadline approaches over proposed high-rise blocks of flats at High Barnet station

Construction of a massive complex of nearly 500 new flats at New Barnet is reaching the half-way stage – just as the go-ahead for the start of a proposed high-rise development at High Barnet tube station might be only weeks away.

Eleven blocks of up to eight storeys in height are being constructed by Fairview New Homes on the site of the former New Barnet gas works off Albert Road.

With almost 100 flats having now been sold, the new Park Quarter estate is rapidly taking shape.

Approval for the New Barnet scheme was a long and drawn-out affair and almost as tortuous and contentious as the highly-controversial plan to build five blocks of flats – including one of 11 storeys – over the tube station car park and container yard.

Any legal challenge to the decision by the Deputy Mayor of London, Jules Pipe, to approve the High Barnet scheme must be made by mid-July.

Advice on whether to seek a judicial review is being taken into consideration by Barnet Council and separately by Barnet Residents Association.

So far, the council’s only response, from the deputy leader Councillor Ross Houston, is “no comment at this stage”.

However, privately, some councillors with knowledge of the High Barnet scheme, says they do not think that realistically there are any legal grounds on which the Deputy Mayor of London’s decision can be challenged.

Although the council’s strategic planning committee voted by a clear majority against the tube station blocks of flats due to concern over their “scale, height and density”, planning officers had originally recommended approval as the site was allocated for residential-led redevelopment and would provide 328 new homes of which 100 would be affordable.

If the July deadline passes with no application to the High Court, developers Barratt and Transport for London’s investment subsidiary, Places for London, hope to start construction at High Barnet in February next year.

At Park Quarter in New Banet access to the site is about to be opened up with a new a new footpath into the development from the Victoria Recreation Ground – see Fairview image above – which should be completed by the end of June.

“Opening up the development onto Victoria Recreation Ground, creating a stronger physical and visual connection with the surrounding neighbourhood, will help the scheme become an ever more integrated part of the local community,” said Mark Jackson, Fairview director of planning.

An official topping out ceremony at the highest point of the development had achieved what Mr Jackson believed was a “significant construction milestone” for a scheme which appealed to people with strong connections to the local community.

Park Quarter had already attracted 93 buyers, including 69 first-time purchasers of whom 15 were from the local area.

Phase one of the 486-home Park Quarter development, which began in summer 2023, was sold out within ten months and work on phase two was well underway with 36 homes ready for occupation from March.

A further 106 homes are due to be finished by the end of the year and the entire development completed by the autumn of 2028.

Included in the development are one-, two- and three-bedroom homes and apartments and two- and three-bedroom duplexes; 162 of the flats will be affordable, at social rent or shared ownership, under the management of SNG Housing.

In line with the planning approval, Fairview have removed a footbridge which used to connect to a tunnel under the main railway line – a regular access route for pedestrians between Victoria Recreation Ground and Cromer Road.

Park Quarter development of nearly 500 flats at New Barnet reaches half way stage as deadline nears for legal challenge to high rise blocks of flats at High Barnet tube station.

In its place is a new footpath leading to the railway tunnel – an improvement welcomed by East Barnet councillor Simon Radford who is now in discussion with Network Rail to carry out repair work to sort out leaking surface water from the railway track above.

Under obligations placed on Fairview’s planning approval, the scheme has required contributions of £1.5 million, including support for local bus services and for a controlled parking zone review and scheme.

In addition the development is subject to a community infrastructure levy of over £5.7 million, of which £4.3 million is paid to Barnet Council for local improvements.

Posted on 30 May 202630 May 2026 by Nick Jones — 3 Comments

Campaign to save and rebuild an abandoned clubhouse for benefit of Underhill residents gathers pace ahead of its sale by Barnet Council

Residents around Mays Lane are anxious to attract support for a community bid to take over the derelict former Quinta Youth Club which has been put up for sale by Barnet Council for £300,000.

Local groups have until October to submit offers and proposals to the council. Several eligible community interest organisations have already expressed interest.

Gina Theodorou (above), chair of the Quinta Village Green Residents Association, is appealing for a concerted push by the locality to help to secure and re-open the derelict club as a community hub and space.

“We fear Barnet Council may favour selling the abandoned building to an organisation from outside the area rather than a genuinely local community-led proposal.

“Our aim is to create a flexible new community building and integrate it into Quinta village green which is alongside and which we have already made sure is preserved for the use of our community.”

As a first step a community interest company is to be established by the residents’ association to develop a business plan.

An image, showing what a revived Quinta Club building might look like, has been issued in support of an appeal on Facebook and GoFundMe to help with the cost of planning and funding the application:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/save-the-quinta-club-for-the-whole-community

https://www.facebook.com/quinta.green.9/posts/pfbid0Z7oaBfVJP2sHuaZ1kcaYyYSJBMtoSDBP5QZts4jNrQCrM3iRFkvkFZZA2z9EGzaul

The club building – originally constructed by the Underhill community in the 1960s with the help of local tradesmen and residents – has been derelict for the last 20 years, raising concern among Mays Lane residents about continuing vandalism and anti-social behaviour.

Gina Theodorou – seen above with Rory (16) who is supporting the campaign for a new community space for local youngsters – is urging the community to rally round as quickly as possible so that a proposal can be submitted to the council by the deadline of October 17.

“In its heyday the Quinta Club was a wonderful community space – it was a youth centre, a meeting place for the elderly, for a nursery and for all sorts of exercise classes.

“We are becoming increasingly concerned because the council is getting expressions of interest from community groups outside the area– including religious organisations – and the priority for the council seems to be getting rid of the freehold for the best possible price.

“We want to keep the building as broad-based shared community asset, which is financially sustainable and offer affordable room hire, café, and space for family and youth activities.”

It was at the request of residents’ association that the abandoned building was registered by the council as an asset of community value.

This has established a six-month moratorium during which the council may only sell the former club to a qualifying community interest group – a window of opportunity which lasts until October 17.

An open day will be held at the site in Mays Lane on Tuesday 30 June (from 11am to 2pm) when qualifying groups can view the property and ask questions, although there is a warning that viewing might be limited to “an external walk around on grounds of safety”.

To build up support for its GoFundMe appeal and a combined local response, Mrs Theodorou is hoping to draw on professional expertise within the community and wider backing from local politicians.

Dan Tomlinson, the MP for Chipping Barnet, launched a Community Action Network in March this year, aimed at “shaping and showcasing” projects proposed by the local residents in his constituency.

Mays Lane is within the council’s Underhill ward and one of its two councillors, Zahra Beg, is the newly elected Mayor of Barnet.

Campaign to mount a bid for community to rebuild the Quinta Club in Mays Lane which Barnet Council has put on the market for £300,000 with deadline of October for community bids

Ms Theodorou says residents have been become alarmed at the state of the dereliction.

There are gaps in the boarding surrounding the derelict building and it has become a dumping ground for rubbish.

After its success in getting Quinta village green registered as a public open space, the residents’ association liaises with the council to ensure maintenance of the green and to ensure that fly tipping is removed.

Posted on 27 May 202628 May 2026 by Nick Jones — 28 Comments

Promise of 100 affordable new homes influences final go ahead for tower blocks at High Barnet tube station and loss of car parking

Approval has finally been given by the office of the Mayor of London for the redevelopment of land around High Barnet tube station with five blocks of flats despite warnings this would cause irreparable damage to an historic skyline.

A deputation from the town’s community groups told a hearing at City Hall that squeezing 328 new homes into a narrow strip of land between the tube line and the Barnet Hill trunk road was the “wrong scale in the wrong place”.

Objections were overruled by Jules Pipe, Deputy Mayor for Planning and Regeneration, who said that although three of the blocks would exceed the seven-storey limit agreed in the Barnet local plan – and one block would be 11 storeys – the impact of the height and massing of the flats would be negligible on the neighbourhood and no reason for refusal.

Building more affordable homes was the mayor’s priority and the High Barnet Place scheme would provide 100 new homes at low-cost rent or shared ownership.

“We must take advantage of sites which offer a high proportion of affordable homes and where the key travel infra-structure is in place,” said Mr Pipe.

“Inevitably schemes like High Barnet Place would be visible, including long range views…but the alternative would be to drive such schemes to the green belt and to less sustainable sites.”

Objections to the loss 160 spaces in the station car park – and the provision of only eight places for Blue Badge holders – were rejected by Mr Pipe on the grounds that encouraging tube passengers to walk to the station or take a bus would encourage “more sustainable means of travel and improve air quality”.

Developers Barratt and Transport for London’s investment subsidiary, Places for London, hope to start construction in February next year with the first affordable homes being available in February 2029 and the scheme completed by April 2030.

Mayor of London's office gives final go ahead for blocks of flats around High Barnet Station, Key factor 100 new affordable homes, a priority for the Mayor but station will lose its car park.

Simon Kaufman, a chartered architect (above, second from right), made a joint presentation on behalf of members of the Barnet Society and Barnet Residents Association.

He said many of the flats in the five tower blocks would be of poor quality, single aspect and reliant on mechanical ventilation.

The design of the scheme exemplified the social and management failures of high-density blocks of flats built across London in the 1960s and 1970s.

After Mr Pipe announced the scheme would go ahead, Mr Kaufman said the conscience of the objectors was clear.

“We listened to the lessons of history, and we are not prepared to see a repeat of the mistakes of the past. We did our best to prevent a development which we fear will become a disaster in years to come.”

Neil Smith, senior project planning officer for the Greater London Authority, opened the hearing by reminding the Deputy Mayor that Barnet Council had refused permission for the blocks of flats because of their excessive height and harm to the character of the surrounding area.

However, the GLA considered the height and massing of the blocks responded well to the immediate context and would make “a positive contribution to the local townscape”.

Given the loss of the car park, there would be nine drop off short-stay spaces and eight Blue Badge spaces, but otherwise the development would be car-free with an enhanced public footpath on the station approach.

A significant public benefit of the scheme would be 100 affordable new homes and there were “no material considerations of sufficient weight to justify refusal”.

In opening for the objectors Simon Kaufman said that when seen from the surrounding green belt countryside the proposed tower blocks harmed the historic skyline of High Barnet where the defining landmark on the hill had been the parish church.

“This is an over-scaled urban insertion imposed on to an historic hill town.”

An issue which eroded public confidence was that many residents were troubled by the fact Transport for London was effectively promoting development on its own land while the Greater London Authority and the Mayor of London were the decision-maker.

Mr Kaufman criticised the removal of the station car park without providing a realistic alternative and the steep topography of the station approach meant that women, older residents and disabled users would continue to face intimidating routes, particularly after dark.

Janet Littlewood of Barnet Residents Association, speaking on behalf of Gordon Massey, said the blocks of flats on the site would add to the existing chaos on the station approach where there were often traffic jams.

The area around the station was isolated and many women would not leave the station unless they could exit by car.

Nick Saul, a retired civil engineer, warned that the loss of the car park and the failure to provide bus access to the station forecourt raised serious concerns for women and the disabled.

Serious assaults to passengers when on foot or on cycle were not uncommon where parking had already been lost at tube stations.

Flaws in the design and access in and around suburban stations were a key factor in the prevalence and location of attacks.

Dame Theresa Villiers, formerly MP for Chipping Barnet, who described herself as a resident and passenger, insisted that the loss of the station car park would damage the quality of life of many thousands of Barnet residents.

Anyone with impaired mobility would be at a disadvantage and the suggestion that more people might like to cycle to the station ignored the steepness of Barnet Hill – as she could testify personally it was “a tough climb for cyclists”.

“High Barnet station has been my station for 21 years. It is our get away to the world. Please don’t curtail the freedom of High Barnet people to live our lives the way we want to.”

There was one speaker in support of the scheme, High Barnet student Yana Kostova, who said that given the pressure on local housing the only chance was to build upwards.

The prospect of more affordable homes was a relief. She thought High Barnet could “blossom and attract a younger generation with such schemes”.

In response to questions from the deputy mayor, Martin Scholar, head of planning for Places for London, said the developers Barratt Homes had maximised the number of affordable homes at High Barnet Place which would allow more people to get on the housing ladder.

“Forty per cent affordable homes at High Barnet is much higher than for most schemes in London” – a consideration that was given emphasis in the deputy mayor’s final decision.

In a statement issued after the hearing, Dan Tomlinson, MP for Chipping Barnet and Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, criticised the go ahead for a scheme which was clearly not in line with the local plan.

“Planning decisions aren’t mine to make as the local MP, but Barnet Labour has made it views very clear on these proposals.

“It is in black and white in Barnet’s local plan that seven storeys is the maximum for housing on this site.

“It is not right for the GA to overrule elected councillors to approve a scheme with an 11-storey block that contravenes the plan.”

Mr Tomlinson’s statement was followed by a statement from Barnet Labour Party expressing its opposition to the go-ahead for high storey blocks of flats at High Barnet tube station and GLA approval for the Great North Leisure Park development:

“It is extremely disappointing that two local planning decisions based on the local plan and London plan and with the backing of the local community have been overturned by the GLA.

“Local councillors should be trusted to make decisions based on the best interest of their communities.”

Posted on 16 May 202616 May 2026 by Nick Jones — 1 Comment

Facing an uncertain future: unsteady state of Barnet’s iconic whalebones archway – can it be repaired or replaced with a replica?

An historic whalebones arch beside Wood Street, High Barnet, has had to be encased in scaffolding after the owners of Whalebones House feared it might collapse and cause an injury to passersby.

Signs of movement in its footings and cracks in the archway – once the jaw bones of a ninety-foot-long blue whale – prompted concern about its safety.

Hill Group, who are building 115 new homes in adjoining fields, installed the scaffolding as a protective measure to safeguard the arch and to preserve “a unique local landmark”.

Hill’s intervention has been welcomed by the owners of Whalebones House, Patrick Shanahan and Helena Boland, who say urgent action is need to either repair the whalebones or replace them with a replica archway.

Straps have been applied around the surface to ensure there is no further fragmentation of the structure.

A set of jawbones was first erected as a gateway to Whalebones House in the 1860s or perhaps even earlier.

They were last replaced in 1939 by former owner of the house, Miss Gwyneth Cowing, whose family owned the Barnet Press newspaper.

She paid for two jawbones, each weighing three-quarters of a ton, to be transported to Barnet from Norway where the carcase of the whale, which had been captured in the South Seas, had been dismembered.

It took half a dozen workmen, under the direction of local builders W. Foster & Sons, all day to manoeuvre the gigantic jawbones into place and set them in six feet of concrete.

Cracks in the jawbone on the Arkley side of the drive started appearing at Easter; then its footing became dislodged; and it became clear the archway was in danger of collapsing.

Mr Shanahan said he first became aware of the damage after heavy equipment being used by the contractors started crossing the driveway less than three metres from the jawbones.

“Excavators and piling equipment kept being moved to and from the main construction area to a smaller site off Wellhouse Lane where there is to be a new community building and studio for the Barnet Guild of Artists.

“Because of the fragile state of the jawbones we have asked the contractors to stop crossing the driveway and generating the kind of vibration which has clearly been having a devastating impact.”

After alerting the Hill Group to what had happened, the owners of Whalebones House asked for advice from Barnet Council on the historic status of the whalebones and whether permission would be needed to dismantle the archway and install a replacement.

They hope that the Hill Group and the trustees of the Gwyneth Cowing estate – which sold off the farmland for housing – will contribute to the cost of repairing or replacing the archway.

“Hill are going to call their new housing estate and gardens Whalebone Park, so they have a responsibility to ensure the whalebones remain an integral part of the whole development,” said Mr Shanahan.

“So far we have been unable to gain any assistance from Barnet Council’s planning or heritage departments, and we are anxious to work out how best to safeguard the future of the archway.”

Whalebones House is a Grade II listed building of special interest and the whalebones at the entrance to the drive are specifically referred to in the appraisal for the Wood Street Conservation area which includes the Whalebones estate.

It says that the whalebones at the entrance sit within “a notable tree boundary and create an entry feature to the space.”

Mr Shanahan says former fishing and whaling communities which have historic whalebone arches, including Whitby in Yorkshire and coastal ports in Scotland, are facing similar challenges over how best to protect them.

“Resin bonding has been used to repair some arches. Others have been replaced with replica arches made from synthetic compounds, steel or even brass.

“We need advice and help in working out how the arch can be preserved or replaced.”

There are competing theories as to how and why whalebones were first erected in Wood Street.

One report in the Barnet Press suggested the famous polar explorer John Franklin (1786-1847) once lived in Whalebones and according to local thinking installed the first set of whalebones as early as the 1830s.

A week later the paper published an alternative version: Frederick Brown, who lived at 92 Wood Street, said his sister was married to Mr Easton, a Thames waterman, who had lived at the house and started the tradition.

Mr Easton had joined the firm of Smith and Sons, whalebone and sealskin merchants, who plied their trade from the Thames, and he obtained a pair of whalebones which it was thought were erected in the 1860s and gave the house its name.

Records at Barnet Museum suggest the house was built in 1815 and the first reference to it being named Whalebones was on a map dated 1872.

Motorists travelling along Wood Street often miss seeing the jawbones, especially when the trees and hedges are in leaf and much of that side of the road is filled in parked cars.

Pedestrians get a far better view and might like to renew an old Chipping Barnet custom: according to local legal it was good luck to walk under the archway, make a wish or share a kiss.

Over the years countless Barnet youngsters have marvelled at the size of the jaw bones from a blue whale, the largest species captured in the South Seas.

Angela Morris of King’s Road, Barnet, remembers that as a seven-year-old in the 1950s she attended a Brownie pack that met in the barn at Whalebones.

“In those days there were another two sets of whalebones, only much smaller. One was at the gateway to the house and one that had fallen down beside a path that went to the barn where the Brownies met.”

Posted on 1 May 20261 May 2026 by Nick Jones — 4 Comments

High Court backs approval for two travellers’ caravans in a Mays Lane paddock once used for grazing horses

Barnet Council’s attempt to halt the go ahead for a travellers’ caravan site on a field in Green Belt land off Mays Lane has failed in the High Court to the disappointment of a local residents’ group.

Gina Theodorou, chair of the Quinta Village Green Residents’ Association, said that despite the setback they were determined to continue their fight to protect the Green Belt along Mays Lane.

Failure by the council to secure a full judicial review of a planning inspector’s decision in favour of the travellers site means that work installing hard standing can now go ahead in a two-acre paddock – see above – which was previously used for grazing horses.

Space has been approved for two static caravans, two mobile homes and two day rooms to be occupied by two traveller families.

The application was made by brothers Patrick and J Casey.

A refusal by the council to grant approval led to a lengthy planning inquiry last year when the inspector decided that the “very special circumstances” of the two families outweighed any harm to the Green Belt.

This ruling was challenged by the council on the grounds that the inspector’s conclusion was factually flawed because of his conclusion that a go ahead for the site was in the best interests of the “seven young children” involved.

In its challenge, the council argued that the evidence showed that in fact only four or five children would live on the site.

After a two-hour hearing – which Ms Theodorou attended – the High Court accepted that while there was a factual error in the inspector’s decision it did not materially affect the outcome of whether to allow the site on Green Belt land. Development could now proceed.

“We are disappointed because although this decision affects only one site, it means that once the land is developed it undermines the protection for our local green spaces,” said Ms Theodorou.

“There could now be future proposals for travellers’ sites on Green Belt land on both sides of the paddock and this approval would make it easier to justify.

“But that is how the Green Belt is gradually eroded.

“Our focus now has to be to focus on the bigger picture – to protect what remains of our Green Belt along Mays Lane and to ensure that our local green spaces are managed in a way that benefits both the environment and the community.”

Posted on 23 April 202623 April 2026 by Nick Jones

Strengthened protection for woodland close to Hadley Green which has become a wildlife corridor close to Barnet town centre

A planning dispute over an unsuccessful bid to build a large new house within the Monken Hadley conservation area has resulted in Barnet Council declaring a woodland tree preservation order on the whole site.

An objection by the owners to the strengthening of the tree protection for the one-acre site – see above – was rejected by the planning committee.

It said the strip of land alongside Christchurch Lane – opposite the junction with Sunset View – was classified by ecologists as “lowland mixed deciduous woodland” and was a “priority habitat deciduous woodland”.

As planning authority, Barnet Council had a duty to protect this asset with a “woodland tree preservation order”.

The trees on the site – including oak, ash, birch and walnut and a shrub layer of yew, hawthorn and laurel – provided “considerable visual amenity” in an area of a mosaic of small green spaces.

Nearby residents who objected to the original plan to build a large house on the site have hailed the decision as another decisive step in their campaign to preserve what they believe is a significant wildlife corridor between Hadley Green and the Old Fold Manor Golf Course.

In March, an application by Christchurchgrove Ltd to build a six-bedroom house on the site was refused by the council because it would do “unacceptable harm” to a woodland habitat and damage the conservation area.

In objecting to the proposed tree preservation order for the whole site, the company said the land was already covered by eight separate tree preservation orders and therefore there was already adequate protection.

Without approval for the construction of the proposed house would be no management plan for the woodland which was already displaying symptoms of becoming unkempt and neglected.

There had been growth in the woods of non-indigenous and invasive species which was starting to denude the quality of the habitat.

In response, the council said that in the 45 years since the original tree preservation orders were made, many new trees had established themselves and had merit.

They had altered significantly the appearance of the land, adding to the “woodland character” of the site.

Posted on 22 April 202622 April 2026 by Nick Jones

As Dollis Valley regeneration about to move ahead, launch of new job club will offer help and support to gain skills and employment

A job club is being established at the Hope Corner Community Centre in Mays Lane, Barnet, offering three sessions a week aimed at giving advice on employment and training and a chance to learn new skills.

A year’s funding for the club coincides with an imminent start on completing the Dollis Valley estate regeneration with the construction of 221 new homes at affordable rents.

Guidance on job opportunities and training will be provided each Tuesday afternoon by Boost, Barnet Council’s employment and advice service (from 1pm to 4pm).

The Shaw Trust will hold a drop-in session on Friday mornings offering advice on health and job support programmes (from 9.30am to 2pm).

A tailoring and sewing course – a free make and mend programme – will equip those taking part for job and business opportunities.

Julian Desborough (above, far right), secretary of Barnet Churches Action which established the community centre ten years ago, said they recognised the need for advice on employment and training.

Demand is likely to increase once demolition starts in preparation for the final completion of phases four and five of the Dollis Valley regeneration.

Work on the replacement Brook Valley Gardens estate has been stalled since 2023 but despite further delays and a fresh disagreement about the split between private and social housing, Mr Desborough said their hope and expectation was that the regeneration was back on track.

Residents who had to move from Dollis Valley after their blocks of flats and maisonettes were condemned because of damp and mould will get the chance to return to new socially rented housing under the management of Barnet Homes.

The construction and opening of the Hope Corner Community Centre – above which are three floors of affordably-rented flats – marked the start of the Dollis Valley regeneration.

Centre manager Janet Nestor – see above, with Julian Desborough and James Ricks of the Boost employment and advice service – supervises a wide range of activities for the community.

As well as a café offering breakfast and lunch at affordable prices, the centre has two halls for classes and events including exercise and flower arranging classes, Pilates, and mother and baby and maths tutor classes.

Hope Corner Community Centre in Mays Lane to launch job club offering help with employment and training.

Hope Corner Job Club, to be launched on Thursday 30 April, is already attracting considerable interest.

A dozen participants have signed up so far. For further information email hopecornerjobclub@outlook.com or visit Hope Corner Community Centre at 185 Mays Lane.

Posted on 20 April 202623 April 2026 by Nick Jones — 2 Comments

Anger in Arkley over plans for a massive new housing estate attracts tv news team ahead of Barnet Council elections

A controversial plan to build up to 230 houses and an 80-bed care home on a former pig farm at Arkley was featured by ITV News London in a report ahead of May’s council elections about the political arguments surrounding the development of green belt land.

Bugler Homes of Rickmansworth is hoping to take advantage of new guidance allowing house building on “previously developed” sites which can now be deemed to be grey belt land.

Arkley resident Hayley Winton (above) told ITV London political correspondent Simon Harris that if Barnet Council approved the scheme, it would have a “huge impact” on life in the village, increasing its size by 25 per cent.

“Arkley is a small village with low density housing, in the middle of the green belt, and a high-density development of 300 homes doesn’t feel right.”

Hayley’s opposition to the scheme was shared by another resident Jyoti Dhanak who said it would be shocking if such a large part of green belt was built on.

“Once the green belt has gone, it has gone, and it cannot be replaced.”

Because access to the site had been refused, camera operator Gemma Green used a drone to film the 17-acre former pig farm, which is off Rowley Lane, Arkley, and is in the middle of scrubland and woods bordered by the A1 Barnet by-pass.

In its “initial vision” for the development, Bugler Homes has applied to the council to discuss plans to build 230 homes, with 50 per cent affordable housing; an 80-bed care home; publicly accessible green spaces and allotments; and improved public right of way footpaths.

Robin Bishop (above) who leads for the Barnet Society on planning and the environment, told Simon Harris the development would represent a “substantial erosion” of the green belt which had separated Barnet and Arkley from Borehamwood for the last 80 years.

The fields and woodland around Arkley are included in plans to create a new regional park which is included in Barnet Council’s latest local plan.

“If this development were to be approved it would be a major breach of the proposed regional park.

“A new regional park is a much welcome proposal. It would help to create a comprehensively managed area like the Lea Valley regional park.”

Mr Bishop urged planning authorities to proceed with care before allowing development in what housebuilders claimed was now the grey belt.

“If councils give permission for every derelict site in the green belt much of the new housing will be highly unsuitable, in places where people will not be close to amenities or public transport.”

The Rowley Lane pig farm site is part of a triangle of land which is bounded by Barnet Road, Barnet by-pass and Rowley Lane.

The illustration above shows how the land — to the east of the by-pass — has been parcelled into different plots.

Online research has revealed that 148 acres of land within this area – almost all of which is green belt – is owned by housebuilders and other associated companies and could provide space for up to 1,200 new homes.

If planning permission for housing could be obtained the land would be worth over £150 million.

One housebuilder owns 25 acres, with potential for 192 houses, on a site worth £39 million; another has 22 acres, with room for 285 homes, on a site worth £43 million.

Robin Bishop said the revelation that so much of the green belt land to the north of Arkley is effectively a land bank for housebuilders only serves to highlight the looming scandal over the likely approval of grey belt land for housing and other needs.

“There seems every likelihood that unlocking grey belt land for development will result in windfall profits for developers who have wilfully neglected land which they have been sitting on for years.

ITV News London to feature controversial plan for massive new housing estate in Arkley as part of report into political row over green belt land ahead of council elections.

Close to the pig farm site there has been unauthorised clearance of woodland in what had been declared a site of importance for nature conservation.

Hayley Winton said Arkley residents had been appalled when they saw a bulldozer hacking away at mature trees and levelling an acre of the woodland.

“Apparently the land has been sold as three plots for housing but there is no planning permission.

“We reported what happened to Barnet Council who say this is one of the worst cases they have ever seen of destruction of protected trees.

“We were told there will be consequences but how do you replace woodland like this which is in the green belt and was supposed to have special protection.”

Posted on 14 April 202614 April 2026 by Nick Jones

Concert at Monken Hadley parish church to support financial appeal for new community hall to replace original Church House

A six-year fund-raising campaign for a new community hall at Monken Hadley is not far short of its £1.3 million target with the hope it might be possible finally to start to demolish the existing unsafe Church House by the end of the year.

The latest event to help towards pushing the appeal over the line is An Evening of Song at Monken Hadley parish church on Monday 20 April at 7.30pm.

Event organiser Katie Morris and chair of fund-raising Elaine Padmore — see above, from left to right – are hoping that tickets sales and further donations will help get the appeal to within touching distance of being able to authorise a start to the work.

So far £980,000 has been raised through events, donations and grants towards providing a new community hub for Monken Hadley residents and local organisations.

The Evening of Song concert will feature countertenor Will Prior and pianist Matthew Clemmet.

Will Prior, who studied music at Magdalen College, Oxford, is currently finishing a master’s in vocal performance at the Royal College of Music.

As a concert soloist, he has recently performed locally with the UK Japan Choir in Bach’s St John Passion and Handel’s Messiah, as well as in Bach’s Mass in B Minor with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.

Matthew Clemmet is an Oxford music graduate who is currently pursuing his postgraduate studies at the Royal College of Music.

He specialises in song, opera, and chamber music and won the pianist prize in the RCM Lieder Competition and second prize in the Joan Chissell Schumann Competition.

Renovation of Church House was ruled out because of continuing subsidence, due to the lack of adequate foundations, which has rendered the building unsafe and had to be closed to the public.

The appeal to construct a new community building was launched six years with a highly successful Son et Lumiere and the fund has been built up with help of a contribution from the community infrastructure levy collected by the London Borough of Barnet.

The new community hall will include a main assembly room for events, a large kitchen, toilets, showers and changing facilities for the cricket club.

There will be full wheelchair access, and the garden will be renovated to create a safe enclosed space for events.

An Evening of Song concert at Monken Hadley parish church to raise money for the appeal for a new community hall

A caption to an early photograph in the church archives says that Church House, which dates to the 18^th century, was once the stables to Beacon House.

During the French revolution two French priests fled from France and were given refuge by the Rector, the Reverend John Burrows.

The building was then improved and used as a house, known as Hadley Cottage, home to a Miss Burrows, daughter of the Rector, and then Miss Bourier.

In 1910 it was converted for use as a parish hall and later a school room.

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Posted on 13 April 202617 April 2026 by Robin Bishop — 3 Comments

Government and developers set their sights on the Green Belt

View of Green Belt south of Potters Bar showing green fields, trees and hedges with M25 in background

This swathe of Green Belt (above) will be mostly built over if current plans are approved. And within Barnet, dozens of so-called ‘Grey Belt’ sites are being targetted for new homes (few of which are likely to be affordable). The Labour Council promises to create a Regional Park, which could prevent that. This should be an issue in our local election in May – but do voters know or care?

Between Potters Bar and Borehamwood, several enormous data centres have already been approved on land in the foreground of the photo above. Beyond the M25 will be a major expansion of Sky studios. For land off to the left of the photo, a planning application for 900 new homes has been refused by Hertsmere Council, but the developer has appealed against the decision.

Crews Hill & Chase Park new town

Between Barnet and Enfield, the government proposes a new town of 21,000 homes on Green Belt land. The plans are supported by Enfield Council and the Mayor of London but opposed by the Enfield Society and Enfield RoadWatch.

Government and developers set their sights on the Green Belt

The Barnet Society has objected to any loss of the green buffer that exists between Barnet and Enfield. It is vital to preserve the separate identities of settlements that would otherwise merge into amorphous suburbia, and a vital reservoir of biodiversity.

Just ahead of the local elections in May, groups and communities across the UK will be taking part in a UK-wide Day of Action for Nature, Parks and Green Spaces on Saturday 18 April. Its purpose is to demonstrate, visibly and collectively, that people everywhere care deeply about the natural world and want to see it protected and restored. Join the national day of action here.

Barnet’s Green Belt

The countryside on three sides of Chipping (or High) Barnet was saved in 1945 from housing development, largely by the efforts of the Barnet Society. In 1955 it was formally designated part of the London Metropolitan Green Belt. The map above shows how well it has survived – at least until now.

For decades developers have tried to build in it. So far, our Council has effectively prevented most new development. Exceptions have generally been restricted to replacement of obsolescent farm buildings.

Lately, however, we’ve seen an increase in speculative purchases of, and planning applications for, Green Belt land. Also notable has been unsightly and apparently deliberate neglect of existing buildings and landscape. The prospect of profiting from escalating land values and house prices beats the cost of maintaining or restoring property.

Expectations have been fuelled by the housing crisis, which has driven up mortgages and rents. And building costs have soared due to Brexit, Covid-19, wars in Ukraine and the Middle East and the higher safety standards introduced since the Grenfell Tower tragedy. Building on city brownfield sites has become less financially viable. No wonder the Green Belt, where building is cheaper, has become so appealing to developers and politicians.

And Labour politicians have opened the door to its development.

Grey Belt sites

In 2024, Sir Keir Starmer promised to release low-quality or neglected Green Belt land for housebuilding. In 2025, the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) was revised to allow housing development on Grey Belt sites subject to ‘Golden Rules’. And public consultation recently closed on further relaxations of the NPPF.

The consequence has been a flood of planning applications for allegedly Grey sites. In December 2025 CPRE, the countryside charity, reported new research revealing that the Grey Belt policy is enabling large-scale development on England’s unspoilt rural landscapes – not, as ministers promised, on unused car parks and derelict petrol stations.

Since December 2024, when the policy was introduced, 13 developments of 10 or more homes have been approved by government Planning Inspectors on Grey land in the Green Belt. The approvals have been granted over the heads of local councils. Of the 1,250 homes these schemes will deliver, 88% will be built on previously undeveloped countryside.

In Barnet, it’s becoming routine for prospective developers of Green Belt land to describe their sites as Grey. Although some sites are quite small, they’re dotted around and have a disproportionately harmful impact on the countryside. Most aren’t served by public transport and won’t be developed for affordable (let alone social) housing. A selection is illustrated below.

Barnet Regional Park

Barnet Labour Party’s local election leaflet contains this pledge:

“We will… create a ‘Regional Park’ in the green belt.”

It would be centred on the astonishingly intact and peaceful fields and woods between Arkley and Mill Hill (below).

The concept is already embedded in Barnet’s Local Plan (adopted by the Council last year) where Policy GSS13 states,

“The Council supports the creation of a new Regional Park within designated Green Belt or Metropolitan Open Land in the Brent Valley and Barnet Plateau Green Grid Area…”

Inspired in part by the success of the Lea Valley Regional Park, interventions would include “the enhancement of footpath, cycling and bridleway networks; improved green corridors and nature conservation areas [and] a network of new strategic recreational destinations.”

The map below (from the Council’s 2019 Growth Strategy) shows its intended configuration.

Most importantly – since the Regional Park contains several of the Grey sites illustrated above – designation should provide stronger protection from inappropriate development. It would bring better public awareness and funding to ensure high design standards and long-term management of the area.

An imaginative suggestion from Roger Chapman of Barnet Green Spaces Network is for a regional food and biodiversity park to encourage a wide range of food growing practices. Linked with primary, secondary and post-16 education institutions and forest schools, it would provide an inspiring setting for environmental education and pathways to vocational qualifications in horticulture, animal husbandry and other skills essential for future food security.

As Roger says, “The park would build upon Barnet’s extensive agricultural history and heritage, enabling old stories to be retold and new ones to be created.” That’s an idea worth voting for.

The need for proper planning

Debate about the Green Belt is hampered by the lack of any regional strategy. There has been no planning body for the South-East for decades. Responsibility for the Green Belt is split between dozens of Local Planning Authorities.

The Mayor of London launched a London-wide review of the Green Belt to identify Grey Belt land for housing to tackle London’s housing crisis, but it is limited to the Greater London area. It was expected to be completed by the end of 2025 but is still awaited.

As a consequence every planning application in the Green (or Grey) Belt, however minor, becomes a bitter battle between developers, planners and residents.

The creation of the Green Belt was made possible by the government’s adoption of Patrick Abercrombie’s Greater London Plan, which created a ring of new towns around London, outside the Green Belt, to absorb the demand for new housing and promote alternative centres of growth. If we had a vision as sensible and comprehensive as that for our society – and for the natural world with which we co-exist – surely most of us would accept development in the most sustainable (or least harmful) locations in exchange for guaranteed long-term protection of our most beautiful and biodiverse environments.

Crews Hill & Chase Park new town and Barnet Regional Park could be examples of such an approach. As yet details of both projects are far too hazy for a final public decision. But each could transform substantial sectors of their borough. Whether to proceed with project planning, feasibility studies and technical investigations ought to be a matter of great public interest. This coming election is an opportunity to test the popularity of both projects.

Posted on 11 March 202611 March 2026 by Nick Jones — 4 Comments

Save Chipping Barnet Woodland campaigners delighted by planning refusal for new house in a protected wood close to Hadley Green

An application to build a six-bedroom house in a protected wood between Sunset View and Hadley Green has been rejected by Barnet Council on the grounds it would cause unacceptable harm to a woodland habitat.

Nearby residents mounted a highly publicised campaign to save what they argued was a significant wildlife corridor between the Green and Old Fold Manor golf course.

Over 2,000 people signed a petition against the application and there were multiple objections to the planning department.

Expressing delight at the result, Marianne Nix, one of the lead objectors, said their campaign to save the woodland would now refocus on efforts to ensure it is included in the Barnet Parks and Open Space strategy.

In rejecting the application by Christchurchgrove Ltd, the council says building a house on a one-acre site in the woodland would damage the character and appearance of the Monken Hadley Conservation Area.

When the developers held a public consultation last year to unveil their plans for the proposed house – see above – Stuart Lees, of Alan Cox Architects, told residents steps would be taken to safeguard mature trees on the site, most of which are already covered by tree protection orders.

There would be other measures to enhance the biodiversity of the woodland and as the new house would be surrounded by trees, it would be hardly visible, which had been one of the aims in the design.

Planning permission was refused because the council considered it would result in the unjustified loss and deterioration of protected woodland and to a significant number of trees within a woodland tree protection order.

This would cause “unacceptable harm to the woodland habitat and to the character and appearance of the Monken Hadley Conservation Area.”

Site clearance and loss of vegetation would “irrevocably and harmfully” alter the woodland character, and the siting and size of the new house would appear to be “out of character and appearance” of the conservation area and general locality.

Christchurchgrove Ltd had failed to demonstrate that construction, access and essential services could be delivered in accordance with recognised industry guidance, including standards relating to underground service installation near trees.

“The development would further create substantial post development pressures for the removal and degradation of trees, deadwood, and ground flora, leading to the incremental erosion of the woodland’s ecological and landscape value.”

Application for house in wood close to Hadley Green has been rejected by Barnet Council because it would unacceptable harm to a woodland habitat. — Screenshot

If the new house had been approved the objectors feared that badgers, bats, mistle thrush and other protected species would be in danger of losing their habitat.

Marianne Nix, who lives next to the woodland, installed a trail camera in her garden when she moved to High Barnet three years ago.

As well as recording hedgehogs scuttling about, there have been shots of badgers – including the picture above, captured on her video camera last New Year’s Eve when fireworks were exploding near the woodland.

So far two of the veteran trees on the site have been verified by the Ancient Tree Register – which supplied the screen shot of Sunset View and the woodland.

Robin Bishop, Planning & Environment Lead for the Barnet Society, commented, “Although we’d worked with the developer and secured some important improvements, scrutiny of the submitted documents left us with many concerns. Ours was one of 279 objections lodged against the application, an impressive number for such an inconspicuous site.

“It’s timely that the Council’s refusal came a day after the Mayor of London published London’s Local Nature Recovery Strategy. Although the spinney isn’t on the LNRS Local Habitat Map, it adjoins Old Fold Manor Golf Course, which is. The LNRS and Barnet Couuncil’s refusal are milestones in growing public awareness of the inportance of nature in cities.”

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