Latest News:

On 21st March 2022 the Mayor of London's office wrote to Barnet Council to say that the application does not comply with the London Plan so should be refused. At some point, after the May 2022 local elections, Barnet Council should decide at a meeting of the Planning Committee whether to approve or refuse the application.

Barnet Council's official consultation has ended 😢

For info, here are the comments submitted, and you can see all the information in the planning application

The original application, for 1,200 or 1,350 units, was approved at appeal by the (then) Secretary of State for Housing - Robert Jenrick back in January 2020 before he was sacked. This overruled the democratic process whereby residents, local councillors, our MP, Barnet Council, and the GLA worked together to reject the proposals unanimously. And because the appeal succeeded, that's the developers' fall-back position, they can build that development of 1,350 units anyway.
This new application is to increase the size of the development by 80% to 2,431 units. The only grounds for objection are about this proposed increase of over a thousand units, and the increase in height of several tower blocks by three additional storeys.

Update on Sat 02-Apr-2022:

Another new planning application (22/1579/S73) was published on the Council's website on Fri 25-Mar-2022 but the description seemed to be a careless copy-and-paste from previous versions. So we sought clarification, and on Sat 02-Apr-2022 Andrew Dillon (Barnet Council's planning officer dealing with this application) wrote to Cllr Lisa Rutter to say:

"My understanding is that the new application 22/1579/S73, is to split off the school from the remainder of the development, incorporating the changes to the design and layout of the school which are required by the DOE and separating out the conditions of the residential scheme so that they don’t prevent the commencement of the school.

I haven’t had the chance to go through this new application in any detail so can’t confirm in relation to the amendments to the access but will email you again once I have had the opportunity to do so. Due to the nature of the application, the proposal would need to be reported to a future planning committee meeting regardless of whether objections are received.

In relation to the main original application, we have only just received the Stage 1 report from the mayor's office (see below). Procedurally we needed to have received this correspondence before the application could have been reported to the Strategic Planning Committee Meeting. There are no more committee meetings in this electoral cycle so the earliest it could be reported would be in June/ July, although my preference would be for the stand alone school application to be reported first which would mean that the main application would be reported to a later committee meeting, probably in the early autumn."

Update on Sun 25-Sep-2022:

The request to separate building the new school from the rest of the consented plans was unanimously approved at the planning committee meeting on 12th July 2022.

The gates on Brunswick Park Road have been closed and work is starting on clearing that section of the site.

Traffic can only go through the Oakleigh Road South entrance, so residents are seeing increased traffic and parking in Brunswick Avenue and other roads.

Update on Mon 10-Oct-2022:

Work has now started on the new school, which was separated out from the rest of the plans to become "phase zero".
The current planning application for the higher density development of 2,428 flats is here:

https://publicaccess.barnet.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=QXMTGZJI09100

We still have no news about what the Council's recommendation will be, or when their recommendation will be debated at a Planning Committee meeting.

Update on Tue 22-Oct-2022

Here's the "Transport Assessment Addendum" 400 pages of gobbledegook added to the Council's planning portal on 21st October 2022, which has triggered an additional consultation period on the Council's planning portal:

Please add your comments before the deadline of 11th November 2022 at:

https://publicaccess.barnet.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=makeComment&keyVal=QXMTGZJI09100

Update on Fri 04-Nov-2022

We've just discovered a further 59 documents on the Council's planning portal today. There is a covering letter which you can read here. Strangely, it's dated 3rd August, even though it's timestamped in the document repository at 3/11/22 - we don't know what's been going on behind the scenes for the three months since it was received by the Council.

Please add your comments before the deadline of 11th November 2022 on the Council's planning portal:

https://publicaccess.barnet.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=makeComment&keyVal=QXMTGZJI09100

Update on Sun 13-Nov-2022

Welcome to all the new visitors!

I've been trying to drum up more support for our campaign, and today sent a bulletin to the mailing list encouraging people to spread the word, and asking for anyone with bat sightings to get in touch.

You can read the bulletin here and the archive of recent bulletins here

If you haven't already, please join our Facebook group here

Thanks for your interest!

Rob White

PLANS REJECTED

At the Strategic Planning Committee meeting on Thursday  15th December 2022
Barnet Council voted unanimously to reject Comers' proposal to double the size of the development

Here's local democracy reporter Simon Allin's report on the procedings, in the Barnet Post newspaper:
https://barnetpost.co.uk/council-set-to-reject-plan-for-thousands-of-new-homes-at-business-park

Developer Comer Homes already has permission to build 1,350 homes at New Brunswick site
but now wants to raise this to 2,400

A developer has failed to win permission for a huge expansion of a housing scheme in a low-rise Barnet suburb.

Comer Homes Group’s plans to build more than 2,400 homes at North London Business Park in Brunswick Park – where it already has permission to build 1,350 homes – were strongly condemned by members of the council’s strategic planning committee during a meeting on Thursday.

Although the committee did not formally refuse the scheme, councillors instructed officers to draw up detailed reasons for refusal that will be voted on at the next meeting.

Local residents have been battling plans to build on the 16.5-hectare business park, which was previously occupied by Barnet Council, for several years. The council refused permission for Comer Homes’ 1,350-home scheme in 2017, but the decision was overturned by then-housing secretary Robert Jenrick in 2020.

After winning permission from the secretary of state, Comer unveiled plans to build a much larger scheme of 2,428 homes in blocks up to 13 storeys at the site, which is largely surrounded by two-storey suburban homes. More than 770 residents wrote to the council to oppose the scheme over a range of issues including impacts on suburban character, environment, and local infrastructure such as roads, schools and healthcare.

Despite the strength of opposition, town hall planning chiefs recommended the development for approval. In a report to the committee, council officers said it was “acceptable on balance” after taking into account local and national planning policies. Key benefits of the larger scheme, they said, included an increase in affordable housing from 10% to 21% and the provision of a new health centre.

Opposition to the development came from across the political spectrum during Thursday’s committee meeting, with local Labour councillors and Conservative MP for Chipping Barnet Theresa Villiers attacking the plans.

David Farbey, who lives in Weirdale Avenue and stood as a Green Party candidate in May’s local elections, spoke against the scheme on behalf of local residents. He told the committee the proposed increase in homes was like “creating an entire new town” in Brunswick Park “but with none of the amenities, or the services, or the infrastructure that a new town really needs”.

Warning local schools and health services were already under “severe strain”, David said the proposed health centre would merely replace existing facilities. He branded the plans for public transport – including one more bus per hour on the 382 route – “wholly inadequate”.

Similar concerns were raised by Labour's Brunswick Park councillors Paul Lemon, Tony Vourou and Giulia Monasterio, who all spoke against the plans. Cllr Monasterio said councillors recognised there was a housing shortage but added “this does not mean developers can use this as an excuse to take advantage by introducing schemes that completely disregard the views of residents, councillors and the mayor [of London]”.

Theresa Villiers said buildings up to 13 storeys would be “wholly out-of-keeping with the character of an area largely consisting of one and two-storey homes”.

The Conservative MP said the scheme would contravene several “established local planning policies”, pointing out that the business park was not identified as an area suitable for tall buildings and claiming officers were wrong to “disregard” the borough’s emerging Local Plan, which allocates the site a capacity of 1,350 homes.

During the public consultation period, the council received 102 letters of support for the development. Reverend Matthew Harbage, vicar of St Paul’s Church in New Southgate, spoke in favour of the plans on behalf of a group of local churches.

Rev Harbage welcomed plans for the new health centre and space for faith groups within the proposed development. He said: “Given the existing planning permission for flats, we want to see this new planning application as an opportunity for the area. We want to increase health and wellbeing provision for new and existing residents. We believe healthcare is best understood holistically - body, mind and spirit.”

Speaking on behalf of the applicant, planning agent Charles Mills claimed an impact assessment had shown “no real difference would be perceived or experienced in height terms” compared to the existing plans. He said the new proposals were “more sustainable” and would provide open parkland, sports facilities, office space and the new health centre.

Stephen Finch, trustee of charity Community Wholecare Centres, said there was a “clear need” to relocate two GPs near the site and that the development would provide a “good opportunity to meet this need”. He added: “The Comer regeneration of the North London Business Park has the capacity to create a thriving community care hub, not just for the residents of the new scheme, but the area as a whole.”

Labour committee member Danny Rich asked if the developer was saying “you get your health centre if you give us permission to build two more floors on the tower blocks”. Stephen replied that the approved scheme had no health provision and poor communtiy provision, and if the committee turned the new application down “there won’t be an opportunity to provide either of the enhanced provisions”.

Members of the committee were highly critical of the developer’s plans. Conservative councillor Eva Greenspan said the proposed scheme would be out of character, an overdevelopment of the site and “absolutely too dense”. Labour’s Tim Roberts said he was concerned that approving taller buildings than the existing scheme could “open the gate to developers seeking to maximise their profits”.

Claire Farrier, another Labour committee member, said the proposed affordable housing level was “still below what we would expect” despite the increase from 10% to 21%, adding that she could see “no benefit at all” of increasing the height and bulk of the development.

Following the debate, committee members identified preliminary reasons for refusing the plans, focusing mainly on overdevelopment of the site and the potential impact on local character and views. They then voted unanimously against the planning officers’ recommendation to approve the development.

Recognising that the previous scheme had been approved by the secretary of state, who also told the council to pay costs to the developer, members agreed to allow officers time to prepare detailed reasons for refusal. The committee deferred the application to the next meeting of the committee, when members will vote on the reasons put forward by officers.

PLANS REJECTED

In December 2022 Barnet Council's Planning Committee refused permission for Comer Homes to double the size of their development. The Mayor of London has powers to over-rule the Council and make the decision himself. But the Mayor's planner has informed the Council that he will not intervene: 

PLANS REJECTED

Hello all,

Latest meeting of Barnet's Strategic Planning Committee

At its meeting on Wednesday 18th January 2023, Barnet's Strategic Planning Committee confirmed its earlier decision to reject the planning application from Comer Homes to expand the NLBP development.

You can read the formal reasons for the Committee's refusal at https://barnet.moderngov.co.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?MId=11154&x=1 under item 6, but in brief these include:

• the excessive height, scale and massing of the proposed buildings; 

• the development would be to the detriment of the character and appearance of the area;

• the proposal would not create a high quality development and not constitute a sustainable form of development;

• the plan would be contrary to a number of national, regional and local planning policies; and,

• the proposed development does not include the provision of affordable housing, community and healthcare floorspace, or affordable workspace.

What happens next

Due to the scale of the plan, the Council's decision needs to be notified to the Mayor of London who may choose to intervene. If the Mayor does so (a process known as "calling-in") the Mayor's office will need to consider all the objections already submitted to Barnet Council. 

If the Mayor decides not to intervene, the applicant may still choose to submit an appeal to the Secretary of State, and there would be a further planning inquiry.

In either of these cases - intervention by the Mayor of London, or an Appeal - we will let everyone know what steps we need to take in order to ensure that our voices are heard.

Meanwhile - the new building for St Andrew's School

Local resident Pete Headland has been in correspondence with the Headteacher of St Andrew's school. This is what the Headteacher has said this week:

"...the building project is managed by the DfE and its appointed contractors. There are a number of formalities still being worked through and once complete, site mobilisation is targeted for Spring 2023.   

We share communication with our school community via a weekly newsletter which is available on our website: St Andrew the Apostle.  Bowmer + Kirkland will also be appointing a communications lead and once site is mobilised, they will provide updates on the construction process and information to the local community regarding the construction schedule. 

We will endeavour to share as much information as we can, and I will be [in] contact when there is more that I can share with you. "

We all hope that the contractors working on the school project will do a better job of communicating with local residents than Comer Homes have done, and that the actual building of the school will be less disruptive - and less destructive - than the site preparation works so far.

As for how long the school building project might take, the DfE have asked to use the existing temporary school buildings for 2½ years: 

https://publicaccess.barnet.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=RODTY1JIG3G00 which would be until August 2025!

regards,

David Farbey

Stop NLBP Expansion Coordinator

Friday 20th January 2023

PLANNING APPEAL

In November 2023 Barnet Council informed us that Comers have lodged an appeal with the Government's Planning Inspectorate, to try to overturn the Council's refusal of their plans to almost double the size of the development from 1,350 to 2,419 unitsComer Homes have appealed to the Government's Planning Inspectorate against Barnet Council's refusal to grant planning permission for almost doubling the size of the development from 1,350 to 2,419 units [link to planning application 21/4433/OUT]

This appeal APP/N5090/W/23/3330577 will be heard and decided by a Planning Inspector appointed by the Government, not by Barnet Council, in a public hearing which is scheduled for 13th February 2024. The Inspector will see all the previously submitted objections to the planning application, and may hear submissions from interested parties.

Around mid-January 2024, the Council should confirm the date and location of the inquiry. At this point requests to speak at the inquiry may be permitted at the discretion of the Planning Inspectorate. Residents could group together and form a team to make representations to the Inspector, and this is possible under a mechanism known as "Rule 6".