Tag Archives: council

Keep Clitterhouse Green

As you may know, the proposed plans for Clitterhouse Playing Fields were unanimously approved by Barnet Council, despite 82% objections.

The application was then referred to the Secretary of State (SoS) because Sport England had objected. However, our MP did not want to get involved and the SoS did not call it in. An opportunity for some levelling-up in Cricklewood was lost.

Our Keep Clitterhouse Green campaign to protect the playing fields continues. 

We are now crowdfunding to determine whether the application can be taken to judicial review. We think there are strong grounds but it is not for us to say. Money raised will pay for solicitors and a barrister to prepare a legal opinion so we can assess best way forward. 

It would be great to have your support.  You can donate via GoFundMe.

More information at keepclitterhousegreen.com.

Community Skips

Barnet Council continues to provide a Community Skip Service to help residents get rid of large unwanted items.

This service is free to use and is available to all residents across the borough, but you will need to prove that you live in the neighbourhood.

You can find out when the next skip will be in the area by following the links here.

B&Q Site: Barnet is Opposing

From the NorthWestTWO website …

The inquiry into Montreaux’s planning application for the B&Q site (1049 residential units, up to 18 storeys) is coming in February 2023. On 8th November, Barnet’s Strategic Planning Committee met to decide how to approach it. Council officers began as if for an appeal and proposed, basically, that as the committee had voted to approve the application last year, the council should support it at the inquiry. Seems obvious, but ….

For NorthWestTWO, Ben argued that it’s an inquiry not an appeal; the council had never issued a decision that it now had to defend; the committee had never approved the officers’ flawed report or voted on the merits of the application; a then-leading councillor had told them it was very bad but they had to vote to approve it, otherwise the Mayor of London would impose something worse. Oh, we also revealed that the draft Local Plan, which supported the development, is in trouble.

For the Railway Terraces, Jessica expanded on that and on just how bad the development would be for the Terraces and all Cricklewood. Councillors Schneiderman and Clarke spoke strongly against it too.

The committee voted 1:6 against the officers proposal, i.e. against supporting the application.

It didn’t end there. Pretty soon the officers had worked out an alternative proposal and that was carried 6:1, with cross-party support. Barnet’s position at the inquiry will be, in part:
The proposed development and the parameters sought, by virtue of the excessive height, scale and massing would result in a discordant and visually obtrusive form of development that would demonstrably fail to respect the local context and its established pattern of development, to the detriment of the character and appearance of the area and the setting of the adjacent Railway Terraces Conservation Area.

We’re very pleased. We still want to join in at the inquiry, there’s even more than that to be said, but it won’t be the residents against Barnet and the developers. The council is now with us.

Spring has Arrived!

We have previously mentioned that a variety of spring bulbs have been planted in the green spaces on The Vale and on the roundabout in Pennine Drive.

Now is the time to enjoy them!

We’re also pleased to see that the Council have recently cleared autumn leaves and cleaned gutters around the estate. Some new trees have also been planted.

Donoghue and the NLWP

Our efforts to relocate Donoghue continue.

GGERA represented the community at the NLWP Examination Hearings on Wednesday 20th November and Thursday 21st November.

As explained on the NLWP web site, the North London Waste Plan (NLWP) sets out the planning framework for waste management in the North London Boroughs for the next 15 years. It will identify sites for waste management use and set out policies for determining waste planning applications. It has the potential to affect us all in this area if – as planned – Donoghue’s site is included as a safeguarded waste site.

We made representations to the NLWP draft consultation that took place earlier this year. An inspector was appointed to conduct the examination to determine if the plan is sound. We believe it is not because:

  • No one who is directly affected by Donoghue’s was engaged in the process or was consulted during the consultation.
  • Donoghue’s site is considered an existing protected waste site; however, it is in the wrong location because it is surrounded by residential, community and educational facilities. Additionally Donoghue’s business operations have outgrown its site.
  • Handley Grove and the youth homeless shelter residents that immediately neighbour Donoghue have been living in agony for years and their health and well-being have been affected. They and other many people affected by Donoghue cannot wait until 2026 or later for its relocation!
  • The site is not operated sustainably, generating too many unnecessary lorry journeys and polluting the air we breathe.
  • Our local council has spent too much taxpayer’s money to bring this business into compliance and to repair the damage caused by its heavy fleet on our roads, while our children’s schools and public services are suffering drastic cuts.
  • We would like to have the site’s safeguarded status removed and Barnet to commit to its relocation in collaboration with the North London Waste Authority as an urgent matter.

Golders Green Ward Survey

The below link gives you access to the Golders Green Ward Survey for October 2018, so you can tell the Ward Panel, the police and the local council what the issues in your area are.

http://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/GGRsurveyOCT2018/

Let us know so the Ward Panel members in collaboration with us and Barnet Council can try to solve the problems and make Golders Green a safer place to live