Barnet Council is working on a town planning scheme which may see the redevelopment of large parts of the North Finchley High Road. Consultants commissioned by the Council have prepared a Supplementary Planning Document (SPD), the “North Finchley Town Centre Area Framework SPD” which, if approved by the Council, will form the framework for approving planning applications in the area it covers.
The SPD area runs from Waitrose and Homebase in the south to just near Kwik-Fit in the north; as well as properties fronting the High Road and Ballards Lane it includes various Council car parks. An application complying with the planning policies in the SPD has more chance of speedy approval.
The Council’s Policy and Resources Committee approved the project in December 2016. A draft SPD is to be considered by the Committee at its meeting on 10 October (so by the time you read this it is likely to have been approved). If approved the draft will go to public consultation and will then be revised in the light of comments received. A revised draft will go back to the Committee, probably in February 2018, and if approved it will become part of the Council’s official planning policies.
The current draft SPD can be viewed on the Council’s website here
A background report put before the Policy and Resources Committee last December drew on a proposal submitted to the Council by Joseph & Partners, an urban regeneration specialist. The concept put to the Council by Joseph & Partners involved creating “a context for change, involving comprehensive regeneration” and “intensifying” the periphery of the town centre to provide additional housing. The concept seems to be fewer shops and more residential property. Joseph & Partners met the Council’s costs of preparing the draft SPD. According to a Council report “The Developer [Joseph & Partners] has agreed to fund the preparation of the SPD as it intends to bring forward proposals for the comprehensive regeneration of North Finchley Town Centre through the redevelopment of a number of sites as well as public realm (streets, pavements, etc). “ As well as approving the SPD project , the December 2016 Committee meeting also approved basic outline terms for, and subsequent negotiation of, a “Preliminary Agreement” between the Council and Joseph & Partners , for “the proposed redevelopment of North Finchley High Road“.
Joseph & Partners are a recurring element in the development of the SPD. The draft SPD contains much that many will agree with. It is a long document, nearly 70 pages in length – too long to summarise here. Please see the document on the Council website when the consultation draft is published, form your own view and tell the Council in the consultation process.
However, there are two specific issues that we believe need highlighting at this stage. First, the draft SPD proposes re-configuring the North Finchley road network, with Ballards Lane northbound through traffic re-routed to Kingsway and then to the High Road, which would be converted to 2-way operation (where now south-bound only, near the Tally-Ho and the Arts Depot). This would enable the Ballards Lane section of road to be made more pedestrian friendly and vehicles using it restricted to buses and local traffic. The bus station would be closed. Buses would be moved to stands on the street (it is not suggested where). The SPD states that in comparison to Whetstone, East Finchley and Finchley Church End, North Finchley appears to be “offering considerably greater road space to traffic” so that road space could be “reallocated” from use by traffic to footway widening, narrower road crossings, street planting, bus waiting and cycle lanes.
These highway proposals are a key element of the SPD, but no traffic study has been carried out. The plans to effectively close part of Ballards Lane and convert the High Road to 2-way operation may be unworkable. Also, there is a lack of detail on proposed locations for bus stands, cycle lanes and the like. Whilst the draft SPD is strong on “vision” (the term occurs frequently in the document) it lacks detail on the highway proposals and how their delivery would be guaranteed. To be fair to the SPD’s authors, the document recognises that a detailed technical study of traffic flows, junction operation and the like will be required, but surely such a study should be carried out before the SPD becomes planning policy, and not afterwards? What if the study shows the proposals would cause traffic chaos and are unworkable – where does that leave the other SPD policies?
The second issue concerns the adequacy of the public consultation. The Council say the consultation will comply with Government requirements (so that’s all right then!) and will include the draft SPD being available on-line, a press notice, display boards in North Finchley and drop-in events over a weekend. However, what is missing is a leaflet delivery to local residents advising them of the consultation. This is important as, without it, there is no guarantee residents will be aware of the consultation. If they don’t know about it they can’t comment. A notice-board outside Sainsbury’s (for example), at one end of the High Road may not be seen by shoppers at Aldi, at the other, and these days the local press is not as widely distributed, whilst many people have better things to do than monitor council websites for items that might concern them. Although, at a later stage, local residents may receive notice of individual planning applications, by then it may be too late.
To illustrate the point, take the following scenario – Suppose, for example, the SPD included a policy that all the car parks in North Finchley would be built on (don’t worry, it doesn’t – not all of them). A developer applies for planning permission to build on the car parks. The application complies with the relevant policies, including those in the SPD.
The Council writes to neighbours, who were mostly unaware of the SPD as they were unaware of the consultation, but, although they object to the planning application, their objections count for nothing as the application complies with the planning policies. The planning department’s advice to the councillors who consider the application is that whilst they might courageously take heed of the residents’ objections, and refuse the application, the developer could appeal against the refusal with every chance of success, because the application complies with the relevant planning policies.
Thus, inadequate consultation in relation to the SPD may deny local residents an effective voice in shaping the future of their community as the real decisions were made when the SPD was adopted, not when the planning application was considered.
David Thompson, Friern Barnet & Whetstone Residents’ Association
FBWRA and The Finchley Society are co-operating in relation to the SPD proposals and will hold a joint meeting on 23 November at Trinity Church Hall.