Theresa Villiers, MP for Chipping Barnet, has welcomed the move last night by Enfield Council to postpone a decision on the planning application from Transport for London to build over the car park at Arnos Grove tube station.
Just an hour or so before the the Enfield planning committee was due to decide whether to give the Mayor permission to surround Charles Holden's iconic 1930s cylindrical ticket hall at Arnos Grove with blocks of flats, council officers decided the hearing should be postponed until early next year.
In a last ditch attempt to stop the Mayor's plans, Southgate Green Councillor, Daniel Anderson, and the Cockfosters and Local Area Residents Association raised serious concerns about the equalities impact of the loss of the car park. This appears to have caused the decision to postpone.
Theresa Villiers said "I have been campaigning to save the station car parks at High Barnet, Cockfosters and Arnos Grove. I very much welcome this reprieve for Arnos Grove. Building over station car parks makes life much more difficult for commuters and other residents who use the tube network. But the impact is particularly harsh on the frail elderly with mobility impairments and people with disabilities."
"I believe that the Mayor and TfL are wrong to be pursuing these plans to build over car parks. Station car parks in the London suburbs provide an important park-and-ride facility which is why I will continue to fight to save them. Shaun Bailey, the Conservative candidate for Mayor of London would block these proposals from Mayor Khan, if he wins the London election in May."
Arnos Grove station is outside Barnet but is used by Theresa's constituents living in the Brunswick Park area. She had therefore been preparing to address the virtual planning committee last night when the news came through of the postponement.
