Theresa Villiers, MP for Chipping Barnet has been campaigning against overdevelopment in North London Business Park for many years. After an application to build 1350 flats there was allowed by the Planning Inspectorate last year, Comer Homes have made a new application to increase the size of their proposed housing development to 2,428 units in tower blocks of up to 13 storeys.
This would amount to an 80% increase over and above the scheme for which they have been given permission.
Theresa Villiers said: "I am totally opposed to the attempt by Comer Homes to cram over a thousand extra flats into North London Business Park. Their earlier plan for 1350 units was bad enough but this is far worse.
"Blocks of between nine and thirteen storeys are wholly inappropriate for a suburban, low-rise neighbourhood like this one. Allowing them to be built would be a massive overdevelopment - even more so than the earlier scheme given permission in 2020. Working with ward councillors, Lisa Rutter and Roberto Weeden-Sanz, I will continue to fight against these new tower blocks and I am urging my constituents to send in objections."
"Please make sure you have your say, so we can protect our local community and stop Comer Homes from ruining Barnet!
If you oppose the plans for tower blocks of flats at the North London Business Park, please send your views to Barnet Council’s planning committee."
There are three ways in which members of the public can object to the plan for tower blocks in North London Business Park:
1. By filling in the forms online at https://publicaccess.barnet.gov.uk/online-applications/.
When you get to this page, enter the planning reference number 21/4433/OUT in the search box. This takes you to the NLBP application, which includes a comments tab.
2. By emailing [email protected]
Please put the reference 21/4433/OUT in the subject field and include your name and postal address in the text of the email.
3. By writing to Planning and Building Control, 2 Bristol Avenue, Colindale,NW9 4EW including the reference 21/4433/OUT as well as your name and postal address in your letter.
You may wish to refer to the following points on some of the strongest reasons in planning law why the development should be rejected:
- The additional height, bulk, massing and density is inconsistent with the predominantly open, low-rise, character of our area. It would severely damage the suburban character of the neighbourhood. Increasing the height of the buildings proposed to 12 or 13 storeys would have a visually intrusive impact over neighbouring roads and homes and mean a far denser population.
- Inadequate parking provision with the increase in units will lead to overspill parking in nearby residential streets. The increase in population would intensify traffic congestion on the junction of Brunswick Park Road, and put added pressure on local public services, including roads, schools and the already oversubscribed Brunswick Park Medical Practise.
- The proposed development would clearly violate the Barnet Local Plan, in particular Barnet Core Strategy CS5 - which forbids development of tall buildings anywhere besides specific pre-identified suitable locations. NLBP is not specified as an approved location for tall buildings so they should not be allowed there.
An application for a new school building has been linked with the residential development proposed by Comer Homes. Theresa Villiers supports plans for a new school building in NLBP for St Andrew the Apostle Greek Orthodox Secondary School. She believes that the school buildings should have been considered separately from the housing development. She has asked Comer Homes to split the applications but they have refused.
