Barnet (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Barnet opposition leader Peter Zinkin welcomes the council’s decision to pause plans for developing an East Finchley green space and car park.
Although it was taken out of the council’s local plan after a planning inspector declared that its inclusion was “not justified and should be deleted,” Places for Barnet, a collaboration between the council and developers London Placemaking, had previously revealed plans to build ten homes on the site in Manor Park Road.
A group of locals including The Finchley Society protested the project.
Barnet Post can now disclose that the plans have been put on hold in response to a Freedom of Information request.
As part of her response to a series of questions about the scheme raised by Conservative opposition leader, Peter Zinkin, the council’s executive director of growth, Naisha Polaine, said:
“Places for Barnet project team have decided to take time to re-consider the proposals. As such, a planning submission is no longer imminent.”
She added:
“Consultation on future proposals will allow for residents to be involved before any final decisions are made.”
Naisha shared the council’s answers to a number of queries posed by Manor Park Road locals who had contacted housing cabinet member Ross Houston for a response in her reply to Cllr Zinkin.
The choice of Kuropatwa Group, which is now London Placemaking, as the council’s partner in the creation of Places for Barnet had sparked a number of complaints from the locals.
The council acknowledged that “given the recent company name change to London Placemaking the council will be re-running its due diligence checks” on the business in response to inquiries regarding due diligence.
The council acknowledged that it no longer had this information when asked why Kuropatwa Group was selected as a partner above other bidders after discussions in 2022.
The council explained:
“The post holders however, involved in the assessment have both left the council and we unfortunately no longer have access to these files.”
There is no suggestion that the council’s failure to meet expected standards in its processes are any reflection on London Placemaking or its suitability as a partner.
What reasons did the council give for pausing the East Finchley plans?
Barnet Council broke the East Finchley Manor Park Road development plans primarily due to enterprises over the opaque cooperation process with Places for Barnet, egging a need for further review and discussion. Opposition leader Dan Zinkin stressed questions about how the council named mates and advanced the scheme despite a 2023 planning inspector’s ruling thinking the point” not developable” over parking dearths, overdevelopment, and green space loss.
Resident expostulations concentrated on losing a 1970s- designated auto demesne and scarce open space in a low- amenity area, with The Finchley Society and locals like James Masters noting the inspector’s omission of the point from the Original Plan.
The council had argued non-allocation allowed proffers under casing programs, backed by parking checks showing spare capacity, but broke amid this scrutiny.