We know that many residents will be disappointed with the decision of the Barnet Council Strategic Planning Committee to agree to the new scheme at the Victoria Quarter, also known as The Gasworks.
Councillor Phil Cohen read remarks on behalf of all three local East Barnet Labour councillors, including Cllr Simon Radford and Cllr Edith David, sharing their concerns about the application and these concerns reflect much local sentiment about the current scheme. Indeed, we have worked closely with the New Barnet Community Association (NBCA) team in assessing and opposing this proposal, just as we have worked alongside the NBCA in opposing previous, inadequate schemes, including speaking against the scheme at the Planning Inspector’s review of a previous application where NBCA won against the odds.
We owe a debt of gratitude to NBCA and local residents and want to thank everyone who was involved in the campaign, which has won real concessions from the developer from what might well have been the scheme without such a campaign. The number of units has been reduced from 692 to 420, and maximum heights have been reduced from 14 storey blocks to 8 storey blocks. The campaign also managed to raise the proportion of affordable homes to 35 per cent. All of these concessions are important achievements which would not have been possible without NBCA’s tireless work.
Your local councillors and the Council will continue to press the developer on those areas of concern for local residents.