Hasmonean School Plan approved - despite Officers recommendation to refuse

Last night the Barnet Council planning committee voted by 6-5 to approve Hasmonean School's plans for expansion. As mentioned before, these plans will take 15 acres of publically accessible Green Belt land.

One of the Green Belt fields that will be redeveloped

The breakdown of councillors who voted were:

In favour of the Hasmonean Scheme - Conservatives Melvin Cohen, Mark Shooter, Eva Greenspan, and Mill Hill resident Cllr Maureen Braun. Labour's Devra Kay and Agnes Slocombe.

Against the scheme - Conservatives Stephen Sowerby and Wendy Prentice. Labour's Laurie Williams, Jim Tierney and Claire Farrier. 

Melvin Cohen and Mark Shooter declared a non-pecuniary interest in being Hasmonean old boys, Eva Greenspan declared a non-pecuniary interest in being a former governor of the school.

It is clear that Hasmonean's current premises in Holders Hill Road for the boys school is now cramped and no longer suitable but I hoped that there would have been a refusal of the proposed scheme last night and that we as a community would have worked on a compromise that could have given Hasmonean the space they needed while protecting our Green belt. Unfortunately there are other school schemes waiting in the wings who will welcome this vote and I believe the decision made last night has now set a dangerous precedence for those of us who value our open land.

Hasmonean aren't home and dry yet either. The scheme will now be reviewed by the Mayor of London and there is the possibility of a judicial review. 

In the longer term, if the scheme goes ahead as planned, how do we mitigate the impact on local residents as parents drop off and pick up their children, and are the proposed cycling routes safe and fit for purpose? I think we should look at banning parent drop off and pick ups and get the children there by bus if appropriate? JFS in Kingsbury operate a comprehensive bus service across much of North London. Perhaps something similar could be set up for the Hasmonean children who travel from out of Mill Hill to attend the school.


The next item related to Barratt's proposals for the former NIMR site on the Ridgeway. The committee as a whole expressed grave reservations about the proposed designs of the flats and houses on the site. No councillor voted to approve the proposals, 8 voted against them and 2 abstained.


As part of their Section 106 obligations Barratt offered to pay "up to" £300,000 towards the cost of step free access at Mill Hill East station. I would suggest they should pay a hell of a lot more than that. This is a significant site in Mill Hill and no doubt Barratt will turn a tidy profit on this development.


The Labour committee members each raised the usual Barnet developer's fudge on affordable housing. Remember, Barnet Council are obliged to allow 40% affordable housing in schemes. More often than not, the obligation is either shifted to Colindale or fudged. When these points were raised by Cllr Jim Tierney, Cllr Melvin Cohen in the Chair lost his temper and told Cllr Tierney to "shut up". Cllr Cohen continued with this childish and petulant behaviour right to the end of the item.


By the end of this item, I had enough and retired to the Greyhound for a well needed pint.


Meanwhile, Cllr Devra Kay, who had earlier voted to take away Green Belt land in Mill Hill, and without any sense of irony, tweeted the following:


"Tories at Barnet Planning Mtg condemn oldest building in Finchley in favour of flats with "modern feel" overdevt out of character no parking"

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Hasmonean School Plans - Planning Officers recommend a refusal

Barnet Council Planning Officers recommend a refusal of Hasmonean School's plan to build a new combined school and sports facilities on Green Belt land in Copthall Open Space.

The prime reason for the recommendation to refuse planning permission is to protect the integrity of Copthall's Green Belt space. Originally Hasmonean School proposed to take 15 acres of public open land on which to build a combined school and sports facilities. The land would have been closed off to the public and surrounded by a security fence.

The planning committee are due to meet on February 22nd. The final decision will be taken by a majority of councillors on the committee. Let's hope they follow the planning Officer's recommendation.

Here is the text of the refusal:

1. The proposed development, by reason of its location and its excessive

footprint , represents inappropriate development within the Green Belt which

would cause substantial harm to the fundamental intention and purposes of

including land in the Green Belt and the applicant has failed to demonstrate

very special circumstances necessary to warrant an exception to the National

Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) (paragraphs 88-90), Policy 7.16 of the

London Plan (2016), Policy CS7 of Barnet’s Core Strategy and Policy DM15

of the Barnet Development Management Policies Document.

2. The proposal would result in the loss of a significant area of public open

space without replacement, to the detriment of the amenities of users of this

space along with neighbouring occupiers contrary to the provisions of Policy

7.18 of the London Plan (2016) and Policy CS7 of Barnet’s Core Strategy .

3. The proposed development would result in the permanent net loss of the

Copthall South Fields Site of Local Importance for Nature Conservation

(SLINC) involving the loss of 1.2 hectares of woodland and 3.0 hectares of

grassland resulting in potential negative impacts to wildlife species. The

proposal would therefore be contrary to the aims of the National Planning

Policy Framework (NPPF) in aiming to achieve sustainable development and

the obligations on public bodies to conserve and enhance biodiversity. The

proposal would also be contrary to policies 7.19 of the London Plan 2016 and

policies CS7 of Barnet’s Core Strategy and Policy DM16 of Barnet’s

Development Management Policies.

4. The proposed development would result in the direct loss of a substantial

numbers of trees of significant amenity value protected by a Tree Preservation

Order. The loss of these trees would result in a severe and demonstrable

impact upon the character and appearance of this part of the Green Belt and

would be severely detrimental to the visual amenities of the area. The

proposal is therefore considered contrary to the provisions of the NPPF,

Policy 7.21 of the London Plan and policies CS7 of Barnet’s Core Strategy

and Policy DM15 of Barnet’s Development Management Policies.

5. The application does not include a formal undertaking to secure the planning

obligations which are necessary for the development to be found acceptable.

The application is contrary to London Plan Policies 5.1, 5.2, 6.2, 6.3, 6.9, and

8.2, Policies DM15, DM17, CS7, CS9, CS13 of the Barnet Local Plan Core

Strategy and Development Management Policies Document (adopted

September 2012), the Barnet Planning Obligations (adopted April 2013).

The full report can be read here: http://barnet.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s38084/Hasmoneon.pdf

Daws Lane Zebra Crossing work finally underway

Traffic on Daws Lane continues to get worse. I walk down Daws Lane every weekday morning on my way to work and I can see for myself how busy the road is. It's also incredibly dangerous for parents and children of Etz Chaim school trying to cross over the road. There have been white Belisha Beacon Refuge crossing points for many years on the road but these crosssings don't offer the same level of protection for the pedestrian as a Zebra Crossing.

Clare Lister Zinkin, who is a parent at Etz Chaim as well as their librarian, has been spearheading the campaign to get a Zebra crossing on Daws Lane. John Gillett of the Mill Hill Neighbourhood Forum and I through the Mill Hill Residents Association have also been lobbying Barnet Council on this matter. Thankfully it seems our work has finally paid off. 

Clare spotted this scene on Monday afternoon on Daws Lane. At last workmen acting for Barnet Council have started to construct the long awaited Zebra Crossing. All that is now needed is for proper School markings to be placed outside the school...