Colindale - Are local residents getting a fair deal in meeting Barnet's growth targets?

23 July 2019 - See Update Below Marked in Red
The population of Colindale is forecast to hit 43,050 by 2030 and will be the most densely populated area in Barnet. I use that as a starting point to allow people to understand a bit more about why some residents feel concerned about the level of development and whether all the pressure for growth is falling on just a couple of wards.

Back in 2001 the population in Colindale was 13,860 with a mix of different property types. It has been highlighted as a growth area by Barnet Council and over time there has been massive redevelopment including on the former Hendon Aerodrome, Hendon Police College (the Peel Centre), the British Newspaper Library and Colindale Hospital. I have been through Colindale a number of times recently and what struck me is how cold and clinical an area it has become with so many blocks of flats. Some are social housing but a great deal are private flats.
Many roads are now private land, with Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras to watch your movements and there seems to be nowhere to park unless you pay.




There are various different sets of figures but according to those published by Barnet in their Ward Atlas data set, by 2018, the population of  Colindale has risen to 26,500. However, there is a lot more development on the cards, including a major development at local underground station. This will cause significant disruption to some of the long term residents.
What you have at this location is a some traditional low rise properties overshadowed by towering blocks. The proposed development would include a series of tower blocks. In the original scheme one of the towers was identified as being no more than 16 storeys high but after a review of the scheme the maximum height has been extended to 28 storeys. These houses in the picture look like they will be consumed in the new development and this is set out in the Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) where it states:
"Potential replacement of properties at Nos. 167 to 173 Colindale Avenue and Agar House, Colindale Avenue, with new mixed-use development with commercial at ground floor and residential above, set back from the current boundary-line to allow for pavement widening".
You can read about the proposals here. The new scheme  will comprise the following:

• Site A – Replacement of existing tube station with commercial use at ground floor and residential above. The building could be between 20 and 28 storeys in height.
• Site B – New station to be positioned over the rail-tracks with integrated station plaza with potential for over-station development.
• Site C – New widened public realm set-back to allow for commercial properties at ground floor with residential above. The new structure could be between 16 and 20 storeys in height.
• Site D – New widened public realm set-back to allow for commercial properties at ground floor with residential above. The new structure to be no more than 8 storeys in height.

The rationale for these high towers is so they can provide "wayfinding" to the tube station.
As it says in the SPD:
"Figure 6 presents an option of maximum height which also incorporates smaller footprints and breaks between structures to incorporate open space. This option clearly marks the station site as the heart of Colindale and could provide wayfinding guidance to pedestrians and commuters. It is evident in Figure 7 that the Townscape is expressed in height through the pinnacle of the station site. The slender tall elements are working better in providing legibility in long views, marking the station and providing a true epicentre for Colindale expressed through height".

The visualisation of these towers shows the bulk of all the properties being built immediately around the tube station but also how much these towers will overshadow other properties. No mention of how this will affect the lives of local people; no mention of the disruption. Perhaps if the people writing this waffle lived in the local area they might have a different perspective.

At some point someone has to say, "Is this fair to local residents?" and I think that point has been reached.

It is important to understand a bit more about the local area.
There is a large source of data about Colindale which highlights some interesting factors as follows:

• In 2015 only 2.2% of the properties were in the F,G or H Council tax bands compared to 27% as the average for the borough of Barnet;
• 60% of properties at the 2011 Census were flats. That is likely to have increased significantly as most of the new development is flats. This compares to 42.9% as the average for Barnet;
• Median Household Income (2012/13) was £30,170 compared to £54,530 as the average for Barnet;
• Second highest ward for dependent children in out of work households (2014) at 18.9% compared to 10.6% for the borough as a whole with only Burnt Oak having a slightly higher level at 19.1%;
• It has the lowest level of owner occupied properties at 36.3% (2011) compared to 57.6% for the borough.

Indeed, Barnet's own analysis of Colindale's population suggests it is over represented by young people renting in high density social housing. You can read the ward profile here.

The big risk is that many of these new developments will be sold to buy to let landlords creating a transitory community with no long term commitment to the area. At the 2018 election Colindale had the lowest turnout of any ward in Barnet at only 31.4%. Compare that with the turnout in High Barnet Ward at 55% and 48.1% in Hampstead Garden Suburb and there is a real concern that a lack of electoral engagement means Colindale is an easy target for these large developments.

I wonder if residents of Totteridge or Mill Hill or High Barnet would settle for this type of development on their doorstep, including pulling down their homes "to allow pavement widening". 

So the big challenge facing Colindale now is the additional housing growth and how it impacts on the existing residents.  I am not saying that we don't need more properties in the borough, especially affordable property, but the issue is do we put them all in a couple of wards, namely Colindale and  Golders Green, which incorporates the new Brent Cross development. I looked at the the forecast housing densities across the borough and what becomes apparent is that wards like Colindale will have much more pressure placed on them while wards like Totteridge, Mill Hill and High Barnet will be preserved at the current low densities. Set out below is an analysis of the change in housing densities by ward between 2001 and 2028. (Source: Barnet Ward Atlas)

Ultimately this is about whether the residents of Colindale are getting a fair deal from Barnet Council. I am sure we need a wider conversation about where new homes are built to ensure that Colindale does not become the default option when yet more new flats are proposed.

Update 23 July 2019

Tomorrow evening this scheme comes to planning committee. Reading the officer's report  which you can see here it makes you wonder how they can have recommended approval  - subject to the mayor's call in. TFL have combined two different schemes into what they call a hybrid planning application. Part of the application is for detailed planning permission for the station development and the other part is an outline planning application for the massive adjoining development which includes 313 flats and 860sqm of commercial development. I am sure most people are supportive of the station redevelopment which will create step free access and enlarge the platforms. However the residential and commercial development seems excessive with one of the buildings a 29 storey tower block. Reading the report is shocking especially Thames Water's response where they said "Following initial investigations, Thames Water has identified an inability of the existing foul water network infrastructure to accommodate the needs of this development proposal. The development

may lead to sewage flooding and network reinforcement works are anticipated to be necessary to ensure that sufficient capacity is made available to accommodate additional flows anticipated from the new development. Any necessary reinforcement works will be necessary in order to avoid sewer flooding and/or potential pollution incidents.”

The density of the development is also shocking. The London Plan sets out indicative densities for housing developments ranging from Central to Suburban locations. While part of Colindale is populated by large ugly blocks of flats,  part of the site they want to encroach is dominated by houses, predominantly residential, small building footprints and typically buildings of two to three storeys which is the definition of suburban.

While the recommendation for suburban housing densities so close to a tube station are between 200 and 350 habitable rooms per hectare, this scheme will have a density of 936  habitable rooms per hectare, nearly three times the maximum recommended density. 

There will be no parking other than for disabled permit holders in an area that is already clogged with traffic. The assumption that no one will want a car is simply fantasy and a denial of what is already happening in Colindale.

Worst of all the planning application seems to dismiss the fact that some of these low rise established home will be pulled down to make way for this tower block development. The residents who will be affect by the CPO are dismissed in a through away line right at the end of the reports saying 

"Issues concerning property rights in relation to the loss of the existing residential properties is a private matter between the parties and if necessary at any future CPO Inquiry". 

In other words we don't give a stuff.

Andrew Dismore, the GLA representative was clear in his objection saying: 

"I consider this to be an overdevelopment of the site. The area around Colindale station has seen a massive increase in population, the Pulse development, the former British Library Newspaper Collection, the Peel Centre, Beaufort Park and the Grahame Park regeneration. The proposed 29-storey tower will be larger than anything nearby. The next nearest tall buildings of that height are in West Hendon, over a mile away. 313 units on a small site also represents over-densification of this site which will have an impact on local services, such as health and education, which are already undersupplied.

David Pinto-Duschinsky the Prospective Labour Party Parliamentary Candidate for Hendon also commented adding:
"A number of local residents have voiced serious concerns about the impact of the loss of the square besides the station. The local community uses this public space and its loss will have a negative effect. This will compound the lack of amenity space for this proposal, Colindale Park is too small given the number of developments that rely on it and Montrose Playing Fields are not accessible from the Colindale side.

One voice missing from the objections was that of Matthew Offord MP for the area. 
It seems that in Barnet, Colindale bears the bulk of the growth plans while leafy Totteridge stays the delightfully green and leafy. Is that justice? Please come along tomorrow evening and support the local residents whose homes are under threat. Hendon Town Hall 7pm 24 July.