Dear neighbours, families and friends.
Happy new year to all of you!
12 months ago, when the first Hendon Hub consultation hit us, we could not have possibly foreseen our battle would take us to the law courts, the United Nations, the Secretary of State’s office etc. But here we are because Barnet Council have repeatedly refused to listen to us and just keep bulldozing ahead with their Middlesex University expansion plans at the expense of our community.
On January 10th at 7pm, the Strategic Planning Committee will meet to discuss Planning Applications. Committee Meeting Info
The agenda doesn’t yet specify which councillors will be attending. Various members of our group will be making objection speeches in person.
It has become increasingly clear as time has gone on that despite hundreds of brilliant objections from local residents and businesses (and hardly any statements of suport) and to the great dismay of Hendon Conservative voters, the Tories seem hellbent on ignoring the views of the community and on making this development happen… and they make up the majority of councillors on the committee.
For us, this means that we will finally be able to activate several challenges, many of which are not available to us until after planning applications have been approved.
Unfortunately, there’s been no time to organise a demo at the meeting but everyone who wishes to can attend. Having said that, we’re waiting to hear if there will be any online arrangements because the Covid rates are so sky high.
Challenging Barnet Council over such an intricate development process has not been straightforward. It will continue to be a long and complex process. However:
As a direct result of us bringing Judicial Review proceedings against the SPD (thanks to so many generous donations), Barnet Council have just made the extraordinary statement that “the SPD has been given no weight in the consideration” of these Planning Applications.
What does this mean? It means that to try and cheekily bypass our legal challenge, Barnet Council have decided to disregard their own blueprint for the Hendon Hub that was created for one purpose: to give weight to Planning Applications for the Hendon Hub!
Aside from this meaning that the SPD consultation was effectively a huge waste of taxpayers’ money and time, it significantly weakens any Hendon Hub Planning Application approvals, making them far easier for us to now challenge, which we will be doing in a number of ways. Over the next few weeks, we will also be bringing myriad challenges and claims against the council through various official bodies.
The legal team that we engaged and that you all generously helped us to pay for continue to offer advice and opportunities of challenge to both the development plans themselves and Barnet’s attempts to evade proper legal scrutiny.
In the meantime, thank you all so much for your support this year, particularly as it’s been so incredibly hard for so many of us due to Covid.
Here’s to a 2022 of light and hope and good health. And in which these grotesque plans for our home and community are scaled down so we can move forward with a plan that equally benefits residents and Middlesex University.
#HandsOffOurLibrary #StopTheHendonLandGrab #SaveOurCommunity