Good morning,

Today and Saturday are the drop-in sessions Barnet Homes are running in conjunction with their new engagement partners, Instinctif. 

The events will be held at the Western Meeting Hall at the Tarling Road Community Centre, 20 Fallows Close (accessed from Tarling Road), London, N2 8LG. Dates and times as follows:

Tuesday, 22nd February from 2.30pm to 7.00pm
Saturday, 26th February from 11am to 2.30pm
Barnet Homes remain committed to pushing through these proposals. The business case for the development was approved at the council's Housing Committee last week. Regardless, we are committed to standing up for the community and winning some serious concessions.

If we are going to do that, we need strength in numbers and to speak with one voice. So please do attend the events, and use the opportunity to register your comments on the proposals. A few things you may wish to consider:
Brownswell Green is a great open space used by a wide variety of the surrounding community: residents of The Grange and Brownswell Road; schoolchildren on the way home; the SBWA at the Tarling Road Community Centre.
The green is effectively the only open space in the area, and East Finchley is noted for being deficient in park provision. The current plan will see much of that space replaced with homes, private gardens, and a 'Multi Use Games Area'. Not a fair swap.
Now that Barnet Homes have reduced the number of units they're proposing to build (from 100 down to 43) they are effectively holding the community to ransom, by also downgrading the scale of improvements to the existing environment, e.g. the really awful courtyards between blocks on The Grange, which are magnets for anti-social behaviour and fly-tipping.
This also means less scope for improving parking in the area. Parking, traffic incidents and road rage are a massive problem, and so far we've seen very little evidence that they are going to improve the situation with these plans. The Council is consulting on a CPZ but that barely scratches the surface of what's needed to solve the issues.
The proposed developments on Tarling Road may be small in the grand scheme of things (3 units out of a total of 43) but they will exacerbate the issues we're seeing. Traffic flow on Sylvester Road may also get worse. And it's another green space, erased.
The way these proposals have been presented has been an awful experience for the community, especially those on Brownswell Road who face their homes being demolished. There are probably years of disruption etc. on the horizon if the plans go through as they currently are. 
Final thing: we are in the process of registering Brownswell Green as a community asset. If that succeeds, it will have to be taken into consideration when the proposals are submitted for the formal planning application in May/June. Hopefully, that will really help our cause. 

Please share this with your friends, neighbours etc. so we get as big an attendance as possible at the drop-ins.

Best wishes,
The Grange, Brownswell and Tarling Road Residents' Association