💚 URGENT OBJECTIONS – THE LONDON PLAN Deadline: 5pm, Thursday 15th October 2026 💚

💚 URGENT OBJECTIONS – THE LONDON PLAN 💚
Deadline: 5pm, Thursday 15th October 2026

Hi all,

Apologies for the very short notice; this matter has only just come to light.

We have just found out that Barnet Playing Fields has been identified as one of 18 sites in Barnet suitable for ‘grey belt’ designation in The London Plan.

This means that our precious park is under threat again. This time not from Barnet FC, but from housing. We need to object again, and quickly. The most important thing is for the Mayor of London to see the strength of feeling against these proposals.

HOW TO OBJECT (takes 2 minutes)

1.  Open a new email to: londonplan@london.gov.uk

2.  Subject line: Draft London Plan (please use exactly these words)

3.  Copy and paste the letter below into your email.

4.  Add your name, address and postcode at the bottom. If you can, add a sentence of your own about why the park matters to you.

5.  Send it before 5pm on Thursday, then please share this with neighbours, family and local groups.

✂  COPY FROM HERE  ✂

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am a resident of the London Borough of Barnet and I wish to object to the Draft London Plan, in particular to Barnet Playing Fields being identified in the London Green Belt Assessment as suitable for grey belt designation (parcels BA55 and BA56).

1. Barnet Playing Fields is valued community land, not “grey belt”. It is open, green and used every day by families, children, dog walkers, runners, sports teams and schools. It is exactly the kind of land the Green Belt exists to protect, and nothing like the previously developed land the grey belt concept is meant to address.

2. The community has already shown overwhelming opposition. Residents have only recently fought plans to build on this land (planning application 24/5650/OUT), with nearly 20,000 people signing a petition to protect it. Identifying the same site for housing ignores that clearly expressed public view.

3. Loss of playing fields is contrary to national policy. National planning policy protects playing fields unless they are shown to be surplus or are replaced by equal or better provision. No such case has been made, and with Barnet’s population growing, the need for outdoor sport and recreation space is increasing.

4. Health, wellbeing and the environment. Green space is vital to physical and mental health, especially for residents without gardens. The playing fields also support wildlife, mature trees and natural drainage. Once built on, this land can never be replaced.

5. Unjustified Green Belt release and housing targets. Releasing Green Belt land for 7,000 homes in Barnet is not supported by sufficient evidence of exceptional circumstances or deliverability. Barnet has been given the highest housing target of any London borough, a 38% increase, despite already being one of the strongest performers.

6. Insufficient infrastructure. The Plan does not show that local roads, the Northern line, schools, GP surgeries and other services could cope with this scale of growth, and there is no clear evidence of funding for improvements.

I therefore request that Barnet Playing Fields (parcels BA55 and BA56) be removed from any grey belt designation or development consideration, and that the Green Belt release and housing targets for Barnet be reconsidered before the Plan is adopted.

Yours faithfully,

[Your full name]

[Your address and postcode]

✂  COPY TO HERE  ✂

Thank you, as always, for standing up for Barnet Playing Fields.