Developer St George is adding 28 homes to the previously-approved scheme while ensuring the tower blocks comply with new fire safety rules, reports Grace Howarth, Local Democracy Reporter

Plans for the West Hendon scheme (credit St George North London Ltd and Sainsbury’s)

Changes have been approved to a 1,300-home development in West Hendon that will see more homes and second staircases added.

Planning permission for the ‘Silk Stream’ a project located at Unit 4, Hyde Estate Road, was granted in July 2020 and comprised the demolition of a Sainsbury’s supermarket, car park and petrol station, making way for construction of 1,309 homes across several buildings running from four and 28 storeys.

Plans from joint applicants St George North London Ltd and Sainsbury’s also included a commercial component, as well as the construction of a new supermarket.

On Monday (16th) a Barnet Council planning committee approved plans to add second staircases to several of the blocks to comply with new fire safety rules for buildings over six storeys, while adding two storeys on to three of the towers and one storey on to a fourth block.

The extra height of these blocks will allow the developer to increase the number of homes by 28, comprising five London Affordable Rent (LAR) homes, eleven intermediate homes, and twelve private.

Nick Alston, a director from agent Avison Young, told the committee: “This application is all about fire safety, that is the purpose.

“It’s to make sure the blocks that haven’t gone past the tipping point for the amount of progress made [and] have second staircases to make them as safe as they can be.”

The application cuts the number of three-bedroom LAR homes on the scheme by 14, increases the number of two-bedroom LAR homes by 16, and one-beds by three. This amounts to five extra affordable homes.

But councillors raised concerns over the proposed additional height and the loss of three-bedroom properties, which were identified in Barnet’s Local Plan as the “highest priority type” of housing.

There were no three-bedroom homes proposed for intermediate rent in the original application or amendended, and there were no changes proposed to the number of private three-bedroom homes.

Nick said this decision was a “consequence of floor plan amendments to enable those second staircases to go in”.

He said: “We know that family-sized housing, particularly at affordable rent, is a priority, and as we were dividing up and reconfiguring those floor plans we faced understandable challenges.

“Our priority was to maintain as many family-sized homes as we could and the sacrifice was on the three-beds.”

Speaking on the height, he said these amendments were to be added to the “mid-level buildings” at the centre to lessen the impact they would have had if added to blocks on the “periphery”.

Nick said: “We’re not adding height to the tallest buildings […] we’re adding height to the middle and lower buildings.”

Following discussion, committee chair Nigel Young said it was important concerns mentioned were addressed in “any future developments for the next phases”.

He said: “On the positive side the applicant has taken a very proactive approach in anticipating changes to fire safety legislation and that is welcome.

“The impact of the increased height has been minimised by putting it in the centre of the site rather than on the periphery and we recognise the additional financial burden this scheme, as an amended scheme, has placed on the developer.”

Eight members voted in favour of approval, with one abstention, waving the application through.

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