The site at Pinkham Way has been locked up for years amid debate over its future use, reports Grace Howarth, Local Democracy Reporter

Aerial view of Pinkham Way (credit Chris Faulkner)

Residents are campaigning to bring a piece of Barnet Council-owned land back into public use.

An open space that sits immediately to the south of the Barnet border with Haringey, at Pinkham Way, is at the centre of a tussle between the council and campaigners hoping to bring part of the six-hectare piece of overgrown land back into public use.

Although situated in Haringey borough, around four hectares of the Pinkham Way land is owned by North London Waste Association, and the remaining two is owned by Barnet Council.

Friends of Hollickwood Park, a local community group that looks after a neighbouring park, is campaigning to bring the two hectares of council-owned land into public use, but chair Chris Faulkner says they keep getting “knocked back”.

Chris said: “We’ve had discussions with [Barnet Council leader] Barry Rawlings about the possibility of having a seven-year lease to manage it, bring it up in terms of its biodiversity standards, and we keep getting knocked back.

“Effectively they’ve been ignoring us, it’s taken a lot of effort on our part to get an answer out of them. The site’s been a public open space since 1963.”

The group has attempted to push the council to bring the land back into public use for the last two-and-a-half years, since the last local election and change in administration, Chris said, but after three meetings little progress has been made.

He added: “We thought, now’s our time, we thought we’d be pushing at an open door, but we’re pushing at a slammed door.”

Chris said the council was “safeguarding” the site in case it “potentially” has to relocate its local waste disposal and lorry park depot, currently based in Oakleigh Road.

Crossrail 2 Ltd has previously proposed a new railway station at New Southgate, which could make use of Oakleigh Road and force the depot to move, although plans for the railway line have been paused since 2020.

But Chris believes the transfer of the depot is unlikely given the “planning obstacles” and lack of “access” on the Pinkham Way site.

He said: “At the very best, this plan is 35 years in advance, so they can safeguard the land as much as they like but it doesn’t stop us using it for the next seven, 14 or 21 years, basically until it’s ready to go, so it doesn’t make any sense really.”

In 2022, modifications were made to the North London Waste Plan by a government planning inspector to ensure any development brought forward at Pinkham Way would “lead to a net gain in biodiversity”.

Chris said this made the depot relocation plan even more improbable.

In response, a Barnet Council spokesperson said: “We are waiting for Network Rail and its strategic partners to finalise proposals for the land at Oakleigh Road. This will help to inform any future decisions regarding the Pinkham Way site.

“We understand the importance of local open spaces and will continue to engage with the community association, residents and other stakeholders regarding the site’s use.”

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