Ahead of discussion of the Broadwalk Centre plans by Barnet Council’s strategic planning committee, Save Our Edgware campaigner Anuta Zack challenges Barnet Labour to “live up to the promises it made to residents”

The Broadwalk Centre will be demolished as part of controversial development plans

Over the past few weeks in Barnet Post, residents have watched Labour and Conservative leaders slug it out over who’s to blame for the borough’s problems. Council Leader Barry Rawlings blames the Tories. Tory Leader Peter Zinkin blames Labour. But while both parties posture, the real issue hurtling toward us — the massive redevelopment of the Broadwalk Shopping Centre — barely gets a mention.

This is no abstract plan. It’s live. It’s moving forward. And it will reshape Barnet in ways that can’t be undone.

The scheme, led by Ballymore and part-owned by Transport for London, proposes 3,828 flats across 25 tower blocks — some rising to 29 storeys — on a tight suburban site. It would demolish one of London’s busiest suburban bus stations and replace it with scattered on-street bus stops in an already congested area, plus an experimental underground electric bus garage directly beneath residential towers.

That garage has never been built before in the UK. There are no building regulations to support it. The London Fire Brigade has already raised serious safety concerns — but instead of resolving them, the developer appears to be pressing ahead in the hope the problems will miraculously go away. And the council, rather than demanding answers, is letting that approach go unchallenged.

Yet this risky experiment is being used to justify tearing down vital public transport infrastructure.

To push through this level of density, the developer wants to strip planning protections from a neighbouring nature reserve, putting protected species at risk and worsening an already severe green space deficit. The planning system is being bent to serve the scheme — not the community.

There’s also talk of “community infrastructure” — but that term is being misused. It usually means new facilities like GP surgeries, schools, or community centres provided to meet the needs of incoming residents. But in this case, the only example given is the relocation of Edgware Library — a service we already have. That’s not an improvement. It’s a shuffle. Nothing is being added. At best, it’s net neutral. At worst, it’s a smokescreen to give the illusion of community benefit where none exists.

The site is known to be contaminated from past industrial use — but no full testing has been done to determine what level of decontamination is actually required. A generic allowance has been included in the financial calculations, but without proper investigation, the real costs remain unknown.

Let’s be clear: both parties helped create this mess. The Conservatives designated Edgware a “growth area” in the Local Plan. Labour-run Harrow co-authored the Edgware Town Centre SPD, which encouraged large-scale development on both sides of the borough boundary.

Then came the 2022 elections. Labour took control of Barnet. Harrow flipped Conservative. While the SPD remained in place, Harrow’s new leadership formally objected to the Broadwalk planning application — highlighting the same concerns raised by residents: excessive height, pressure on infrastructure, and lack of coordinated transport planning.

Barnet Labour did the opposite. In 2025, they deleted the borough’s definition of “very tall buildings,” removing one of the last checks on height and scale. That change made it easier for 29-storey towers to progress in a low-rise suburban setting.

Despite the development sitting directly on the borough boundary, Barnet has failed to engage with Harrow’s objections. There’s been no cross-borough coordination — even though this is exactly the kind of situation where collaboration should happen.

This could have been an example of two councils working together in the interests of a shared community. Instead, Barnet has carried on without transparency, without cooperation, and without the kind of public accountability residents have every right to expect.

And at the heart of it: that underground electric bus garage. No precedent. No safety regulations. No deliverable plan. It’s being used as a justification to demolish a critical transport hub and replace it with scattered bus stops. That’s not regeneration — it’s degradation.

This is being sold as “transport-led,” but the transport is being torn out. It’s being sold as “sustainable,” but the environmental and financial risks are being dodged. And yet the application rolls forward with barely a challenge.

What matters now is not who first wrote the policy — it’s who has the power and responsibility to make the right decision now. And that is Barnet Labour.

They run the council. They hold the majority on the strategic planning committee. Once an application is submitted, the committee must hear it — but how it is scrutinised, challenged, and decided sits with them. They are in power, and this decision is now theirs to make.

They wanted control. They’ve got it. Now they must take responsibility. No more hiding behind consultants or blaming the past. The outcome — and its consequences — will rest entirely on what they choose to do next.

Council leader Barry Rawlings has already told residents the Broadwalk application is likely to go before the strategic planning committee on 23rd July. Rawlings is on record as looking forward to “strong support for bringing in the CIL (Community Infrastructure Levy) from the Edgware development.” The key question now is what the planning committee will do.

No more finger-pointing. No more blame games. No more silence.

This decision will shape real places and affect real lives.

Now the borough is watching — not just to see whether Labour approves this scheme, but to see what kind of party it chooses to be. Will it allow the kind of overdevelopment it once campaigned against? Or will it live up to the promises it made to residents in Edgware, Burnt Oak, and beyond? Will party loyalty prevail over thoroughness, sound judgement, and the interests of an entire town?

The choice is Labour’s. And everyone will remember what it decides.

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