The site was ditched from Barnet Council’s Local Plan as “not developable” but a fresh scheme is now proposed, reports Grace Howarth, Local Democracy Reporter

Designs for the Manor Park Road housing scheme (credit London Placemaking)

East Finchley residents have raised concerns that a proposed development ignores a planning inspector’s advice.

The divisive Manor Park Road scheme is a Places for Barnet project which comprises the construction of ten homes on the site of a car park, owned by Barnet Council, lodged between a row of terraces.

However, neighbouring residents and The Finchley Society have raised concerns over the loss of “much needed” parking and open space.

It’s also been pointed out that the development was previously “ruled out” of the council’s Local Plan.

An inspector’s report, published on 17th August 2023, determined the site “has not been demonstrated to be developable”. The car park and the site’s “relation to surrounding properties” were given as reasons.

The inspector concluded the “site allocation as proposed in the plan is therefore not justified and should be deleted”.

James Masters, who lives on Manor Park Road, said: “It was ruled out of the Local Plan by the inspector, saying seven properties would be overdevelopment, and how would they [the council] get past the situation with the parking and the green space?”

Mary Hogben, a member of The Finchley Society, is also concerned. She said: “It is designated open space of which there’s very little in the area, so the loss of that would be felt by locals, and there is the parking there as well which was put in [in] the 1970s when the area was created.

“The council put it into the Local Plan for possible development for seven homes and the inspector said it wasn’t a suitable site for development and it was taken out again, but here we are.”

Asked what had changed since 2023 to make the site now suitable for development, a council spokesperson said the current lack of allocation in the Local Plan “does not prevent other development proposals coming forward”.

The spokesperson said: “As such, any proposals for the site will be assessed against the council’s planning policies which support housing delivery across the borough.

“To support and inform the design proposals, independent parking surveys were undertaken within 200m of the site. Results from these surveys demonstrate that there is sufficient spare capacity on the surrounding streets to accommodate both the displaced parking spaces and those reasonably required to service the needs of future residents of the proposed development (ten homes).

“Places for Barnet are in the process of working up proposals for the Manor Park Road site, which is among a number of sites being considered. As part of any planning application, a transport statement will be submitted that will be required to demonstrate and provide the supporting evidence to this effect.”

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