London Fire Brigade previously raised concerns over the proposal for an underground electric bus garage as part of the town centre’s redevelopment, reports Joe Ives, Local Democracy Reporter

The plans by Ballymore and TfL and (inset) the Save Our Edgware campaign

Campaigners have accused Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan of leaving the public “exposed to an unresolved fire safety risk” by not intervening in plans to demolish and rebuild Edgware Bus Station.

The plans are part of a wider £1.7billion planned redevelopment of Edgware town centre, which will also see the construction of over 3,800 new homes.

These major works are set to be carried out by Places for London, the development arm of Transport for London (TfL), and private developers Ballymore.

The existing bus station will be replaced with an underground garage for the vehicles. Campaigners are concerned by both the loss of the station and the potential fire risks posed by the batteries on new electric buses.

As it stands, plans for the development, including for fire safety, have yet to be formally completed. Barnet Council granted outline planning permission for the redevelopment of Edgware Bus Station in July last year. The move has raised concerns that the development could go ahead without a proper fire safety plan in place beforehand.

Nevertheless, Khan’s deputy mayor for planning Jules Pipe sent a letter to Barnet Council in late March saying there was “no basis” for the Greater London Authority (GLA) to intervene.

Pipe added: “I am content to allow the local planning authority to determine the case itself, subject to any action that the secretary of state may take, and do not therefore wish to direct refusal or to take over the application for my own determination.”

Campaign group Save Edgware Bus Station has accused Khan of “ignoring more than 7,000 objections submitted to Barnet Council, 3,000 signatures on the Save Edgware Bus Station petition and over 1,400 objections submitted via the GLA planning portal”.

The group added: “The decision leaves the community exposed to an unresolved fire safety risk and the permanent loss of a functioning transport hub.”

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) approached Barnet Council for comment on these concerns.

In response, a spokesperson for the local authority said: “The council takes the matter of fire safety very seriously and has robustly worked with relevant stakeholders throughout the planning application and post-committee resolution process to secure strong and appropriate fire safety measures.

“The proposed underground bus garage will not be permitted to operate with electric vehicles unless and until they have provided evidence to the council that all relevant fire safety strategies, testing and approvals have been secured, including agreement with the London Fire Brigade and other statutory regulators.

“This is a requirement of the planning conditions and Section 106 obligations, and public safety remains the council’s overriding priority.”

The spokesperson added that the bus station and garage cannot be decommissioned or demolished until temporary bus infrastructure has been approved by the council in consultation with TfL.

Asked what conversations the council has had with London Fire Brigade (LFB) regarding the plans, the local authority’s spokesperson responded, saying: “The council has liaised with the London Fire Brigade throughout the planning application process and were formally consulted as part of the planning application.

“Their responses were set out and summarised within the committee report and addendum. The committee report makes clear that the London Fire Brigade supports the proposed approach of requiring further detailed design, testing and approval before the garage can be brought into use by electric vehicles, and that no such use can occur unless they are satisfied.

“The committee report secured specific planning obligations and conditions relating to fire and LFB confirmed to the council that they were satisfied with the proposed approach.”

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