Major Colindale redevelopment gets go-ahead from councillors after knife-edge vote

Conservative councillors raise concerns over the scale of the 29-storey scheme set to replace existing blocks deemed structurally unsafe, reports Joe Ives, Local Democracy Reporter

Plans for the Silk House redevelopment (credit HTA Design)

Two ageing Colindale tower blocks will be replaced with a new development of nearly 400 homes – following a vote that divided Barnet Council’s planning committee.

On Tuesday (23rd) councillors granted outline planning approval for a scheme that will see Silk House and Shoelands Courts estate on Annesley Avenue knocked down.

Structural assessments for the two blocks, with 97 homes, identified “a disproportionate risk of collapse”. It led to residents being moved out and the site now being “largely vacant”.

Council-run Barnet Homes is proposing new blocks ranging from six to 29 storeys.

A council report argued that “comprehensive redevelopment” is needed to ensure safety and increase housing provision at the site, which is largely council-owned.

The existing blocks were built using the ‘large panel construction method’ from the 1960s. Speaking at Tuesday’s committee meeting, a council officer warned these panels “only have a limited lifespan”.

They added the development would involve “significant improvements” to the existing landscape of the site, which he described as currently being “fairly barren”.

It’s hoped the scheme could provide up to 388 new homes in total, including 159 affordable homes up to four bedrooms in size. The proposals also include a new footbridge and a pedestrian and cycle route connecting the estate to nearby Montrose Park.

Planners say it will be a “car-lite” development with roughly one parking space for every five homes.

However, Conservative committee member Josh Mastin-Lee expressed misgivings about the scheme’s height. The council’s report concluded the scale was reflective of the site’s location within the ‘Colindale Growth and Opportunity Area’ where “higher density development is supported in principle”.

Fellow Tory Shimon Ryde, who gave the most detailed criticism of the plans, described the high proportion of one-bedroom flats proposed as “extremely disappointing”.

The redevelopment would see 150 – almost 40% – of the new homes built as one-beds. Cllr Ryde argued this was “out of kilter” with the council’s Local Plan and represents “a missed opportunity for us as a borough to bring forward family-sized accommodation”.

The Conservative committee member was not convinced by responses provided by council officers at the meeting. These included the argument that the private, one-bed properties would help fund the other affordable and family homes on the new estate.

Officers also noted a lower need for three and four-bed flats in the borough, with more demand instead for houses.

One planning officer, giving a frank response to Cllr Ryde’s concerns, said: “As you know – you’ve been on the committee for a while – planning is a bit of an art, where we have to balance a number of considerations”.

He added that “it is never the case” that planning applications of this kind have “full alignment” with all council policies.

The officer continued, saying the local authority had to take “a pragmatic approach and be in the real world” which meant balancing the “desperate” need to deliver more affordable and family-sized homes with feasible building projects.

Officers also explained that other concerns, including flood prevention measures, meant the new development would be built in the same location of the current buildings, limiting the potential for more varied layouts.

The council undertook a “comprehensive programme of pre-application engagement” beginning in June 2023, with a consultation with existing residents of Silk House and Shoelands Court.

When it came to the vote, the scheme split councillors, with three in favour and three against. But Richard Barnes, the Labour chair of the planning committee, used his casting vote approve the development.

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