Council refuses to back down in row over Hendon parklet

The owners of the Pita Street restaurant will be allowed to renew their licence for the parklet despite concerns being raised, reports Joe Ives, Local Democracy Reporter

The Pita Street restaurant parklet in Brent Street and (inset) Cllr Prager

Barnet Council will not remove a controversial parklet in Hendon – despite opposition claims the move is “a no-brainer”.

The decision to allow the renewal of a licence for the space at 134 Brent Street came during a cabinet member yesterday (Tuesday 15th).

It means that, despite the best efforts of Tory councillor Alex Prager, the owners of the Pita Street restaurant in Hendon will be allowed to renew their licence for the parklet when it expires at the end of January next year.

The decision followed a petition submitted by Cllr Prager, who is a ward member for Hendon. Speaking at Tuesday’s meeting, Cllr Prager argued that “residents don’t want” the parklet and that it should be removed when the licence expires.

Explaining his view, Cllr Prager pointed to a “huge increase in demand” for parking bays, partly fuelled by residential developments nearby.

“It’s always empty,” added Cllr Prager, who told cabinet he had received “hundreds of emails” from residents complaining about the parklet, which is around three car parking spaces in length.

The Conservative councillor argued that its removal was supported by more than 500 residents who signed the petition – around 95% of whom, he said, live in the “immediate area”.

He said the petition was created around a year ago, and had 30 to 40 signatures before he posted it to social media, leading to a large increase in support.

Cllr Prager admitted that he had not met with the owner of Pita Street, but had spoken with nearby shop owners, who were concerned about losing business as a result of fewer car spaces available.

As well as lost parking provision, the petition claimed that the spot has become “a magnet for antisocial behaviour”.

This, said Cllr Prager, came as a result of a complaint he’d received about “women feeling intimidated” walking down the road at night with people “hanging around” the space outside the restaurant.

Sara Conway, the council’s cabinet member for community safety, community cohesion and ending violence against women and girls, said there had been no recorded incidents of antisocial behaviour at the parklet. She also noted that “structures like this” had been taken out where such behaviour had been reported elsewhere in Barnet.

“I would urge residents to report issues that they’re concerned about to the police, to the council, as appropriate,” Cllr Conway added.

Alan Schneiderman, cabinet member for environment and climate change, argued that the council had taken “a very pragmatic approach” to parklets across the borough. “I don’t think that it’s in the interests of the business to pay for something if it is not being used,” he added.

Cllr Prager, disagreeing with this logic, responded: “We have over 550 local residents saying they don’t want it here – you have one business saying they do want it here, and is willing to pay for that.”

Given this, he claimed that removing the parklet was “a no-brainer”. Allowing it to remain in place would, on the other hand, be “essentially ignoring” residents and nearby shop owners.

Barry Rawlings, leader of the local authority, disagreed, saying the council and the restaurant had signed a contract “and we have to abide by that”.

The Labour leader continued: “I don’t think that we should punish a business that has obeyed the rules and behaved properly.”

In a report, the council estimated that removal of the parklet would cost between £2,000 and £5,000.

Cllr Schneiderman explained that the council is set to have a review of its parklet policy and, when that happens, the Hendon restaurant “may or may not choose to renew based on the terms that are offered”.

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