Destruction of Green Belt in Barnet - The leader of Barnet Council responds

 There has been a huge amount of discussion about rumours that the Green Belt in the London Borough of Barnet will be bulldozed and developed. I emailed the leader of Barnet Council, Councillor Barry Rawlings to respond. 

This is what I asked

Dear all

 

Please see the attached document. Is this correct and if so, why have residents not been asked to comment.

 

The plans for Barnet are appalling

 

Regards

Roger Tichborne

This is the document that I asked Barry to comment on

Dear Roger

 

Thank you for reaching out to share your concerns around the Draft London Plan published by the Mayor in July and its implications for future developments in Barnet.

I wanted to respond and take the opportunity to share some information regarding the Draft London Plan which I hope helps to reassure you and clarify some of the points raised around new developments in Barnet.

I understand there has been a list of sites circulating on various WhatsApp groups. I cannot find that site list on any meeting agenda nor in any published document. It looks like it was taken from the London Green Belt Assessment.

The assessment was produced by consultancy LUC for the Greater Londoner Authority (GLA) and 12 participating London boroughs, including Barnet. The study was commissioned by the GLA to assess green belt land within Greater London and to consider how existing green belt land contributes to the five national green belt purposes set out in the updated National Planning Policy Framework.

The Assessment specifies that it is designed to “support London boroughs in their local plan making and development management processes…London boroughs may decide to build on the assessment findings with finer grained assessments where considered necessary”.

It also highlights that while it “identifies broad locations in the Green Belt where designation to Metropolitan Open Land is likely to be a reasonable prospect…the identified extent of each of the Green Belt areas identified could in many locations be refined into different shapes and sizes depending on the scale of future ambition and nature of future proposals that may come forward.”

This means that, while a site may be highlighted in the Assessment, it does not mean it will be declared to be Grey Belt.
The Draft London Plan does not contain a specific list of sites that will be developed. It places the duty of site identification on the boroughs, rather than City Hall.

On Monday, Barnet Cabinet approved the response to the Draft London Plan made by a cross-party group of councillors.
While the Draft London Plan consultation deadline has gone, I will continue to scrutinise the viability of the housing targets set out by the Mayor, alongside other key issues affecting our constituency throughout the Examination in Public taking place next year.

Best wishes,

 

 

Cllr Barry Rawlings

Friern Barnet Ward
Leader of Barnet Council, and the Labour Group

Now I know that many people do not trust politicians and that a lot of people are very worried about this matter. I have known Barry for many years. It is fair to say I have been a very stern critic of his on many occasions. However, I have to say that whilst I think Barry gets many things wrong, he is basically an honest decent person and I believe his response is a true and accurate summary of what the situation actually is. I would advise everyone to treat such documents circulating on social media with a degree of scepticism. I would also advise people to ensure that they do not assume that there will be no building on Green Belt. If we want to protect it, we will need to be very vigilant. I am also aware of how planning consultancies and developers work. One of their tricks is to start rumours of impending doom, then when something that is less bad emerges, people think they have won. What Barry says about the London plan is correct. Much of what is in these plans never happens, but the other side of the equation is that it does make things more likely to happen. I personally think the Green Belt is worth fighting for. My view is that there are plenty of better solutions than concreting over green space. The sad truth is that builders prefer building on such land as it is cheaper and more profitable for them.