A new strategy for Green Belt destruction in Mill Hill

Make no mistake, the Green belt faces a  massive threat in Mill Hill.  I was incredibly disturbed to read the following article in yesterdays Mail on Sunday :-

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1280275/Solsbury-Hill-Local-residents-fight-property-developers-save-rural-icon.html

This article contains the following two paragraphs near the bottom of the article.

And the alpaca farm ruse is an easy way of getting round planning restrictions in areas with toothless councils. GVP has three other sites in the South-West where it is using similar schemes to justify mobile and permanent residences.

Marc Willis, agent for GVP, has set up more than 35 alpaca farms for people wanting to build houses in restricted areas. Willis is the only Chartered Town Planner who is also a member of the British Institute of Agricultural Consultants, giving him a rare specialism in rural planning.

So what has all of this got to do with Mill Hill? Well check out this picture of Mill Hill Childrens Farm, on the green belt fields of the Ridgeway. See the animals on the right of the picture, drinking from the pond. Any prizes for guessing what they are? That's right, they are Alpacas. 

So is Barnet Council one of these toothless councils referred to by the Mail on Sunday? Well to date it has taken no enforcement action against the owner of this establishment, despite having concluded that the changes to the site require planning permission which has not been applied for.

Now many parents have visited the Childrens farm, the waffle cafe and the other attractions at Barnets newest theme park. Those I've spoken to quite liked what they have seen (and eaten). I am sure that many parents relish the opportunity to take their children to see the animals and would not like to see the theme park shut down. This isn't the point. The point is that the owner of the facility hasn't submitted a request for planning permission. Whilst many people throughout the London Borough of Barnet have to go through the process for their loft conversions, extensions, etc, a theme park has been built on a field on the green belt without a scrap of official planning permission. Not only this, but as the Mail on Sunday has shown, it may be using a ruse specifically designed to circumvent such planning legislation in farming Alpacas.

The threat to the Green Belt won't come from one single rich landowner concreting over the whole lot in one go. It comes incrementally from developers using loopholes to nibble away at the edges. It comes from dodgy schemes to circumvent the rules designed to prevent all of this from happening. It comes from planning specialists such as Marc Willis inventing ruses which allow such developments to take place, so developers can get around the rules.

As you tuck into your waffles, show your kids the Alpacas and park your car on the car park, (much of which was a green belt field last year), you are unwittingly helping to ensure that your kids won't have the same luxury in Mill Hill when they are your age. It is essential that we all support organisations such as The Mill Hill Preservation Society in their struggle to preserve the best of Mill Hill  - http://www.mhps.org.uk/ - if we don't Mill Hill could become the new Elephant and Castle.

One of the reasons I write this blog, is because I want to ensure my children can appreciate Mill Hill in the way I appreciate it today. Walks on green fields. Spectacular panoramic views of London and the Totteridge valley. Diverse wildlife and greenbelt fields. If we want this to continue to be the Mill Hill we love we'll have to fight for it. This means supporting campaigns which fight to preserve it and shunning those who seek to destroy it. (the field shown to the left is the ground of Mill Hill Village FC which recently had a massive rent hike from Tory Barnet Council).

The lines have been drawn.
Who brought the Alpacas to Mill Hill? The man who was elected to be Deputy Chairman of the Hendon CONSERVATIVE Party with responsibility for fundraising and membership. What did Brian Coleman, the CONSERVATIVE cabinet member on Barnet Council in charge of the ENVIRONMENT say his top priorities were for making Barnet a nice place to live? "Roads, Roads, Roads" (strangely this commitment was absent from their manifesto and absent from all of the leaflets which helped them win in Mill Hill) - check this press release from Barnet Council if you don't believe me - http://www.barnet.gov.uk/press_releases.htm?id=2212.

****** Update 18:27 ************
Further to the comments left by the management of Belmont Childrens Zoo, I've added a link to their website :-

http://www.belmontfarm.co.uk/index.php

It appears that there may be a misunderstanding as to the nature of my comments and I've added the link to allow anyone wishing to find out more about the establishment. As I thought I'd made clear above, in many ways the establishment is an asset to Mill Hill and many people are pleased it has opened.

As such I think it is only fair to the establishment to qualify my comments. The only issue I have with the establishment is the dispute with Barnet Councils planning department as to whether it requires planning permission. As the site is on green belt lands within the conservation area, I am of the belief that it should rigorously and pro-actively comply with these rules, before it even considered opening. This should have been sought and obtained through the usual channels.

If this had been sought and obtained, I would be championing the work done in preserving rare breeds.

I must say I find it odd that they claim not to be a theme park, given that their website has an entire page devoted to "Parties" which is clearly a "fun" activity and not educational or related to farming.


 http://www.belmontfarm.co.uk/parties.php

When I visited the "farm", they were hosting "face painting" which again is an activity unrelated to farming or education. It struck me as being a commercial leisure activity. I also see from the website that "tractor and trailer rides" are available as part of the "theme park" activities for May. I must say that advertising ride does reinforce the image of a theme park, rather than a serious commercial farm.

As to the comments about Alpacas, as the establishment calls itself a farm and keeps Alpacas, which are specifically described in the Mail on Sunday article, one must presume they were being farmed.If they are not being kept for farming purposes, then surely it again lends credence to the claim that the establishment is not a farm in the true sense of the word.

In short, my concern is protection of the green belt. If the Belmont Childrens farm has complied with all of the planning rules and regulations, this blog would be fully supportive of it as it would be an asset to Mill Hill. If it hasn't then I'm afraid that we'll have to campaign for the Council to enforce planning regulations, just as we would for any other usage where full permission had not been obtained on the green belt. Maybe the management would be so kind as to update us on their view of the situation regarding planning permission as they have with other activities.