Do you want to see this replaced with a wall of concrete?

I took this picture yesterday walking on the public footpath from Wills Grove to Wise Lane, Mill Hill, whilst walking across the grounds of Mill Hill School. As you can see, it is a glorious view. This is part of the Greenbelt and the Mill Hill Conservation area. Sadly whilst you (hopefully) and I see the greenbelt as part of the lungs of London and a treasured asset, many people see it as an opportunity to earn a bit of fast cash. All around Mill Hill, little bits of the green belt are being nibbled away. Every year a small percentage is lost forever, despite the stringent planning laws.

Over the last few years, the speed at which this "nibbling" has been occurring has sped up. The reason, Barnet Council has taken a very 'laid back' approach to enforcing the law. Why has this happened? The Barnet Eye doesn't know, but without doubt some of the largest 'nibbles' have been instigated by very wealthy people, some of whom have had executive posts within the local Conservative party.

To compound matters, Barnet Council has handed over responsibility for planning to Capita as part of the One Barnet project. Wheras previously the planning department was under the control of the council and democratically elected councillors, who have to answer to the electorate every four years, now planning is run by Capita who have a contract with Barnet council. If they cock up, they don't get kicked out at an election, we are lumbered with them. Do they have any vested interest in making sure our green fields are preserved? No, of course they don't, Capita only have their shareholders to answer to.

The council actually wants to massively increase the number of houses in Barnet. They project that the number of residents will rise from 320,000 to 380,000 by 2025. This is not because we've all decided to become strict Roman Catholics out of admiration for the new Pope and have ten kids, it is because they want new arrivals in Barnet, who they will jam into ever smaller Rabbit hutch style flats.

I mistakenly believed that one of the redeeming features of the local Conservatives was that they cared about the green belt. I have seen no evidence of this at all. I've seen no involvement in any of the protests in Mill Hill to protect the green belt. At present there are plans for a huge mausoleum to be built on a site teeming with wildlife in Milespit Hill. It is Labour GLA rep Andrew Dismore who has lead opposition to this development.

I had a leaflet through the door for our local Conservative council candidates, Sury Khatri, John Hart and Val Duschinsky and there is not a single word about the Green Belt, which is a massive part of their ward. In fact point 4 of the five bullet points boasts that they are building even more houses and even more 'regeneration schemes'. Point five says the council are spending £7 million on more road works in 2013/14. (Just in case you wondered point 1 is about the 3p a day tax cut, point two points out Barnet has some good schools and point 3 are some stats about Youth crime and how you are now safer than you were in 2012).

All very well, but in many wards in Barnet and especially in Mill Hill, I want to see our Green belt protected and preserved and I want a council that enforces the law. One reason Mill Hill has low youth crime is because there are decent open spaces for our youngsters to let off steam in. What will happen when we destroy them all?

If you care and you live in Mill Hill, the Mill Hill Residents association are having a hustings meeting with local candidates on Weds 30th April at St Pauls School at 8pm. See what they have to say. The only way that anything will change is if you make them know your vote is not to be taken for granted. You may wish to ask the local Tories why they campaigned in 2010 to block a football stand at Copthall, for 50 people for Kentish Town FC, then immediately after the election allowed a 10,000 seat stadium on the site. Whether or not you think that is a good thing, it wasn't exactly honest, was it?

Barnet is flogging off the green belt !

This advert appeared in the Hendon Times this week

This site is in Mill Hill. It is in a protected area of green belt and zoned only for agricultural use. The Barnet Eye has no idea what the eventual use for it will be. What I do know is this. If the Council sell it for around £45,000 then whoever buys it is either planning to use it for agricultural use or they are spending £45,000 on a big punt. If however it sells for £450,000 it means that someone at Barnet Council has told someone that they are likely to be able to eventually put a residential development on the site. People do not take punts with £450,000 on the off chance that there will be a relaxation of planning regs.

I have no idea what the piece of land will sell for. I know what the site is worth for agricultural land and what it is worth if it is sold on a nod and a wink for something else. I am disturbed that this advert does not mention the green belt and the status of the land. It looks to me as if the council are inviting people to take a punt. What alarms me is that if a developer takes this site and we have a protracted planning case, then the site will go to rack and ruin and become a dump. This will be bad for everyone in Mill Hill. It is next to the Mill Hill Village playing fields where many local children take part in sporting activities. It would be a scandal if such a site became a danger to the public. What the advert doesn't tell the prospective buyers is that the site has been neglected for years, is in bad condition,asbestos on site,weed ridden, prone to flooding with water and sewage, off-grid for water/gas/electric. It also has a population of protected bats on the site. That is only what the guy at the sports club pointed out to me. God knows what else is lurking there

More details here - 

www.barnet.gov.uk/directory_record/145812/former_nursery_site_burtonhole_lane

Lets hope that the council do the right thing and make it clear that the Green Belt will be vigorously enforced. I love the green space in Mill Hill. I suggest that if you do, you inform your local councillor that inviting such auctions are not helpful. It is instructive that the department dealing with the green belt is the "commercial property" arm of Barnet Council. Is this part of ONE BARNET or is what we've all suspected true, One Barnet is all about selling off assets on the cheap for people with no association with Barnet to make a fortune. Alll will become clear on the 8th March. We will be watching this with special interest.

Morning Comrades - This is Radio Free Mill Hill - The voice of Trotskyism in NW7

Dear Comrades,

Salutations and Greetings from Comrade Rog, Leader of the Popular front for the Liberation of Mill Hill from Tory Tyranny. Local Tory Bigwig, Daniel Hope has complained that this blog has become a "hard left propoganda rag". I am pleased to announce that this is the case and forthwith we will be promoting a purely Trotskyite manifesto in line with my own personal "swivel eyed Trotskyite" beliefs. I am today launching a radical manifesto for an Independent Mill Hill in line with these beliefs. Here is my personal Trostkyite manifesto for your perusal. I will be holding the first meeting of the Popular Front for the liberation of Mill Hill at a pub locally some time soon. Here's my hard left manifesto, don't show granny or you'll scare her.

1) Immediately scrap all plans for warden cuts, as planned by Barnet Council. Retain a full warden service for all residents of sheltered housing.

2) Immediately impose a "free parking for one hour scheme" for a six month trial period in Mill Hill Broadway.

3) Immediately begin planning with a two year deadline, to ensure that there are enough council homes in Mill Hill for all families currently on the waiting list.

4) Ensure that all families in Council provided accomodation have suitable play facilities (sometimes described as gardens or communal play space) adjacent to their property.

5) Ensure that there are activities available for all teenagers in Barnet and that EVERY 14-18 year old has a full list of all such activities, to divert them from gangs/drugs/alcohol. Ensure that every child in Mill Hill is within walking distance/easy public transport access of such facilities.

6) Ensure that a council backed plan to regenerate Mill Hill Broadway is launched ASAP.

7) Ensure that Barnet Council fully funds transport for the Burnt Oak branch of Mill Hill Council of Churches Good Neighbour lunch scheme for elderly and vulnerable people (I know Burnt Oak isn't in Mill Hill, but us Trotskyites are nothing if not expansionist Internationalists).

8) Ensure protection of the Green Belt and Conservation areas is properly enforced.

There. I bet all of you are shivering in fear at this radical program. Dear Mr Hope. Please could you post your alternative hard right agenda for Mill Hill and then we can all judge which one is better.

Yours fraternally

Comrade Rog,

Leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Mill Hill

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.

I still haven't found what I'm looking for - Have you?

Many people hit on the blog doing Google searches. For your entertainment, I thought I'd share what people are looking for when they find the blog. My stats keep track of the most popular searches people perform to find the blog. I've removed any where people are looking for me (ie Barnet Eye, Rog T) and I've aggregated ones where people are using different spellings etc for the same thing (Mike Freer, Mike Freer MP).

1. matthew offord
2. andrew reid mill hill
3. mike freer mp
4. show me your tits
5. barnet council management structure
6. death by poison
7. hank marvin jehovah's witness
8. brian coleman
9. captain useless
10. first capital connect awful

Sadly I think that the bevvy of people performing the fourth most popular search will be sorely disappointed. I do hope Matthew Offord is pleased, he's more popular than Mike Freer by a long way (Andrew Dismore didn't even make the cut). It is also interesting to see that Mr Andrew Reid, a controversial local landowner is featuring in many searches (one or two people locally might say Mr Reid put the cont in controversial in Mill Hill, but personally I think he's an wholesome Asset - (Did I ever mention I'm dyslxic?)). Farmer Reid has built a childrens zoo and conference centre on the Ridgeway in Mill Hill. This has proven extremely popular with crowds of thousands flocking to it on busy days. The new Conservative Government has stated that it plans to relax regulation and allow small businessmen like Mr Reid to start up such ventures without red tape. The Tory administration in Barnet have been one of the first to enact such polices, allowing this whole enterprise to open without planning permission. Despite howls of protest from some local neighbours, so far Barnet Council has stuck  to it's business friendly guns and refused to take enforcement action against this local farmer/businessman. Barnet Council is to be applauded for standing up to local Council Taxpaying residents and defending the right of rich businessmen to do what they like on their own property. This blog is interested to see if other such businesses will be allowed to open on the green belt fields as part of the Barnet business friendly drive. By the way, Mr Reid was proudly elected as Deputy Chairman of Hendon Conservative association with special responsibility for fundraising and membership in March 2009. He must be praised for the sterling work he did getting our local Mill Hill Tory Councillors elected and securing the Parliamentary seat for Matthew Offord. Maybe Barnet Council would like to rent me a couple of green belt fields in Totteridge as I'd love to open a scrapyard there. I hear local Councillor Brian Coleman is motorist friendly, so surely the opportunity to buy a few spares on the cheap locally will be a great boon. I mean who in their right mind would rather look at rolling fields than a scrapyard.

Back to the subject of Google searches - I took to wondering who was the most disappointed person to do a Google search and find this blog? I reckon the person who entered this search

5 star hotel in mathura bakery and confectionery

or maybe this one

amusing appealing message to wife for service

I hope whoever you are and however you found this blog, you enjoyed reading it. I look forward (without irony) to the next Tory leaflet shouting "Local Lib Dems plan massive stadium scrapyard for Mill Hill Totteridge green belt" and you know what, they'll probably get away with it.

Green Belt protection special : Why you cannot trust the Conservatives to protect the Conservation area

Within the next few weeks you will receive a copy of the the Barnet Conservatives manifesto on the doorstep. I have been reliably informed that "protecting the green belt" will form a major part of their manifesto. Given that the words "Conservative" and "Conservation" share the first ten letters, you may think that in Mill Hill, they would care about protecting our green spaces. Let me show you a couple of pictures and a couple of links to newspaper articles. You can then make your own mind up.

Firstly the pictures. These two pictures are both of a field in Mill Hill. They are owned by the man who was elected Deputy Chairman of the Hendon Conservative Party, with special responsibility for membership and fundraising (an extremely popular chap in the Hendon Conservatives one might conclude). The only difference between the two pictures is that one was taken in 2008 and the other was taken in 2010.

BEFORE - Taken in 2008


See the lamb grazing in the background. Now look at how it looks today.

AFTER - Taken Jan 2010

Now, you may ask, in a green belt conservation area, would  planning permission be required for such a change? Well read this article in the local paper and see what actually happened.

http://www.times-series.co.uk/news/5000180.Council_says_children_s_farm_needs_planning_permission/

Sadly this isn't the first time that senior local Conservatives have decided that they don't need to apply to Barnet Council for planning permission for work on their property. If I was to ask you which Conservative, out of all of them should know the rules apply to them, I guess you'd say that the head of the Hendon and District planning committee should. The person who is responsible for making he decisions which affect the ordinary people. Read this article in the local paper.

http://www.times-series.co.uk/news/932954.No_permission_for____stealth____shed/

Now you might say that perhaps I'm being unfair. You might think that there are cases where it's OK to bend the planning rules a little bit. Maybe, for example if you had a sick two year old child and you urgently needed space for medical equipment to make life manageable? Well when someone is an ordinary Council Tax payer, the woman with the Stealth shed, Hendon and District Planning committee chief Councillor Maureen Braun takes a different view of planning rules - read this :-


http://www.times-series.co.uk/news/hendonnews/1859048.House_extension_for_disabled_child_refused_due_to_council_regulations__/

This is what Councillor Braun had to say about the families request for a loft conversion :-

We carefully considered this application, taking into account the difficult circumstances the family are in. However, the application was very far from what we could possibly allow under existing planning regulations.

Now what sort of view do you think Barnets other Conservatives took of Councillor Braun not following her own rules? They promoted her to Mayor the following year.  Indeed during his testamony to the Standards investigator, the Current Mayor of Barnet, Brian Coleman actually used the fact that I'd criticised Councillor Braun for not following planning rules as a reason for sending me an offensive email. For the record, I'd sent a letter to the local paper saying that Councillors should follow the rules themselves. The Times printed the letter.

So when you get your copy of the Conservative Party manifesto for the Council elections plonking down on your doormat and it says that they will protect the green belt, you may want to ask yourself this. Do I believe them? I know what my answer would be.

Would you trust John Hart and the Hendon Conservatives to defend the green belt?

I've spent much of my life walking around Mill Hill. In my opinion it is one of the most beautiful parts of London and needs to be treasured and preserved. My son goes to school on the Ridgeway and is treated to spectacular views of London and the Totteridge Valley as part of his daily routine. How many children in London can be so lucky?  Much of this part of Mill Hill is within the Conservation area. This means that nothing which materially changes the views and scene of the area can be done without undergoing a rigorous process of planning permission. Even erecting a fence without permission will result in a visit from the Barnet planners. Mill Hill is lucky to have an exctremely active organisation called The Mill Hill Preservation Society which vigorously defends the Green Belt.

Until March this year, I believed that there was a consensus amongst all local political parties that the protection of the Green Belt was paramount. I believed that they all agreed that one of their highest priorities was to ensure that the green belt is safeguarded.


Then I saw this announcement on the Hendon Conservatives website (please click on the screenshot featured left for a readable version or click on the link).

This said the following :-

The officers of Hendon Conservative Association are responsible for the day to day management of the Association and are elected annually by members.

The following were elected at the Annual General Meeting held on 23 March 2009:

Janice Lavery - Chairman, Hugh Rayner - Deputy Chairman (Political), Andrew Reid - Deputy Chairman ( Fundraising & Membership) and Elliot Arwas - Treasurer.

 This announced that Andrew Reid, owner of Belmont Stables on the Ridgeway was appointed to be Deputy Chairman of the Hendon Conservative Association. It is fair to say that Mr Reid and the Mill Hill Preservation Society have not seen eye to eye over the issue of what constitutes acceptable "enhancement" of the green belt. Before Mr Reid owned Belmont Riding Stables, the image at the top of the page was an unrestricted view of the Totteridge valley. Now it is a view of the car park for Mr Reid's newly installed Zoo.

The view to the left is how it used to look before the Zoo was installed.  The grazing field that until recently had farm animals on, has been concreted over. A huge complex of buildings containing Owls and other birds of prey have been installed. Ugly steel fences security fences have been erected. All of this has happened since Mr Reid was elected as an officer of the Hendon Conservative Party. It amazes me that Barnet Council could possibly allow such a development on green belt land, designated for grazing.

 There are many aspects of the whole issue which require further investigation, but one thing is beyond all reasonable doubt. Mr Reid is well known in Mill Hill. John Hart has long been associated with the Mill Hill Preservation society. A leading Hendon Conservative personally assured me, in Mill Hill Broadway, less than three years ago, that he was a steadfast supporter  of the Green Belt. He told me that he would fight any development and passionately cared about conservation. You know what? I actually believed him. Here's another "view"which Barnet Council says is a protected view of the Green Belt, this is the after view. Mr Hart and  the Hendon Conservatives clearly believe that this is how the Green Belt should look, this is confirmed by their choice of officers for the Hendon Conservatives. I think it is awful.

Arrandene Open Space in the snow - part 2

A couple of you said you enjoyed the pictures I posted last week of Arrandene Open space. You also said how important you thought the protection of the green belt is. On boxing day, I nipped in to the Adam and Eve pub for a pre lunch sharpener. I bumped into several friends on their way for a walk across the fields to Barnet. The people of Mill Hill love our open spaces. I am going to be doing a whole series of pictures of the good and the bad of the green belt over the coming weeks. If you want a nice, pleasant walk to appreciate great views of Mill Hill, drive to Mill Hill Park, and have a stroll up the Arrandene meadow around to  the brook. On your way back, there's a great little cafe in Mill Hill Park, where you can enjoy a nice warming cup of tea

The Beauty of Mill Hill in the Snow - views of Arrandene

I love living in Mill Hill and I love the snow. I took the mutt out for a walk this morning and it was truly stunning. I hope this piccies give you a little pleasure.This is a truly great city, today I was out walking through a picture postcard landscape and tonight I'll be watching Public Image Ltd at the Electric Ballroom. That's why I love Mill Hill and I love London.

Many parts of Mill Hill are in the green belt. This is often called the lungs of London and it gives us the opportunity to appreciate the beauty of nature on our doorstep.

The only reason that the Green Belt is still green is because of strict laws prohibiting the development of the land. Only greedy property developers and those politicians who they have in their pockets are in favour of destroying the green belt. Have a look at these pictures and tell me if you think this area would look better with a block of flats on it?