The destruction of the Green Belt in Barnet - Part 2 - Lack of Enforcement

My second blog of the New Year detailed how the man who was elected to be deputy Chairman of the Hendon Conservatives last March, Andrew Reid had built a zoo and childrens farm on Green Belt land in the Conservation area. Whist such an amenity has benefits for the community, I was appalled at the siting of the facility, which has destroyed the view of Totterdige Valley from the Ridgeway. This view is mentioned in the Barnet Council UDP. The purpose of the Conservation area, as Mill Hill Conservative Councillor John Hart well knows is to preserve the character of the area. Any changes, even to the windows of houses, is subject to the most stringent planning regulations.

I checked out how planning permission was granted for such a huge installation. I have friends who live in the conservation area who had to install special "green parking" bays (these use a lattice system so grass can grow) in their own gardens. I was amazed that Mr Reid could install a car park with huge metal fences (I know land owners who had to install sympathetic fences) in such a place and stay within these rules. Strangely, I found that there was no planning application from Mr Reid. I asked whether Councillor John Hart and Councillor Maureen Braun, who is the chairman of the Hendon Planning authority, had been advising their friend from the Conservative association and whether they'd decided that the normal rules in the Conservation area didn't apply to their friend Mr Reid and his Childrens Zoo and Farm and it's surrounding installations.

As a result, several avid readers of the Barnet Eye contacted me, and passed me various emails. It seems that the planning department were aware of the installation and had asked Mr Reid to submit for planning permission. Mr Reid retorted that he didn't need it as it was all within "permitted use". One of my correspondents forwarded me an email, sent to him by a Barnet Council Planning Officer, following the councils discussions with Mr Reid. It contained the following paragraph:-

Another problem with serving a planning enforcement notice is that there is a right of appeal to the Planning Inspectorate and I have no doubt that Mr Reid would make such an appeal. In the event of an appeal, there is likely to be no decision on the matter for at least another six months and in the meantime Mr Reid has a right to continue the use.

I could not believe my eyes. Is this now official Barnet Council policy? Will they not enforce planning law on anyone who might appeal or have they made a special case of Mr Reid. If you, like me, are one of the thousands of Barnet residents who have had to change our building plans and designs because Barnets planners have "insisted", what are you thinking. Yet again the question has to be asked. Why do the council seem to apply one set of standards in planning for the man elected deputy chairman of Hendon Conservatives and another for everyone else. If the Council know that Mr Reids zoo breaches planning rules, they should serve an enforcement notice immediately. If it doesn't breach the rules they should say so and explain why. Not serving a notice because Mr Reid will appeal is not acceptable.You may recall that Mr Reid told the local press that he'd worked extremely closely with the Council. It is all too clear to me that too many Barnet Conservative Councillors are rather too keen to facilitate all manner of people who wish to change the face of the Borough forever. The Leader of the Council, Lynne Hillan even boasted how Fairview Homes had paid for their own council officer in a recent radio interview.

The bottom line with this and the sad truth is that it is clear that under the Conservative Administration at Barnet Council, the green belt is at risk. If Barnet Council will not enforce planning law on the Green Belt, then soon there won't be a green belt.