In Barnet Council, no one can hear you scream -What has gone wrong in Hendon

The reason I prefer blogs to twitter is because you are not limited to 240 characters, you analyse things properly and delve a bit. I really thought the situation in Hendon, with elections coming up and an unpopular development scheme warranted a blog of its own.  

For many people, Alien was the best sci fi film of all time. Do you remember this poster and slogan

Do you know why? It is because space is a vacuum and sound waves cannot travel in a vacuum. I recall that I went to see Alien with my Dad in 1979. I'd have been seventeen years old. My Dad, a former WW2 pilot loved sci fi and was obsessed with the future. He had a great idea of how technology worked. He explained that in the four years he was in the RAF, technology advanced by the equivalent of 50 years of peacetime development. 

You may think "This is fascinating, but what's it got to do with Barnet Council?". Let me explain. My Dad was a committed Conservative. He was a business owner and was firmly of the opinion that we needed free enterprise, entrepreneurs, light regulation and low taxes for the economy to thrive. He explained to me that within 30 years, we'd all have mobile phones which we'd be able to watch TV on. Why, because they were more convenient than phones with wires and there was no reason why that technology couldn't be shrunk. He also predicted that within 50 years, local councils as we know them would be redundant. His logic was that technology, developments in science and medicine and better education would render such things unnecessary. He had a vision of what the local Torys used to call Easycouncil on a grand scale. The council would be run by about 20 people, private companies would deliver all of the services at super low costs, we'd not need care homes because medical science would remove the need for care and we'd not need roadsweepers, as we'd all be well educated and know that litter was a terrible thing. He saw the rise of computers and said that we'd all have one someday and be able to run our lives on them. As this predated the internet, it was a pretty bold prediction. 

Sadly, he couldn't have been more wrong about Barnet Council. It costs more money than ever. The streets have more litter and as we are living longer, we need more care homes and carers. He'd say "In the future, if you need a new leg, they will grow you one". We are still a long way from that!

When we came out of Alien, Dad took me for a pint and as was his way, he told me all of the things that the film had got wrong. He explained how the captain of the ship had simply failed to manage the situation properly. As a former Air force officer, such things riled him. He said "When it comes down to it, if the Captain of the ship does not react to the realities of the challenges facing him, the ship sinks". I asked what this meant. He explained that when he was flying his Wellington bomber over Germany to bomb Nazi's, he was the Captain of the plane and the pilot. He was in charge, but the most important member of the crew was the rear gunner. His job was to scour the skies, looking for threats. As soon as he detected the slightest threat, he had to report it and my Dad's job was to take evasive action, such as corkscrewing the plane into a dive to evade a night fighter. The rear gunner was the only defence against such a threat and was the bloke who would save them. 

In Barnet Council, the leader is Councillor Dan Thomas. He took over after the last Council election, he deposed former Leader Richard Cornelius. Councillor Thomas is a lover of big developments. He believes his legacy will be the 'Hendon Hub', a mega development scheme, lead by Middlesex University. It seems that Councillor Thomas believes that a mega University Campus in a historic quarter of Hendon will in some way make Barnet Council a wonderful organisation. The oldest building in Hendon, formerly a local museum called Church Farmhouse Museum has been converted into offices for the University. The historic Library is to be dispensed with and relocated into a corner of a big tower. 

There has been a huge number of objections to the Hub scheme. Local residents feel so upset about the plans, that a local resident is standing as an independent on a platform of opposing the development. There seems to be a strong social media campaign to support this campaign. I've heard that local Lib Dems are also getting a lot of support from former Tories (I asked Labour but they won't tell me). 

For details of all HENDON LOCAL ELECTION CANDIDATES, click the link below:

GO FRANCA!! https://t.co/LipCSkIA67 #Franca4Hendon #Franca4All pic.twitter.com/BLVzLMFRhi

— SaveHendon 🍃💚🍃 (@SaveHendon) April 6, 2022

Hendon has historically been a Conservative ward, but many locals feel completely let down by the councillors they elected. I am not anti development and I supported Middlesex University when prominent local Tories were calling it a crap university. In 2008, the then leading Tory in Barnet, Brian Coleman stated

"Why should the people of north London suffer in order to attract hundreds of foreign students? They are such a crap university, they only attract foreign ones," 

I was absolutely disgusted and used my platform on the Barnet Times to tell Coleman what I thought of him. This started a spat that resulted in the Barnet Times dispensing with my services and the Barnet Eye starting. Coleman got booted out after he was convicted for assault by beating of Helen Michael in Finchley. Coleman never got on with Dan Thomas. Before Dan Thomas became a player in the Barnet Tories, he made a private phonecall to me and told me all manner of hilarious stories about Mr Coleman. These days Dan Thomas doesn't talk to plebs like me. He's far too important. I thought it was personal, but a large number of people have told me that he's ignored their emails and letters as well. If you oppose the hub scheme, he simply doesn't want to listen. 

I personally have mixed feelings on the scheme. I want to see Middlesex Uni thrive. This has always been my position, but the hub scheme is the wrong scheme. There are plenty of sites in the Borough of Barnet that need the regeneration the scheme would bring, but they are destroying local history by doing it in the historic town centre of Hendon. Not only is it a bad scheme in an area that doesn't need it, it is a missed opportunity to do something great. 

I'd have thought that it would have been far better to move the whole thing to the site of the Brent Cross regeneration scheme, where there is ample space for everything and no historic buildings to ruin. It would also give part time employment opportunities for students at the shopping centre, which would be on their doorstep and great transport links for them via Thameslink and the soon to be built West London Orbital Railway. 

The sad truth is that if you live in Hendon, no one in Barnet Council can hear you scream, when you look at how the Hendon Hub Scheme will ruin your local community.

Here's a little video I made on the day, 12 years ago, when Barnet Council shut Hendon's local museum.

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Why is it that when Town planners talk about 'creating a hub' it is invariably a crap plan?

 This blog has been following the plan for a 'Hendon Hub' with a sort of morbid interest. A couple of weeks ago Dan Thomas, leader of Barnet Council posted up an article on the Council website extolling the virtues of this plan. I actually find the language that Cllr Thomas uses hilarious. Why is it that when people are trying to big up bonkers schemes they lose the ability to speak the Queens English (yeah, I'm dyslexic, so I shouldn't throw stones, but you know what I mean). 

Lets have a look at what Mr Thomas had to say

“Making these planning applications brings us a big step further towards starting work on the Hendon Hub. The development will benefit residents and communities based in Hendon, and draw much-needed investment to improve public spaces and university facilities that will be available for all to use.”

The concept that this is being done to improve the space for locals seems to be rather at odds with the perception of locals. If I were a cynic I'd say that I'd be surprised if the University was spending millions on the scheme so local residents could have unfettered access to them. Maybe a few meeting rooms and all weather pitches etc may be available to rent (* Conditions apply) when the University isn't using them, which is a rather different thing.

“Plans for Hendon Hub have been carefully and sympathetically designed by Barnet Council in partnership with Middlesex University. We have sought opinions of residents through an extensive public consultation earlier this year. We now invite residents to have their say on detailed plans as part of the statutory consultation process.”

When Cllr Thomas says plance have been 'carefully and sympathetically designed' I rather wonder what this in actual fact means?  The Oxford dictionary gives a few definitions of the word 'Sympathetically'.  The one that comes closest is 'in a way that makes it easy to like somebody; in a pleasant way' I suspect that what this means is that the developers will find it very easy to like the Leader of the Council. From what I've seen, very few locals have any sympathetic views towards the scheme. 

The press release also says "New buildings will be functional and designed to complement, and not consume, existing historical buildings. Where possible, the development will also bring some historic facilities back into community use."

This is what we call a tad disingeniuous, given that it was the council that removed community use. 

There is an 'interactive virtual consultation website'. Whilst this sounds fancy, it is a faily dull website, with a few slides about the plans, which rather lack detail with links to the various plans. I had a look at the planning application for the Fenella site. There are currently five comments, all objections. I wondered if the commenters feel the development is 'sympathetic'?  Here are a couple of the comments

"The proposed building is significantly higher than surrounding buildings and nearly every other building in the area and for that reason is out of character and overbearing. It also provides greater density of accommodation while reducing the amount of car parking servicing the area."

"Not wanted by local residents/businesses buildings far to high. Not in keeping with listed buildings surrounding development. Overlooking neighbouring properties. Loss of parking in Egerton Gardens already CPZs in area caused by expansion and 1 campus model, essential for church services, funerals, weddings etc, elderly and disabled. Public Library should stay in the listed building. What happened to the Restrictive Covenents on Fenella and Ravensfield. Not treated by Barnet Council the same as Hampstead Garden Suburb Conservation area. No benefits for residents just for University and Capita who will gain 30% in rents. The area is not big enough for increase in residents without appropriate parking."

I was quite shocked that there are not more comments. I'm not surprised by the lack of support, but by the general apathy. Could it be that locals simply know that the Council will ignore them anyway?

I was particularly struck by one answer in the FAQ's section

Is this project based on increasing the number of students studying at Middlesex University?

The university has no current plans to increase the overall number of students studying at its Hendon campus. The project is based on existing student numbers overall, though it is likely that there will be some increase in the number of students that live locally

This is clearly misleading. The whole game here is to concentrate as many people on the Hendon site as possible. The University has all manner of sites, some which it feels are too small and inconvenient. When it says it is 'likely that there will be some increase in the number of students that live locally', this is a bang on certainty as the same website says that there will be 384 purpose built student accomodation units. I really don't think it helps anyone when it is clear that people are being mislead.

On a more general point, I have a problem with the whole 'Hub' concept. Whenever I've seen plans for what are described as 'Hubs', it is invariably a ruse to tart up a scheme that is badly thought through, usually derived by people who never use such spaces. I've been involved in setting up a few spaces over the years. The ones that work well are set up by people with a passion for what they do. The ones that don't work are where people have a vague 'build it and they will come' mentality. Generally the idea is that if you bung lots of disparate ventures together, you create a critical mass that somehow miraculously generates a hugely successful, thriving centre. Often the people pushing the schemes are people who are good at setting up spreadsheets and imaging ever more weird and whacky ways to populate the columns on them. There is this idea that you can have a space that is a theatre, a cinema, a music venue and meeting room space. What is missed is that each different use has a whole different set of requirements. If you look at The Kiln, in Cricklewood, which is a successful arts centre, they have a dedicate theatre and a dedicated cinema, run by a team that understands how to programme the space for the local area. I went to see the new Bond film last week at the iMax in Swiss Cottage. This space works because it is a great cinema. You would never put a band on in such a space, for a host of reasons.

The Hendon Hub, is in fact just a large university campus, being sold to the locals as something, by a council which cares nothing for the existing locals who have paid their taxes for generations. I've no objection at all to the University expanding and becoming more successful. Where I take issue is when they start bulldozing historic sites. There are plenty of far more suitable sites for redevelopment in Barnet. 

One thing I'm pleased about is the fact that Cllr Thomas has spoken so effusively about the scheme. He has nailed the flag of himself and his regime to the plan. If you live in and around the area and are none too keen, you know what you need to do. It is interesting to note that one local Tory Councillor who dissented, got deselected. Unlike his predecessor, Cllr Richard Cornelius, Cllr Thomas was not born or raised locally. He's stood several times in his native Wales as a prospective parliamentary candidate. I am not in the least surprised that the feelings of locals for well loved landmarks and the community are at the bottom of his list of priorities. In thirty or forty years, we will look back on this particular era as we now look back on the plans of British Rail to demolish St Pancras. As a community, we need to fight to keep the good things in our locality. When people talk them down, I always say "Were you born and raised around here?" I'm sure you can guess what the usual answer is. And as for hubs? Back in the sixties, estates like Grahame Park were seen as the way forward for social housing. The people who designed them, never went near them once they'd been built. Mega estates popped up all over the place. I suspect the 'Hub' concept will be viewed in the same way in the not too distant future. I just hope some of the nice things in our community survive this current Maoist attack on our culture. 

Urgent message from the Midland Hendon Community Group

 Hello Friends and Supporters 

JUST A QUICK TIME CRITICAL REQUEST following email a month ago.

Hendon Hub planning applications are now live on the Barnet website so legal action must be filed ASAP.

The last chance to have a judge look at the blueprint of the policies underpinning the Hendon Hub developments and stopping Barnet Council from passing these plans.

Any donation, no matter the size, will be greatly appreciated to take the challenge to the next stage. 

The target to raise in the NEXT EIGHT DAYS is £20k for this stage. 

We have about £8300 at the moment.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/hendon-residents-v-barnet-council

If you can help, please do so. Grateful thanks to those who have donated or spread the word.

Happy to try to answer any queries or direct you to the answers.

Cheers!

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Guest blogs and community announcements are always welcome at The Barnet Eye