The West Hendon Barratt development in telling pictures

Barratt Homes' brochure for the 'Hendon Waterside' development casually obliterates the present West Hendon Estate - you can just see it submerged under the green 'open space':

 

 This is the Estate now:

This is 'Hendon Waterside' after development. The private development will be beside the water with uninterrupted views across the Welsh Harp to the undeveloped west bank. The social housing will be close to the  traffic and pollution of the A5.

Barratt homes are selling the view to prospective buyers for the 2 bedroomed £340,000 apartments in the present new block:

 

 

This is the existing block walkers on the west side of the Welsh Harp can  see. The next phase of the development will see four tower blocks of up to 29 storeys in addition.

To conclude here is the view of the development site  from Cool Oak Bridge taken yesterday with the above block on the far right. The proposed tower blocks are at least twice as high as this block.

A view of the proposed development:

It is likely that Barratt Homes have deliberately 'over-pitched' their planning application and have costed in a reduction in the height of the towers in response to planning feedback. By pitching high and allowing for a reduction of a few storeys they will still get very tall blocks in what is essentially a rural landscape. In the light of what we can see with the present 12 storey new build we should consider carefully what height and density would be appropriate.

Brent Council's objection to Welsh Harp over-development

Brent Council Planning Department has submitted an objection to the West Hendon development. The full document is available below:

West Hendon development background information

The information below provides background to our opposition to the West Hendon development and may be useful for those making objections to Barnet Planning Committee:

• There already is an approved Planning Application dating from 2008 for a development of ~2000 homes on the site. The recent development on Cool Oak Lane is part of that. This had lower towers and they were placed back from the water much further. I believe the tallest tower was almost on the West Hendon Broadway. It also included outline approval for two footbridges. This approval for the balance of the development and the two bridges is still extant.
• Barratts claim that this was not financially viable and have come up with the current proposal.
• The potentially damaging Northern Footbridge is shown on the plans by a wide swathe through the West Woodland of the SSSI. In the already approved plan it is shown immediately behind Halfords which is on the Edgware Road. To mitigate the effect of this bridge we need the following.

           To build it as close to Halfords as the new envelope allows

 To make it a throughway only with no access possible to the wet woodland

To have minimal lighting to preserve the site as a dark site

It should be locked overnight

It should be constructed to prevent fly-tipping into the river and the SSSI

• The Cool Oak Lane Bridge needs to be sited as close as possible to the road bridge. The road bridge is grade II listed and must be preserved.
• The reduction of the tree screen to allow views down from West Hendon Broadway is also damaging as this is exactly where the largest winter flocks are frequently found.

This all focuses the mind on the things to argue about. The height and location of the Towers. The layout of the whole Estate, The siting and construction of the bridges. The provision of adequate screening. The estate is too large and too dense in its new form.