News
Sunday, 1 September 2019
Golders Green Town Centre Strategy (Final Draft 2019)
“Golders Green Town Centre Strategy (Final Draft 2019)” has been launched by LB Barnet for public consultation. See our “Golders Green Centre Town Planning” page for details.
Wednesday, 18 October 2017
Golders Green Town Centre Study - From Vision to Action Plan
By Philip Davies, Philip Davies (Heritage and Planning) Ltd
"Golders Green Town Centre Study - From Vision to Action Plan" was written by Philip Davies, who was the Planning and Development Director for London and South East England at English Heritage and was responsible for promoting and securing the original designation of the Golders Green conservation area and the statutory listing of the terraces in Golders Green Road. Please read about his thoughts and recommendations for improving the Golders Green town centre.
Golders Green Town Centre Study - Philip Davies.pdfMonday, 25 September 2017
Campaigners from Golders Green Station Action Group call for public to give their views as consultation over Golders Green regeneration opens by Fluid
By Jenny Desborough, the Times
Wednesday, 26 July 2017
Golders Green Station Plan Written Answers from the Mayor
Andrew Dismore, Labour Assembly Member for Barnet and Camden, submitted questions to the mayor, Sadiq Khan, about the Golders Green Station Plan. Here are the Mayor's written responses.
Thursday, 22 June 2017
Residents campaigning against a "significant redevelopment" in Golders Green have won a victory, as Transport for London (TFL) has withdrawn their plans - for the moment.
Latest Edition, Ham and High
Friday, 26 May 2017
Good news about the Draft Planning Brief
It appears that all people who have responded to the LB Barnet Draft Planning Brief by e-mail have received the following e-mail from Nick Lynch, Planning Policy Manager:
"Thank you for your response on the Golders Green Draft Planning Brief. Consultation on the draft Brief ended on May 25th. We are currently considering the representations that have been made on the draft Brief. It is clear from the high volume of representations that the draft Planning Brief cannot be progressed without significant revision. Subject to significant revision of the Brief the Council will re-consult. A timetable for this has yet to be set. We will notify respondents when there is clarity on how the revised Planning Brief is to be progressed.”
In addition, the GGSAG and some residents have received e-mails from local councillors saying that the LB Barnet is “withdrawing” the Draft Planning Brief.
Thank you for your brilliant response!
Thank you to all of our registered members for submitting comments. Over 1000 separate submissions have been received by the Council. The quantity and quality of the responses and the objections to the Brief have caused them to appreciate that it is fundamentally flawed. A testimony to the strength of local opinion seeking a change in the policy.
What next?
After the election we hope be able to sit and talk to LBB, TfL and other interested groups, such as, HGS Trust, HGS Residents Association, City of London Corporation, Historic England etc. They are all aligned with our views. Then with constructive discussion we could try and find an agreed way forward. Our councillors are also supportive of this strategy.
Thank you once again and here's to the next step.
Wednesday, 24 May 2017
Our response
It is an important read: Golders Green Station Action Group's response to the Planning Brief
Thursday, 11 May 2017
Hampstead Garden Suburb Trust's response to Golders Green Station Planning Brief
Thursday, 11 May 2017
My Golders Green: Oral historian and broadcaster Alan Dein
By Anna Behrmann, Ham and High
The award-winning radio documentary presenter on walking the same terrain as William Blake, travelling through time to see The Who at The Hippodrome, and why Golders Green is facing the biggest changes since the Edwardian era.
Read more.
Thursday, 4 May 2017
New Deadline
We are pleased that Barnet Council has agreed to extend the deadline for responses to this consultation from 11 May to 25 May. This was on learning from us that many residents and businesses affected who should have received information from Barnet had not done so.
While this is welcome, it is still important to send your opinions about the proposed development to reach the council by the deadline. The more people who express views, the more Barnet must pay attention.
Have a look at what others have said about the Planning Brief. Then send an email in your own words to forward.planning@barnet.gov.uk .
Thursday, 4 May 2017
Deadline extension
We have just heard we have probably won an extension of the deadline for submissions to the 25th of May.
More soon!
Wednesday, 3 May 2017
Spot the dot! Wrong e-mail address on Barnet leaflet
"Your e-mails may not have got through to Barnet’s Planners."
"The original Barnet leaflet announcing the consultation period on the 20th March, contains an unwanted dot in them. And Mike Freer’s leaflet has the same mistake. The correct email is the one on our website and other literature : Forward.planning@barnet.gov.uk Please check, and resubmit if necessary."
Wednesday, 3 May 2017
Statement from Jonathan Davies, Liberal Democrats Party Candidate
"These proposals appear to be massive over-development. Whilst tall buildings may be appropriate in Manhattan or Canary Wharf, new tower blocks over the station will change the character of our conservation areas in Golders Green and Garden Suburb and overshadow the area. This will put even more pressure on school places and our local health service. If the station depot is redeveloped, there could be a loss of local jobs. Local residents will be expecting the Labour Mayor and Tory Barnet Planning Committee to protect their local area.”
Wednesday, 3 May 2017
Letter from Mike Freer, Conservative Party Candidate
Below is an excerpt from the letter dated 30 April 2017:
"I wanted to reassure you that I have met with TfL and advised them that their proposals as currently envisaged are unacceptable. I am also working closely with your local councillors to ensure that the many concerns of local residents are reflected in the Planning Brief once it is adopted by the Council following the consultation.
In particular, we all agree that there must be no prospect of any future redevelopment of the depot and sidings that adjoin the Hampstead Garden Suburb Conservation Area. With respect to the station itself, any future proposals must be in keeping with the area and be restricted in terms of density and height, and with proper consideration of the impact it will have on parking, traffic flow and local schools.”
Monday, 1 May 2017
Press Release
Councillors in Childs Hill have called on Mayor Sadiq Khan "not to vandalise Golders Green" over the proposed multi-story redevelopment of the bus station and dismantling and reassembling the war memorial.
* * See coverage in Times and Jewish News * *
Conservative councillors Peter Zinkin and Shimon Ryde with colleagues in Golders Green and the Garden Suburb have called on TfL and the Mayor to work with residents and councillors to ensure their redevelopment of the bus station would be sympathetic to its surroundings, which fall entirely within the town centre conservation area.
The issue was raised at a meeting of the Council's Policy and Resources Committee and included concerns over plans to move the Clock Tower War Memorial, unveiled in 1923, from the junction of Finchley Road and North End to make way for a new road layout.
Cllr Zinkin said: "I call on TfL and the Mayor of London not to vandalise the centre of Golders Green and to work with local councillors and their residents to rethink their plans. "Any proposals put forward must be sympathetic to the existing town centre, with its conservation areas and listed buildings, and the movement of the war memorial must be sensitive and respectful to the memory of those it honours."
Following Cllr Zinkin's concerns, which included opposing a covered "undercroft" bus station, the committee agreed to put the planning brief on TfL's proposals to public consultation in the borough.
Speaking after the meeting, Cllr Ryde expressed concerns TfL's current plans were driven by a cash-pressed TfL rather than good design sympathetic to the historic town centre, and had the potential to cause traffic chaos.
He said: "The recent increase in traffic we are seeing on our roads, particularly from the new generation of large coaches, means that we are already at breaking point. The area simply cannot cope with more buses and coaches."
Golders Green town centre grew rapidly in the early 20th century following the arrival of the Northern line in 1907 and trams in 1909. Its shopping parades feature buildings in the late Victorian, English Renaissance, Art Nouveau, and Baroque architectural styles.
The 10.3 hectare site being considered for redevelopment falls entirely within the Golders Green Town Centre Conservation Area, designated in 1998, and mostly in the "Central Hub" area.
Cllr Shimon Ryde, Childs Hill Ward, 07970 870682
Monday, 1 May 2017
Press Release
Outrage at Golders Green development plans
Over 150 Golders Green and Hampstead Garden Suburb residents expressed outrage at a meeting on Thursday, 27 April, about the plans to develop Golders Green Station.
They were shocked not to have received any information from Barnet Council about its Draft Planning Brief, despite the deadline for response to a consultation being 11 May. And they felt that the plans potentially to build one or several blocks over the station, with an under croft for the bus concourse, with thousands of new flats and houses on the site, could severely damage the environment, heritage and quality of life.
One local resident, whose grandfather raised funds for the War Memorial in the 1920s, said how sad and offended he would be that demolition of this iconic monument was being considered.
“We have major concerns about the draft Brief,” said Jeremy Charles, one of the founders of the Golders Green Station Action Group, which convened the meeting. “The possible ‘tall building’ above the station would be an eyesore for miles around, and it’s a sacrilege to demolish the war memorial. It’s unthinkable that houses in a conservation area might be required to be knocked down, yet that’s exactly what this Draft Plan contemplates in Hampstead Garden Suburb. We will be making a detailed submission to Barnet Council explaining our concerns, and we urge all Golders Green and Hampstead Garden Suburb residents to write quickly to get the Council to reconsider.”
The Action Group has set up a website, www.GoldersGreenStationActionGroup.org, and Facebook Group, www.facebook.com/goldersgreenstationactiongroup about the plans. Responses must be emailed to forward.planning@barnet.gov.uk by 5pm on Thursday, 11 May. The Action Group have asked the Council for an extension of the deadline given that so few residents seem to have been notified of the consultation exercise.
Further information: Ron Finlay, ron@ronfinlaycomms.co.uk, 07779 013093
Monday, 1 May 2017
Facebook launch
Please join Golders Green Station Action Group on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/goldersgreenstationactiongroup/
Thursday, 27 April 2017
The meeting of residents
Over 150 people attended the meeting of residents at Fellowship House, 136a Willified Way. The purpose of the meeting was to give local residents an opportunity to hear more and decide how to express their opinions.
Thursday, 27 April 2017
Residents urged to make their voices heard on ‘significant re-landscaping’ of Golders Green
By Anna Behrmann, Ham and High
A new action group urges residents to make their views known on “the most significant re-landscaping of the Golders Green neighbourhood since its creation” – with new houses and shops and the demolition of the Clock Tower War Memorial proposed ... more