Over 100 homes to be built in place of Barnet office block with 17 to be affordable
Over 100 new homes will be built in the place of an office block after a lengthy dispute. Barnet Council's planning committee has finally given the green light to a revised housing project. The original plan for Intec House on 49 Moxon Street in High Barnet, approved back in January, promised 35 per cent affordable housing.
However, a new version tabled in April upped the home count from 92 to 98 but scrapped the affordable units, leading to a deferral and an appeal by developer Moxon One due to "non-determination".
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Fast forward to last night's (Monday, October 14) strategic planning meeting, and yet another proposal was on the table – this time for 113 homes with 15 per cent earmarked as social-rent properties, totalling 17 houses.
This increase in homes comes at the expense of employment space, which has been cut by more than half.
Committee chair Nigel Young acknowledged that while there are downsides, the benefits, particularly the inclusion of affordable housing, outweigh them. He stressed, however, that the approval of this tall development should be seen as "exceptional".
The debate, which lasted a tense 90 minutes, saw resident Darren Taylor of South Close vehemently oppose the scheme, arguing that its height was "nothing but absurd" and would result in loss of privacy for his home.
The contentious development project, previously capped at seven storeys and perched on a slope, has seen its height controversially increased to eight.
Darren, a vocal critic of the scheme, slammed the proposal for its high density, which he likened to "akin to Zone 2 London", claiming it clashes with the "leafy suburb of High Barnet".
He referred to the revised affordable housing provision of 15 per cent as "a bit of a joke", although conceding it was an improvement on the initial offer, which included no affordable units at all. The local council's policy typically requires 35 per cent affordable housing in developments exceeding ten homes.
Committee member Richard Barnes raised concerns about the building's fit with the area due to its size, prompting officer Josh McLean to acknowledge that while the structure may not be suitable, there were "circumstances that may allow it to be appropriate". The council had identified parts of the scheme where "could accommodate additional massing" could be integrated without increasing the overall height through 'infills'.
Cllr Young pointed out that the visibility difference between the original "consented scheme" and the new proposal was "marginal" from most viewpoints, except for one angle on South Clase, which would "clearly" be affected. He also noted that the addition of 113 houses would contribute "some way" towards meeting the borough’s housing targets.
Andy Shamash, another local resident and objector, said: “Is it not likely or even obvious, given Moxon One’s previous application, that if consent for the scheme is obtained developers will again plead poverty and look to submit a further scheme backed by yet another viability assessment, reducing affordable provision again and maximising their profits at the expense of Barnet residents?”
Committee member Claire Farrier questioned if he thought another scheme could be put forward when this was the “latest alternative that was affordable from their point of view”.
Andy argued the solution wasn’t to “increase massing and harm to the local environment” and the developer should have obtained more local input.
Josh clarified the 17 affordable homes were “secured”.
Before the vote carried the plans through, the council’s legal officer informed the committee Moxon One would remove its appeal if the scheme was approved. Six committee members subsequently voted in favour, with two voting against.