A long strip of land next to High Barnet tube station has been earmarked for conversion into a long strip of blocks of flats.
Located halfway up Barnet Hill, the station is an important gateway to Chipping Barnet, Underhill and New Barnet. TfL says that despite their prominent location the station and the area around it have poor accessibility.
The land is currently split between a car park for the station, and a range of light-industrial uses and container storage.
Goggle satellite view
TfL says that the site has the potential for over 450 new homes instead. 40% of the new homes will be classed as “affordable”. The initial plan calls for the construction of seven blocks of flats.
A pocket park with a widened, and lit footpath, which meanders through the trees could replace the existing narrow walkway off Barnet Hill, and an upgraded station square outside the station buildings are planned. Proposals for the land at the top entrance to the station include the construction of a cycle hub and coffee shop.
Although the light industrial occupants will have to be removed, the plans include building workspaces to help businesses start-up and stay in the area. They anticipate that the proposals could directly provide 40 new full-time jobs and create 50 in the wider area.
Planned development
One aspect that’s not on the plans is that the station entrance is at the end of a road and a footpath down two slopes, whereas moving the station entrance to the end of the road (where TfL’s Abrams House is), would make the station entrance a lot more visible, and for those coming from the south, a shorter journey.
Essentially flipping the station access around — but that would push the costs up.
The consultation opened last month, and has a lot of feedback already.
Local MP, Theresa Villiers has said though that she will fight the plans to build over the car parks as she says they are essential for the local community. At a public meeting, there was also opposition from local residents.
Around a quarter of the car park would be retained, for blue-badge holders.
The project is being managed by a consortium of Transport for London, Taylor Wimpey and Pinnacle Regen.
Sorry Doug, your truck will have to move.
Good to remove the car park, which only encourages car journeys. However they must ensure that viable alternatives are in place, not everyone can cycle, or wants to cycle to the station.
Shame they will remove areas of the woods for flats.
Isn’t there a risk, though, that those car journeys you have removed by removing the car park are actually lengthened as those that can’t use the car park as a park-and-ride carry on further into London instead?
Absolutely no to this. The area can’t cope with the amount of cars and parking the flats will generate. That car park now can’t cope with the daily commuters parking in the car park. Who exactly will be living in the ‘low cost housing’. Too much concrete going up for the area. Create a decent park land. Play area picnic area. It’s not only Barnet it’s Finchley Central and Cockfosters that has plans to build. Let us breathe
“The area can’t cope with the amount of cars and parking the flats will generate.” <-- the flats wont have parking, hence no cars to worry about. "Who exactly will be living in the ‘low cost housing’." <-- people who can't afford full priced housing. "Too much concrete going up for the area." <-- the renders show very little concrete and lots of bricks. "Create a decent park land." <-- if you want to raise the money, then I am sure TfL would be delighted to accept your counter bid to buy the land from them.
This is such not a good idea, too much traffic for a start, Barnet Hill won’t cope. Plus it looks, and will be overcrowded with the proposed flats! Not fair to build right next to a railway track and expect people to live there, for the affordable – what noise pollution!
Removing the car park means less road traffic, not more.
Only one thing wrong with this that I can see ( As an occasional visitor to High Barnet )
It will be an even longer trog from the village centre to the station.
A “Northern” entrance should still be kept.
They’re not getting rid of the northern entrance.
Ian you are a clown, parked vehicles are not traffic. Barnet is being massively over developed by greedy developers who grease Barnet council and that rat mayor just adds to the mix. Build OUTSIDE London… affordable housing is a MYTH… Barnet is not adorable for most people. It’s being wrecked just like the rest of London.
This is a terrible idea. 450 flats with no car parking provision. The station car park is important to commuters living in the area where public buses have been reduced even though the population has increased dramatically. Barnet Hill already suffers from pollution caused by traffic jams. Properties further down the hill already suffer from flooding and building further up the hill will just make things worse.
Barnet does not need anymore poorly designed ugly, cheaply built shoe box sized apartments. The
Not a good idea, the Elmbank new development has already caused an extra 20-30 min snarl of traffic from Quinta Drive, Mays Lane and Wood street worsening the access times to the station.
There’s another building bg development in the Victoria Road/New Barnet rail line axis, people still prefer to drive to work and drop children at QE Boys and Girls particularly durung tge winter months as High Barnet is quite leafy and poorly lit.
You’re saying that a modest development of 114 flats and homes has added 20-30 mins worth of delay to your morning commute?
Unless there was a car for every resident and they all left at exactly the same time of the morning, even then I would struggle to expect that to add more than a few minutes to a journey.
And of course, that is totally unrealistic as there’s only 155 parking places anyway, far less than the number of people living in the new estate.
The old LNER goods yards converted to warehousing when the line converted to tube now being converted to housing. Seems to be in line with the current planning trends in ‘densification’ around ‘nodes’ – look at developments around Whetstone junction served by Totteridge & Whetstone one stop down the line (though in that case not on the goods yard itself). As a former New Barnet resident and Totteridge station user, I recall that the morning rush tubes coming down from High Barnet were filiing up – by Finchley Central they were Sardine tins. Not sad to see the This will only get worse with ‘densification’ and the housing canyons developing alongside the railway lines between the nodes, and increase pressure on nearby New Barnet (GNR)- also major development around nearby East Barnet. Personally, not sad to see the ugly (IMO) warehousing go, but regardless of no parking facilties, this is likely to to increase car ownership and commuting in the area.
This is a terrible idea. Barnet Hill is already subject to congestion and the local infrastructure won’t be able to cope with the increased pressure. I hope the local resistance will be successful.