PLANS for new council offices in the heart of Grahame Park will be decided on tonight.

The office block is scheduled for 2017, and will be built along Lanacre Avenue, to the north of the junction with Grahame Park Way. Part of it will be up to nine storeys high.

A full planning application will be discussed by Barnet council’s planning committee in Hendon Town Hall tonight (October 1).

Concerns were raised during consultation about increased traffic and staff parking in the surrounding streets, as just 100 parking spaces will be provided for staff.

In response, officers said there will be targets set to encourage different methods of transport. They said there will also be “significant” investment in public transport, including a potential bus linking Finchley to Colindale.

Objections were also received from community groups, charities and residents’ associations, after long-standing plans for a new community centre were shelved to make way for the council offices.

Barnet council said in July it remains “committed” to providing community facilities in Grahame Park, and the centre will be provided in the next stage of the regeneration.

But Colindale councillors have said they fear the promise will not be kept.

In a report to the planning committee, officers said the development would have a “significant positive impact” on the planned regeneration in Colindale.

The plans have been recommended for approval, subject to a list of conditions, or to be referred to the Mayor of London.