PLANS to demolish former army housing and build 2,000 new homes on a troubled Mill Hill estate were given the go-ahead last night.

Plans put forward for the Inglis Barracks site near Mill Hill East Tube Station include a new primary school, power station and around 300 affordable homes.

The officers mess building will also be kept and transformed into flats, while Barnet Council could be set to benefit from millions of pounds of section 106 cash to improve roads and other amenities.

Residents are now being evicted from the Inglis Barracks site near Mill Hill East Tube station in preparation for the new scheme.

The energy centre will comprise a combined heat and power boiler fuelled by gas, but able to use alternative fuel sources in the future.

Colin Darby, speaking on behalf of the consortium, said: “The Consortium members are delighted with the decision and are very excited about being able to deliver this vision for the future.

“The vision will revitalise the site with a new high quality and attractive suburban quarter, which also reflects the vision of the Council, as set out in its Area Action Plan”.

The plans were opposed by the Mill Hill Preservation Society, which said they were “overdevelopment” of the area and “urban in character”.

Other problems flagged up included a lack of green space for the numbers of people living there, and the number of one and two bed apartments posed a challenge to establishing a community there.

The Commission of Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) also flagged up worries about the relationship between buildings up to six stories in height at the southern end of the scheme which will be facing homes of one and two stories.

Sport England also flagged up concerns about land which meets the definition of playing fields being built over in the plans.

Despite this Barnet Council’s planning committee agreed to pass the proposals last night, which will now go before the Mayor of London’s Office for ratification.

If this happens, detailed plans for each phase of the scheme will then be brought to the planning committee for consideration before construction can go ahead.