Ten years after the first attempt to sell Hendon Football Club from under the public, campaigners finally lost the battle when the planning committee meeting passed Fairview’s planning application on the site – housing being more important than public green space and leisure facilities.

The Hendon Football Club was an important community asset for the residents of North Cricklewood. The football club was not only used by local children, but training sessions were run for children from all over north-west London. HFC had a social club and pub. The banqueting hall was used for christenings and weddings and provided community activities and classes.

HFC was originally part of the land forming Clitterhouse Playing Fields, which was sold for the use of Golders Green Estate residents when their estate was developed. The point being that HFC is part of this Metropolitan Open Land. It was leased to a football club many years back with the proviso that should football cease to be played on the site, it would revert back to the Clitterhouse Playing Fields. But Barnet Borough Council saw an opportunity; they kicked the football club out, along with a number of small businesses attached to the club, and abandoned the site. Squatters moved in several times until the buildings were finally demolished and the site reduced to a heap of rubble. Barnet Council has since cited this eyesore as the main reason for redeveloping the site.

Cricklewood is being stripped of a green amenity space. Even Fairview’s own consultants described this space as being ‘mostly greenfield’. The green space is not being replaced. Indeed, this loss has set a precedent for other developers to strip Cricklewood of other green spaces. Over the next few years, Cricklewood will lose HFC, Clarefield Park, the Brent Terrace Triangles, the Cricklewood Town Square, part of the Millenium Green and another fifth of the Clitterhouse Playing Fields. Under the Brent Cross development, North Cricklewood will gain 7,500 new homes, quadrupling the number of homes in the area. In the light of this, the loss of any green space will have a huge impact on the quality of life of Cricklewood residents.

So for our loss of this green space, what has Cricklewood gained? 135 housing units. Some people may see this as going some way to alleviate our housing crisis. But our housing crisis will not be solved by developers building large quantities of units; 20,000 here and 135 there will not alleviate the problem if the housing units are too small, if they lack outside space, if they are built on our parkland and if the rents or mortgages are not affordable.

So what are Fairview offering in the way of affordable housing? This is all discussed in their financial viability report. Financial viability is a ‘dark art’ where developers convince council officers that it would be simply impossible for them to make money if they have to include cheaper (affordable) units in their schemes.

Unfortunately, the planning committee chairman and his officers refused to allow committee members to see Fairview’s viability reports (or indeed any other viability report for any other planning application heard that evening). The documents were deemed to be too business sensitive. Committee members were told that Deloitte had independently verified Fairview’s viability study on their behalf. Fairview have offered 21.5 per cent affordable housing on this development – far short of Mayor Boris Johnson’s 50 per cent benchmark. As one of the committee members pointed out ‘at least it’s something’.

Well, Fairview recently offered 21.5 per cent affordable housing on the Queensbury pub development in Mapesbury, Brent. This was utterly rejected by Brent councillors, who found Fairview’s viability report to be wholly lacking in detail and transparency. Brent councillors did not consider Fairview’s offer to be the best for their community. Barnet councillors should not have accepted the same offer for North Cricklewood. In an alternate, socially just universe, Barnet Council would be before a court on charges of theft and Fairview would be standing alongside them on charges of possession of stolen property.

Name and address supplied