Plans for a major housing development at a disused retail park in Barnet have been approved by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.

The mayor’s decision means 844 homes in blocks up to 15 storeys high will be built at Pentavia Retail Park in Mill Hill by developer Meadow Residential.

Barnet Council’s planning committee refused permission for the development in July last year after receiving more than 680 objections from members of the public.

Councillors said the scheme would be an overdevelopment of the site and would not provide enough affordable housing.

But the plans were referred to the Mayor of London because the size of the development made it a site of “strategic importance”.

The developer later agreed to up the affordable housing level from 35 per cent to 41 per cent and increase the overall number of homes on the scheme from 724 to 844.

Mr Khan approved the revised plans at a public hearing at City Hall on Thursday (July 25).

Planning officers from the Greater London Authority (GLA) admitted in a report that the scheme would “mark a departure from the prevailing form and density of development in the locality, and a departure from Barnet Local Plan policy concerning appropriate locations for tall buildings”.

But they said the fact that the site was “segregated” meant the surrounding area “would not be adversely affected by the proposals”.

Pentavia Retail Park is bordered by the M1 to the west and the A1 Watford Way to the east.

GLA officers also said the development “would not harm the significance of the nearby Watling Estate Conservation Area or Mill Hill Conservation Area or any other heritage assets”.

The Pentavia scheme will make a significant contribution to Barnet’s overall affordable housing targets.

Between 2012 and 2017, the number of affordable homes built in the borough was well below the target set out in the mayor’s London Plan.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: “This is classic example of an underused site with the potential to deliver significant numbers of homes, including affordable homes at social rent and London Living Rent levels.

“I’m clear that I will use all the levers at my disposal to increase the delivery of new genuinely affordable homes across the capital.

“It’s testament to the hard work of my planning team that, since I called this application in for further scrutiny, they have been able to increase the level of affordable housing even higher than it was previously.

“As such, having considered all the evidence available to me, I’ve decided to approve this application.”

 

 

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