Mayor of London Sadiq Khan will not overturn a decision by councillors to refuse permission for 652 homes in New Barnet.

The mayor has gone against the recommendation of his officers and declined to act as planning authority for the Victoria Quarter application, which was planned for the former British Gas Works in Albert Road.

At a planning committee meeting on October 13, Barnet councillors unanimously refused permission for Fairview New Homes and One Housing to build 14 blocks ranging from one to ten storeys at the site, ruling the application ran contrary to several local and national planning policies.

They said the proposed scheme was a “visually obtrusive form of development that would fail to respect its local context” and would “provide an unsatisfactory standard of residential accommodation”.

Councillors agreed that the “predominantly one and two-bedroom units” did not meet local housing need, while criticising the lack of a “formal undertaking to enable an amendment to the Traffic Regulations Order”.

Due to its size, the application was then referred to Mr Khan as an application of strategic importance to London. Under article 7 of the Mayor of London Order (2008), he has the power to direct that he will become the local planning authority for an application and determine it.

But in a letter to the council dated December 7, the mayor wrote: “Contrary to my officers’ recommendation, I do not consider that there are sound planning reasons for me to issue a direction under Article 7 of the Order.

“I am content to allow the local planning authority to determine the case itself, subject to any action that the Secretary of State may take, and do not therefore wish to take over the application for my own determination.”

The developer could still appeal to the planning inspectorate to overturn the committee’s decision or come back with a revised proposal for the site.