Councillors have decided not to refuse permission for a major estate regeneration after being told the developers had taken on board their concerns.
During a meeting on Thursday, Barnet Council’s strategic planning committee voted to defer the redevelopment of the Douglas Bader Park Estate in Colindale to allow Home Group and Hill to revise their plans.
On June 1, the committee rejected council officers’ recommendation to approve plans to knock down 271 existing homes on the 1970s estate and build up to 753 new ones in blocks of up to nine storeys.
Councillors criticised the design of the scheme and the lack of social housing, indicating they would formally refuse permission at the next meeting.
READ MORE: Estate regeneration bid rejected by councillors – despite support of residents
But during Thursday’s meeting, committee chairman Cllr Eva Greenspan (Conservative, Finchley Church End) said the applicant had taken on board all the criticisms councillors had made and wanted to redesign the scheme.
She explained the committee was allowed to defer the application, as the reasons for refusal had not been finalised.
Ten committee members voted to defer, with one abstention and one unable to vote because he had not been present at the previous meeting.
The plan to regenerate the estate had the backing of most existing residents, with more than three quarters voting in favour of a comprehensive redevelopment in a ballot that had a 90 per cent turnout.
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