Second Opinion - Barnet, north London

Sarah Higgins, Regeneration & Renewal, 18 July 2008

Barnet: Panoramic Park, proposed for the area.

Scope/purpose: To guide development and change in the Mill Hill East area up to 2016, as part of the local development framework for Barnet.

Sarah Higgins comments: Barnet is the fastest growing outer London borough, stimulated by its strong economy, excellent schools and the quality of its open space. Mill Hill East, in the heart of the borough, is considered an area of significant development potential. The 48ha site covered by this plan may have seven landowners, but most of the site is owned by the Ministry of Defence, which has recently released 21ha for development. The aim for the area is to create a high quality, suburban quarter where people will want to live and work.

The document begins by setting out the format and purpose of the area action plan, before providing a clear explanation of the plan preparation process and the approach to community involvement.

The next part provides a detailed policy context, a review of the site's characteristics and a vision for the area. It describes the location of the site, albeit without an associated location plan, and includes a useful analysis of land ownership and physical and social characteristics. It then sets out a vision for Mill Hill East which, although functional, perhaps lacks the visual appeal or inspirational wording required to capture the imagination of potential investors.

The plan goes on to consider the policies and proposals that will guide the area's development, beginning with a discussion of the overall mix and scale of development, and earmarking Mill Hill East for higher housing densities. The policies, which are clearly set out with a justification for each, successfully cover all elements of development, including the approach to different land uses along with environmental, accessibility, sustainability and design issues.

The document then considers the future implementation of the area action plan, discussing a range of delivery mechanisms including compulsory purchase and a landowners' agreement in which all parties pay proportionally for the required infrastructure. It also discusses factors that would influence the timescale and phasing of development and the use of planning obligations to offset the impact of development. Finally, the plan identifies five distinctive and well illustrated "character areas", for which it provides design policies to guide the nature of built development and the treatment of boundaries and landscapes.

Overall, the document is well structured and presented. It successfully covers all aspects of development planning through well thought-out policies, working hard to provide a practical framework to guide the future development of a modern sustainable community. However, while Mill Hill East undoubtedly offers a significant development opportunity on the edge of London, the plan somehow leaves the reader feeling a little uninspired, perhaps missing a chance to capture the imagination of developers.

- Sarah Higgins is a senior urban regeneration consultant at Lambert Smith Hampton.