Andrew Dismore AM: "Peel Centre development needed 'like a hole in the head'"

Link to web site

"Andrew Dismore AM, Labour London Assembly member for Barnet and Camden, says Colindale needs the proposed Peel Centre development 'like a hole in the head', after visiting the developers’ exhibition of their plans.

Mr Dismore said: 

"This is yet another huge scale development being imposed on Colindale by Mayor Johnson, on top of the thousands of homes already going up on Grahame Park, Beaufort Park, the former Colindale Hospital site and other plots in the immediate vicinity."

Police launch Peel Centre web site

Link to web site

"This website provides you with background about the history of the site and outlines our emerging plans, prior to a first public exhibition in the autumn [now being held!].

"It also provides ways that you can get in touch with us, should you have any questions.

"We will refine our proposals during the community consultation and prior to submitting a planning application to the London Borough of Barnet around the end of the year."

Barnet Times: "Metropolitan Police plans for The Peel Centre, in Colindale, 'lack employment opportunities'"

Link to Barnet Times

"Plans to build up to 2,000 new homes on a Metropolitan Police training centre went on public display this afternoon.

"The force is selling off a large portion of The Peel Centre, in Aerodrome Road, Colindale, as it looks to find around £500million of savings by 2015.

"Plans for the site, the size of 25 football pitches, include up to 2,000 homes, a primary school, a shopping centre and a public park.

"Developer GVA began a public consultation into its proposals at the first of a three-day exhibition in the Hendon RAF Museum this afternoon."

Barnet Press: "Peel Centre to be modernised as part of area regeneration plan"

Link to web site

"A POLICE training centre in Hendon will be modernised and partly demolished for community purposes as part of a major regeneration plan.

"The Peel Centre, which is the main training facility for Metropolitan Police officers in Aerodrome Road, Colindale, is only partly used for regional training purposes and unsuitable to meet the needs of 21st century policing, senior police officers announced on Friday.

"The 73 acre site, located next to Colindale tube station, was built in the 1930s and for almost 80 years has been the main training site for police officers serving the Greater London area.

"Existing police training facilities will be modernised and the rest of the site will be opened up to the public creating new homes, jobs, shops and open space, as well as a new primary school. The plans are part of Barnet Council's Colindale Area Action Plan (CAAP).

"... A public exhibition of the plans will take place at the RAF Museum in Colindale on October 4, 5 and 6."

Barnet Times: "Ceremony for 72nd anniversary of bombing at Colindale tube station"

Link to web site

"Crowds gathered to commemorate the 72nd anniversary of the bombing at Colindale Station during the Second World War today.

"A plaque was unveiled in memory of 13 people who were killed when the bomb hit at 8.45pm on September 25, 1940.

"Two trains carrying approximately 400 people were at the station when the mayhem decended. Nine rescue parties worked for seven hours to recover the injured and the dead which included station staff, customers and a police officer."

'Easier Property': "New homes in Colindale available through NewBuy scheme"

Link to web site

"The Fairview New Homes developments, Pulse and Rhythm, have become the first in the country to offer prospective home-buyers funding from a new challenger bank through the government’s mortgage guarantee scheme, NewBuy.

"NewBuy is the government-backed initiative designed to help overcome the deposit gap faced by many new home-buyers. It is aimed at both first-time buyers and those who already own a home, who only have funds for a 5-10% deposit.

"For buyers meeting their qualifying criteria, the lenders participating in the scheme will provide a 90-95% loan-to-value mortgage which is guaranteed by the government."

Evening Standard: "Economic growth to be kick-started with 200,000 extra homes, says George Osborne"

Link to web site

"Up to 200,000 extra homes could be built over three years under government plans to kick-start the construction industry.

"The action plan, being unveiled this week, aims to add a percentage point to growth and generate more than 100,000 construction jobs, plus another 200,000 in supply firms, from kitchen builders to carpet fitters.

"Tory MPs today signalled their impatience for action to inject life into the flagging economy."

[Reposted from Feb 2010] Colindale Area Action Plan approved by Barnet Cabinet

Councillor Melvin Cohen
Cabinet Member for Planning and Environmental Protection

As a successful city-suburb of a world class city, Barnet plays a major role in London’s success, attracting people to the city with the necessary skills to enable it to compete effectively at a global level. Whilst recognising current economic conditions are uncertain, over the long term, Barnet remains London’s fastest growing outer London borough and has a prosperous future. Our Three Strands Approach to planning, development and regeneration: Protect, Enhance and Grow, establishes a boroughwide strategy to protect our most important open and green spaces, enhance our existing centres and quality residential suburban neighbourhoods and plans for growth in appropriate brownfield locations and areas in need of regeneration and renewal. Colindale, located in the west of the Borough, has an important role in all of these priorities, especially Strand 3: Growth, as Barnet’s largest housing-led regeneration area.

Colindale is already identified in the London Plan and Barnet’s adopted Unitary Development Plan as an area that could support significant new development with new housing and jobs. Our aim is to ensure that growth in Colindale is focused around an accessible and attractive new neighbourhood centre that serves the everyday needs of local people combined with an exciting transport gateway interchange at Colindale Underground Station. It is essential that Colindale provides the full range of community and education services that are so important for communities to flourish. New areas of housing will be linked to existing neighbourhoods by an improved network of streets and quality green open spaces. The Council, with its partners, has prepared this Area Action Plan to provide a comprehensive but flexible long term strategy to manage change and deliver high quality sustainable development in Colindale.

Barnet Times: "Oriental City in Colindale to be demolished for new supermarket, homes and Far Eastern food court"

Link to web site

"Plans to redevelop the derelict former Oriental City site in Colindale into new homes, a supermarket and a Asian food court have been unveiled.

"The proposal by Development Securities, the owner of the site which closed in June 2008 and has fallen into disrepair, would see the current building demolished to make way for a new Morrison’s store, 223 townhouses and apartments and a replacement Oriental market.

"The company says the 34,000 sq m development would create 700 jobs while providing much-needed new homes and a shopping centre for the area, while staying true to the history of the site."

LB of Barnet: "Multi-Million pound boost for the regeneration of Colindale"

Published Tuesday 31 July 2012

"Barnet Council has announced a series of new measures to support the regeneration of Colindale in the west of the borough. 

"The regeneration of Colindale will see 10,000 new homes built in the area over the next 15 years. The area is one of Barnet`s priority regeneration areas.

"The Barnet Council total investment of up to £10m, which will go ahead when matched by Genesis Homes and the government`s Housing and Community Agency, will be split between improving the “public realm” in Colindale and underwriting 400 new homes in the next phase of the redevelopment of Grahame Park.

" 'Public realm' improvements will support development along Colindale Avenue and Grahame Park Way, by widening and redesigning part of Colindale Avenue to improve the pedestrian route through Grahame Park Way, down to Colindale Tube Station.

"A land swap is proposed with Barnet College, making land available for a potential new primary school and building a new college building and public library within the development at Lanacre Avenue.

Councillor Richard Cornelius, Leader of the council said:

"This council is determined to keep the rebuilding of this estate on track. Completion of this phase will make the area more attractive and help the private sector sell other new properties in Colindale. 

"We can help get people on the housing ladder by using the council`s borrowing power to give impetus to the scheme whilst retaining the security of bricks and mortar to secure the reimbursement of tax payers money. 
The council will also make a return on the investment and boost the local job market.”

Barnet Times: "Barnet Council pledges £5million pot to encourage buyers to dilapidated Grahame Park Estate in Colindale"

Link to web site

"House hunters will be encouraged to invest in the regeneration of the dilapidated Grahame Park estate, with a £5million cash pot from Barnet Council.

"The authority has promised the subsidies, along with another £5million to 'spruce up' roads and infrastructure, in what it describes as a 'priority regeneration area'.

"Fewer flats than expected have been sold within the regeneration project, holding up plans to build 10,000 homes over the next 15 years in the Colindale area.

Barnet Times: "Wild Bird Week at Royal Air Force Museum" (Wild? There're really angry.)

Link to web site

"Falcons, owls, hawks and eagles will be landing at the Royal Air Force Museum this summer.

The museum in in [sic] Aerodrome Road, Colindale, will hold daily falconry displays at 11.30am, 1.30pm and 3.30pm as part of Wild Bird Week, from Monday, July 30 to Sunday, August 5.

Daily Mail: "A third of first-time buyers are 35 or over, compared to one in ten a decade ago"

Link to Daily Mail

"... The huge increase highlights the struggle young people face, as they try to get a foothold on the housing ladder."

"... Research from the Council of Mortgage Lenders showed the number of first-time buyers under 30 who need help from their parents to purchase a property is also soaring.

"Last year around 80 per cent had ‘financial assistance’ – typically from the so-called ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’ – compared with 35 per cent in 2005."

Daily Telegraph: "'Repossession hot spot' map reveals homeowners most at risk of losing their houses"

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"Families living in the London borough of Barking and Dagenham are twice as likely as the average British person to have their homes repossessed, a study has revealed. 

"Research compiled by homeless charity Shelter found those living in the borough are at the highest risk of having their houses repossessed, closely followed by Knowsley in the North West and Thurrock in the East of England. 

"The charity has now constructed a map of repossession 'hot spots', and claimed to have revealed a 'strong link' with rising unemployment."

BBC: "What future for social housing?"

Link to BBC web site (see other tabs also)

"... Clement Attlee's post-war Labour government built more than a million homes, 80% of which were council houses, largely to replace those destroyed by Hitler.

"The house-building boom continued when the Conservatives returned to power in 1951, but the emphasis shifted at the end of the decade towards slum clearance, as millions were uprooted from cramped, rundown inner-city terraces and re-housed in purpose-built new towns or high rise blocks.

"A generation was introduced to the joys of indoor toilets, front and rear gardens, and landscaped housing estates where, as the town planners boasted, a tree could be seen from every window."

Barnet Times: "Fun day for Grahame Park residents in Colindale"

Link to Barnet Times

"An annual fun day was held for the residents of Grahame Park on Saturday.

"Nearly 500 people attended the event, which took place in Heybourne Park, and was organised by Genesis Housing Group who are managing the regeneration of Grahame Park."

Evening Standard: "Why buying a house in London is still CHEAPER than renting"

Link to Evening Standard

"Stepping on to the property ladder instead of renting will save people almost £200,000 over a lifetime, according to research today.

"The report by Barclays showed that the average total of buying, paying mortgages and maintaining a home costs £429,000 over 50 years, not even accounting for the value of the home at the end, compared with £623,000 in rent."

What House: "New homes launched in Colindale"

Link to web site

"Genesis has announced the launch of The Tower, the latest collection of brand new apartments, at New Hendon Village in Colindale, North West London, featuring a total of 39 one- and two-bedroom apartments, with prices starting from £195,000.

"All new homes at The Tower, a seven-storey building situated at the head of Heybourne Park, will include at least one large balcony or terrace, many looking out onto the parkland."

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Link to:

"Famous Five Barnet Bloggers"

Brent & Kilburn Times: "Fri 15, Sat 16 June: Consultation on Oriental City site in Colindale"

Link to Brent & Kilburn Times

"Developers will be holding a two-day exhibition where they will showcase their plans for the former Oriental City site in Colindale.

"Proposals for the land in Edgware Road, which had been dubbed London’s ‘real China Town’ before its closure in 2008, will see it transformed into a new Oriental and Far Eastern shopping centre.

"The mixed-used development will include a state-of-the-art Morrisons foodstore, 223 new townhouses and apartments, including family and affordable housing, a 270-seat restaurant, 600-seat foodcourt, and 11 other outlets dedicated to oriental and far eastern retail.

"There will be 580 car parking spaces for shoppers and residents."

Daily Telegraph: "Housing market is 'broken'"

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"The housing market is broken and overcrowding is getting worse, a report warns, as official figures show the number of new homes started by house builders in England fell again in the first three months of the year.

"... Housing minister Grant Shapps said housing plans were taking centre stage in the economic recovery. But he added:

"I am under no illusions that we still have a long way to go. That is why we are continually striving to introduce measures to help those in need.

I am determined to ensure support is available to those not wanting to buy, which is why I want councils to use the full range of powers at their disposal to help those at risk of homelessness."