Barnet Times: "Grahame Park Estate in Colindale given £30,000 pot for clubs and activities"

Link to web site

"Community groups on Barnet’s biggest council estate can bid for a share of £30,000 to set up their own clubs and activities.

"The pot has been put on offer by housing association Barnet Homes and Genesis, which is overseeing a £450million regeneration of the Grahame Park Estate in Colindale."

"The Market vs Planning – Who’s Kicking Out Ugly?"

Link to web site

"With the greatest respect to the people of Colindale, it’s one of those places that has been pretty badly served over the years by the property development industry and the planning system when it comes to high quality urban design and place making. Unfortunately it hasn’t got a centre, which is always a bad start for a place.

Your first sight and site as you leave the tube is a pretty horrendous new Fairview development of the old hospital. I’m not picking on Fairview because, despite their poor reputation, they have another smaller scheme just down the road which, while simple, is reasonable. This development is surrounded by older housing, but there are a couple of other big new developments, one by St George (part of the Berkeley Group) called Beaufort Park, and one by housing association Genesis regenerating the old Grahame Park Estate.

"There are also some huge potential sites, including the site of the existing Barnet College and various large bits of Metropolitan Police land. Colindale is officially a growth area, with plans for 10,000 new homes and room for more. It also has some high-quality jobs and a pretty good location with Tube and Overground as well as road access and, for those who need it, it’s just a fifteen minute bus ride from Brent Cross.

"Now it’s not really Colindale’s fault, but you take your pick between the development industry and the planning system to allocate blame. The fundamental problem is that each site has been designed in complete isolation from each other, so the basic of creating a decent town centre for this rapidly growing population has been completely missed."

'Barnet Press' and 'Barnet Times' - Met Police Sports Ground

"E.ON is working with FairView New Homes to save up to 44% in CO2"

Link to E.ON

"E.ON is working with Fairview New Homes to deliver low carbon energy to 1,067 homes, 300 bed hotel, commercial units and various leisure facilities, at Colindale, London, as part of a major redevelopment project.

"Under an Energy Services Company (ESCo) agreement, E.ON will design, build, operate and maintain a decentralised energy centre."

Daily Telegraph: "Census 2011: Renters soar as proportion of homeowners falls"

Link to Daily Telegraph

"The proportion of residents of England and Wales living in private rented accommodation increased from 9 per cent in 2001 to 15 per cent last year.

"At the same time the number of those who own their own home with a mortgage or other loan dropped from 39 per cent to 33 per cent.

"The shift reflects the growing trend for people in professional jobs to continue renting into their 30s and sometimes even 40s as they struggle to save enough money for a deposit to buy a house or flat."

Evening Standard: "Most families in London now rent rather than own homes"

Link to Evening Standard

"Fewer than half of London families own the roof over their heads for the first time in 30 years.

" 'Generation rent' is now in the majority after soaring prices, a mortgage famine and a disastrous housebuilding slump shattered the home-buying dreams of tens of thousands of Londoners.

"Latest government figures show that just 1.656- million, or 49.9 per cent, of the capital’s 3.318- million homes are occupied by the people who own them.

"The rest are rented out by private landlords, councils or housing associations."

Evening Standard: "Londoners need £57,000 to get on housing ladder"

Link to Evening Standard

"Struggling young buyers in London need a deposit of £57,175 to get a foothold on the property ladder, a report claimed today.

"The vast sum required to obtain a mortgage on a typical first-time property is more than twice the £27,537 average for the country as a whole, according to the Halifax’s Generation Rent report."

"Victorian restoration takes pride of place in Colindale development"

Link to 'Easier Property"

"Fairview New Homes will next week (3rd November) unveil a collection of only nine unique apartments [flats] painstakingly fashioned from a magnificently restored Victorian building at the heart of the company’s Pulse development in Colindale.

"The Pavilion was built in 1899 as a flagship administrative building for the new hospital in Colindale and its exuberant Baroque exterior ensured the building remained a local landmark throughout its history."

Barnet Times: "Barnet Borough Council considers pedestrian safety proposals for Colindale"

Link to web site

"Barnet Borough Council is considering £295,000 plans to implement pedestrian safety changes in Colindale.

"The council’s Hendon Area Environment Sub-Committee is considering plans to improve Aerodrome Road.

"The changes would be funded with money that developer St George is obliged to pay as a condition of the planning permission it was granted to develop Beaufort Park."

Andrew Dismore AM: "When will it stop? Yet even more development in Colindale"

Link to web site

"Mr Dismore said:

"The Conservative-controlled Barnet council has just given planning consent for yet more building at Zenith House site, 309 properties. The British Library is now marketing its site, which it will release in 2014, for another 345 homes – and the Peel Centre. Just when will this overdevelopment stop?

The Conservatives are opposing similar but far smaller developments in Enfield just over the border at Cat Hill, yet are perfectly prepared to build the Colindale community out of existence."

Barnet Times

(Click to enlarge)

Mail on Sunday: "Foul-mouthed MPs trade insults during booze-fuelled argument in front of Army chief at £3,000 banquet"

Link to Mail on Sunday

"MPs hurled foul-mouthed insults at each other, during a boozy £3,000 banquet in front of Army chief General Sir Peter Wall.

"Labour MPs staged a walkout after [Hendon] Tory MP Matthew Offord called one of them a 'gobshite' and another a 'prat'.

"... The MPs did not have to pay a penny for the £60-a-head banquet, organised by the UK Defence Forum for the All Party Parliamentary Armed Forces Group, which is funded by donations from top defence firms, including BAE Systems."

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Pets' Corner
Matthew Offord MP and Maximus

"Microchipped and friendly travelling companion on the Northern Line.
Each day I meet tourists, school children and other commuters,
who talk to Matthew and stroke me."

Barnet Times: "Metropolitan Police's Peel Centre plans in Colindale 'will cripple transport and utlity networks'"

Link to web site

"Plans for 2,000 new homes on a Metropolitan Police training centre will be 'too much for the area to cope with', according to GLA member Andrew Dismore.

"The Barnet representative believes plans for the site, in Aerodrome Road, Colindale will cripple the area’s utility and transport networks.

"Hendon MP Matthew Offord, however, welcomed the plans, arguing the development forms a vital part of the regeneration Colindale."

Barnet Times: "Union calls off strike over closure NHS Blood and Transplant department"

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"Union members have called off industrial action, over plans to close the NHS Blood and Transplant department in Colindale.

"Unite decided against strike action, after NHSBT agreed to have further discussions with representatives from the union, about the plans to move the services to Filton."

North London Online: "British Library instructs agents on Colindale"

Link to web site

"The British Library has asked Drivers Jonas Deloitte to market their 5.5 acre Colindale site as a residential development opportunity.

"... Approximately two thirds of the site is developed, comprising circa 145,000 sq ft GIA of accommodation arranged over basement, ground to five upper storeys. The site is allocated for 345 residential units and retail space within Barnet Council’s Colindale Area Action Plan."

Unite: "Blood transfusion service in [Colindale] faces strike action, as flood exposes management plan"

We want the future of Colindale safeguarded,
as well as the centres at Filton and Manchester."
Link to web site

"Blood transfusion test results will be hit by strike action over the threatened closure of the blood testing centre at Colindale in north London. The strike is set for Wednesday 10 October until Friday 12 October.

"The situation has taken a new twist by the fact the blood centre at Filton, near Bristol, which is meant to take up the slack when Colindale closes, has been shut for a week because of the recent heavy rain.

"... Unite members at Colindale’s NHS Blood and Transplant Testing (NHSBT)/ Microbiology Department will be striking again on Wednesday 24 October until Friday 26 October, after they voted by over 90 per cent for strike action, if the dispute cannot be resolved."

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."