Barnet Times: Peel Centre playing fields

Evening Standard: Met Police Peel Centre grubby property deal by Boris (to be reasonably objective)

Peel Centre: Pre-Application Consultation

Met Police Peel Centre March 2013

Second public exhibition:
Focused solely on new training and operational facilities for the Metropolitan Police Service

"We want to hear from you. Please send your comments to:
FREEPOST, PEEL CENTRE SITE

"We will need to receive comments by Friday 12 April 2013.
Alternatively you can get in touch with the project team with any questions, by email to: comments@peelcentresite.co.uk or phone 0800 881 5288."

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The earlier consultation, about the whole site:

Public Consulation on Peel Centre, October 2012

Barnet Press: "Fury over parking restrictions"

Link to web site

"RESIDENTS at a new housing block in Colindale are furious over new parking restrictions imposed by the firm managing the estate.

"...A spokesman for Crabtree, which manages the estate on behalf of developer Fairview, said:

"The scheme was a planning restriction imposed by Barnet Council in order to prevent misuse of the available parking bays by non-residents such as those using the nearby tube station.

We have issued a permit to each leaseholder to use in any unallocated bay on a first come first serve basis in accordance with the parking strategy plan. Every household is entitled to a parking permit and visitor permits are available upon request."

Barnet Times: "Mum-of-one plans to set up a community association for Colindale and Burnt Oak"

Link to web site

"A mum-of-one is eager to set up a community association to 'improve and develop' Colindale and Burnt Oak.

"Cherry James moved to Braemer Gardens, Colindale, nine months ago with her five-year-old son Jaden and her husband Lincoln.

"Despite loving her new home, she thinks the area could be rejuvenated with the help of a ready and willing residents group."

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"

Link to web site

"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."