Land worth millions still a desolate wasteland

There is still no sign of building work beginning on the vacant plot of land on the corner of the High Road and Church Lane, N2, despite planning permission being granted more than four years ago.

The land, formerly the site of an Esso petrol station, was purchased by Leopold Properties for just over £5million pounds in 2016 and, as previously reported in The Archer, plans were submitted for the construction of 20 flats in two blocks.

Barnet Council approved the plans in November 2019 with the statutory condition that building work should start within three years or permission would be rescinded. A few days before that deadline in November 2022, some rubbish was cleared away and a hole dug in one corner.

Legal criteria

Shortly after that, we contacted the council to check on progress and a spokesperson told us that all that was needed to retain permission was to “dig a trench or the like”. After that it was “down to developers as to the speed at which the development is completed”.

When the permission did not expire it seemed that some action taken by the developers had been defined as construction work and had therefore met the legal criteria. But when by last month not a single brick had been laid, we asked the council if the site had been inspected to check that construction work had started. It hadn’t. 

We were told that the “council’s Enforcement Team has not received any claims that works relating to the development have commenced or any correspondence from the applicant stating that they have implemented the permission. As such, there is no need for the Enforcement Team to inspect the site”.

No implementation

The council spokesperson added that, “If a trench was located where the proposed foundations or service runs would subsequently go this could indeed be implementation but if a random hole is dug in the ground then the view would most likely be that this does not constitute implementation”.

We were informed that a local planning authority does have the power to require landowners to “carry out works to improve land which is adversely affecting the amenity of an area” although this is a “relatively subjective assessment and a matter of fact and degree depending on circumstances”.

The last time we contacted the agent for Leopold Properties was three years ago when he told us the company intended to implement the planning permission before it expired and he had no further comments. We will continue to check on the status of the development and report what we learn in future editions.