Plans to turn leisure park into site for 1,500 homes

By David Melsome

Radical plans to change the Great North Leisure Park into a major residential development have been unveiled. Currently home to Finchley Lido Leisure Centre, the Vue cinema, Hollywood Bowl and a number of restaurants, the site will instead provide 1,500 new homes of mixed design.
Developers Regal London say they will build a new leisure centre on an adjacent plot to the rear where an unused bowling green and social club stand. Barnet Council hopes a replacement cinema and bowling centre will be built on the Lodge Lane car park in North Finchley as part of its plans to redevelop the town centre there.

The leisure park opened nearly 30 years ago and has been showing its age. The indoor and outdoor pools have been closed for long periods for maintenance work in recent years and some restaurant tenants have left.

Under Regal’s plans, all the current buildings and car parking areas will be replaced by seven new housing blocks, connected by walkways and green spaces, along with some ground-floor units potentially for shops, eateries and community uses. There will be limited parking for residents.

New lido

The new lido will have three indoor pools, including a six-lane community pool, a learner pool and a leisure pool, plus an outdoor pool, a fitness suite and an adventure play area. It could open in 2027 and the current lido would remain in operation while it is being built.
Regal London said: “According to [Barnet Council’s] draft Local Plan, the borough has a housing need of more than 35,000 new homes by 2036. The underused space currently is primarily used for car parking, much of which can be used to deliver new homes and new connections that help to make the site more accessible to local residents.”

A third round of public consultation is planned this summer before final plans are submitted in the autumn. Find out more at www.gnlp-consultation.co.uk and www.regal-london.co.uk.