Mill Hill East Area Action Plan
Mill Hill East Area Action Plan – Submission Document - Examination in Public
Delivering the Vision:
The Area Action Plan’s final proposals, which were endorsed by the Council's Cabinet in January 2008, include plans for 2,000 new homes and 500 jobs, built to high environmental standards, a new community hub to provide retail, commercial and community facilities and public transport and highways improvements. Our overall aim is to create a truly sustainable and well designed new community.
What Happens Now?
The Secretary of State has appointed an Inspector, Mr Douglas Machin BSc, DipTP, MRTPI Department for Communities and Local Government. to undertake an independent examination of the plan to test its ‘soundness’ and make any changes prior to adoption. As part of this process the Inspector has organised an Examination in Public (EiP) to consider any representations made on the plan.
The Planning Inspector’s task is to consider the soundness of AAP, based upon the Tests of Soundness. Therefore the inspector will not respond to objections raised in the representations. He will define a number of issues for discussion and invite attendees. He starts from the presumption that the AAP is sound unless the evidence proves otherwise.
The Public Examination Hearings of the Mill Hill East Area Action Plan (AAP) will open at 1pm on Monday 13 October and will carry over into Thursday 16 and 17 October, in the Committee Room 1, Barnet House, 1255 High Road, London N20 0EJ. A draft agenda for the day is being produced and can be viewed here.
The statutory six week period of consultation for representation(s) ended on Monday 23rd June 2008 at 5pm. A summary of the representations can be viewed here.
(140 KB). This does not preclude others from attending but if additional issues are to be raised, please contact the Programme Officer (details below) no later than Monday 15 September 2008.
Matthew Devan has been appointed as Programme Officer. He is your point of contact for any matters relating to the Examination in Public. His contact details are opposite.
The Hearing sessions will be led by the Planning Inspector and will take the form of a discussion to help the Inspector arrive at his conclusion. Both written and oral representations will carry the same weight and we be given equal regard
Following the close of the Hearings the Planning Inspector will prepare a short report for the Council with recommendations, including any changes required to the AAP.
The ‘Tests of Soundness’: have we got it right?
The planning Inspector will decide whether the Mill Hill East Area Action Plan:
- Is in agreement with other plans and strategies;
- Proposes developments which are sustainable;
- Is based on sound research and has made the right decisions between alternative options;
- Will ‘work’ and can be monitored;
- Is flexible enough to meet local needs if these change over time.
Copies of the Mill Hill East Area Action Plan (submission draft) are available for inspection in Barnet libraries, North London Business Park (NLBP) and Hendon Town Hall.
Mill Hill East Area Action Plan (AAP) – the proposals
Below is a brief summary of our proposals for the future of Mill Hill East (please refer to the AAP itself for the full set).
- Designation of around 31 hectares of land within the site for residential development during the plan period to enable the delivery of 2,000 new units required by the London Plan (published February 2004), with provision of affordable housing across the site;
- Space for new employment uses to create a minimum of 500 jobs;
- Creation of a new local high street and community hub with around 1,000sqm of retail floor space; a two form entry primary school; and provision of community and health facilities;
- Retention and conversion of the Officers' Mess for community, commercial, residential and other suitable uses including the retention or sensitive relocation of the War Memorial.
- Retention of the existing Green Belt within the site and provision of publicly accessible open space and children’s play facilities throughout the site.
- A new east-west road across the site linking Bittacy Hill and Frith Lane, enhancements to public transport provision and infrastructure and improvements to the Frith Lane/Bittacy Hill and Holders Hill Circus junctions which are outside the AAP boundary.
- Creation of a high quality development which is exemplary in sustainable design and construction across all aspects including energy use, water and drainage, building materials, waste, ecology and transport.
Need more information?
For more information or clarification about the Area Action Plan and the submission and adoption process please use the contact details opposite.
Links
Consultation Summary of Responses (140 KB)
Mill Hill East Area Action Plan Consultation Documents May 2008
(Please note: If you have difficulty downloading some of the documents because of the size, they may be available on CD, free of charge, from the contact details opposite.)
Mill Hill East Background Guidance
Mill Hill East Redevelopment Exhibition
The Planning Inspectorate (External Link)
Further details of the Test and the Examination process in general, are contained in The Planning Inspectorate’s booklet Development Plans Examination- A Guide to the Process of Assessing the Soundness of Development Plan Documents (particularly section 1.4) (External Link)
