DATES FOR YOUR DIARY:

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Spring Footpath Walk: The spring footpath walk will be on Sunday 29th April 2012 – starting at 11.30am - exploring Scratchwood Open Space. RSPB expert Bob Husband will help us identify any birds that care to join us. This a repeat event due to the success of last year's walk. 
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AGM:To be held on Thursday 24th May 2012 at 7.30 for 8.00pm at a venue to be posted. After the formal business there will be a question and answer session with our local councillors on pressing matters of the day.
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Summer Footpath Walk: To be held on 17th June 2012 - starting at 2.00pm - start details and route to be posted - but it will be a 'Fathers' Day Walk'
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Autumn Footpath Walk: To be held on 7th October 2012 - leaving at 11.30am - starting point and route to be posted.
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Winter Meeting: Will be on Wednesday 22nd November 2012 at 7.30 for 8.00pm - speaker to be announced and afterwards there will be a question and answer session with our councillors.
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Quiz Night: Our next supper quiz will be held on Saturday 10th November 2012 at 7.15 for 7.30pm start prompt. This will be held at St Paul's church hall - tables of 8, price £12.00 per head with great quiz and supper. Raffle and bar.
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STOP PRESS: The Society has realised that many of the issues facing us are bigger than can be dealt with by the Society alone and so we have joined the Civic Voice - which is the replacement organsiation for the Civic Trust - to add our support to the work they do on behalf of civic societies throughout the UK. Further details will be posted in our next newsletter.
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FaceBook: MHPS are experimenting with our own facebook site - if you wish to contribute or simply look at it, then go to
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mill-Hill-Preservation-Society/234240723258863?sk=info
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PLANNING:
 
Copthall Stadium

As the various groups either FOR or AGAINST Saracens' proposals for Copthall Stadium continue their campaigns, the Committee of the Society wants to emphasise that it is independent of any particular group, in spite of what these groups might claim on our behalf. Our views on the proposals will be made known in our newsletters, AGM reports and on this web site.

Saracens Rugby Club propose to use Copthall Stadium as their home base for 16 matches a year. They submitted their planning application at the begining of March 2011 and the Society published its submission to the Local Authority on this web site: Go to Articles and click on the link 'MHPS submission regarding Saracens at Copthall 2011'. The GLA has come down against the proposals with public transport and traffic as major issues of contention.

Following extensive consultation Saracens then submitted a revised application. The GLA has commented unfavourably on the revised submission citing Green Belt and transport issues as main concerns. The Society submitted a letter commenting on the latest scheme - sorting out the transport issues is a major concern to us.

The Council passed the scheme for planning permission week ending 3rd February 2012 and the Mayor of London will have 2 weeks to decide if the GLA agrees with the Council or not - at the same time the scheme will be submitted to the Secretary of State. There is also the matter of the 106 Agreement to be drawn up, so the planning approval documents will not be issued for a while yet.

St. Joseph's College

The owners/developers of St. Joseph's College on Lawrence Street have applied to renew their planning approval for a care home for a further five years. We are hopeful that if the economic climate improves that an institutional scheme might begin to be implemented, as the fabric of the listed College and its associated buildings are a matter of concern to us after lying vacant for so many years. The Council has agreed an extension of the permission as a care home for three years. An application has been made to convert the land use from Institutional to Residential. The Society has met with the developer's agent to discuss their proposals for 46 flats on the site. Some aspects of the scheme were criticised by MHPS and the developer is considering these. On balance we feel the scheme is better than letting the Listed Building fabric rot away - although we are loath to lose the Institutional use. A wildlife survey has been carried out and we have added a further comments to cover these issues.

Etz Chaim Jewish Primary School Trust:

It seems the new Jewish School for Mill Hill is up and running in Daws Lane. The planning application for temporary use of the council buildings (just north of the car park) as the school premises has been passed. The school has a web site and preparatory work for them to take over the lease for the land occupied by the former Mill Hill Garden Centre is under way. (see http://www.etzchaim-primaryschool.org.uk )
This is, of course, the site of the old Mill Hill open-air swimminmg pool on land that was given to Mill Hill for community use.  Drawings for the main school building have been exhibited locally, but concern is growing about a school of the size proposed in this location and all it will mean for additional parking and congestion every day in term time. Local residents who care about MIll Hill Park are also concerned on what impact the school will have.
The application for the conversion of the Garden Centre was submitted and passed after considerable local objection. The Society objected to the application for temporary use on the grounds that the two applications should have been considered at the same time. The Society wrote objecting to the main scheme on various grounds, primarily to do with traffic and Green Belt issues. The Society is also concerned about the change in the balance of retail provision for Mill Hill. Subsequently the original approval has been subjected to Judicial Review and a new application has been submitted. Comments were invited by 28th Novemeber 2011, but so far in 2012 there has been no decision made by the Council.

The Council passed the scheme for planning permission week ending 3rd February 2012 and the Mayor of London will have 2 weeks to decide if the GLA agrees with the Council or not, There is also the matter of the 106 Agreement to be drawn up - so the planning approval documents will not be issued for a while yet.

Belmont Children’s Farm

It’s over a year since the establishment opened - and during this period we have made objections to the Council, along with others, without any obvious success, because we believe planning permission is required. We decided to send a ‘letter of concern’ to the Council on the 8th October 2010 – which was immediately put into the Council’s ‘Complaints Procedure’. As we received no satisfactory reply to our letter we took the Complaints Procedure to ‘Level 2’ with a further letter of concern dated the 8th November 2010. The Council served an Enforcement Notice on 5th November which was due to take effect on the 10th December 2010 unless an appeal was made against it beforehand. The owners of the Farm have appealed against the Council's enforcement notice and comments needed to be submitted by the 26th January 2011 to the Inspector. The Inspector concluded that the children's farm use and associated development was inappropriate in the Green Belt, is harmful to the character and appearance of this part of the Mill Hill Conservation Area and causes noise and disturbance to neighbouring residential occupiers. The position now is the requirements of the notice: the cessation of the children's farm and ancillary cafe use and the demolition and removal of the fences, animal and bird enclosures are required to be carried out by 27th March 2012. We await further developments.

updated regularly by MHPS (k).