Update August / September 2024
In July 2024, the applicant submitted revised documents under the original application reference 16/6662/FUL. Public consultation letters have been sent out by Barnet and comments can be submitted on the Barnet Planning website in the usual way.
MHPS believes that the comments in our original submission, made in December 2016, are still valid. We believe that there are “no special circumstances” that justify the increased building footprint and fencing off of Green Belt land that would result from this development. The removal of a single multi-purpose pitch from the southeast corner of the scheme (which is the main revision compared with the 2016 application) is not sufficient to ameliorate the overall impact of the proposal.
Click here to read the submission from MHPS September 2024
Update January 2024
The previous application from 2016 has been revived with amendments to the curtilage of the scheme so that in the southeast corner, the multi-purpose sports hall and changing facilities have been taken out of the scheme and the land would remain open to the general public. The school is now conducting a public consultation on the scheme with these amendments.
Original
Demolition of existing girls school and construction of a new combined boys and girls school with vehicular access from Champions Way including 167 car parking spaces and 220 cycle parking spaces, three pedestrian accesses north, east and south of the site, along with associated landscaping (including swales), sports and recreational areas and ancillary buildings for energy centre and service yard, security gatehouse. School drop-off and pick-up space will be set out adjoining land | Hasmonean High School 2 – 4 Page Street London NW7 2EU: Application 16/6662/FUL
There has been a lot of local controversy about this scheme as is takes about 15 acres of the Green Belt at Copthall plus the site of the existing girls school off Page Street to build two new schools for Hasmonean. The proposal conflicts with the National Planning Policy Guidelines, The London Plan, the Barnet Core Strategy, and the Copthall Park Developments Brief. The new schools keep the girls and boys completely separate. It claims that traffic chaos will be reduced on Page Street as the entrance is to be off Champions Way, which leads into Page Street – so we feel the congestion will be more because there will be two schools. At a council planning meeting on 22nd February 2017 the scheme was approved by a vote of 6-5 in favour, this being against the planning officer’s recommendation. The scheme will have to go to the Mayors office as it was passed contrary to the London Plan and we await his comments.
Local organisations, MHPS included, are trying to find ways to fight this gross flaunting of the planning regulations.
In July 2017, Sadiq Khan, London Mayor, overturned Barnet Council’s decision to grant planning permission. The Society believes the Mayor has only followed planning law, stating the proposal would have had an ‘excessive’ impact on the Green Belt.
The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Sajid Javid, intervened after a request for the scheme to be called in. The Government has the power to overturn the Mayor’s decision but we believe in doing so it would have to go against Green Belt legislation.
We understand the school representatives are meeting with the Mayor to discuss a way forward. The Mayor has already suggested he would consider a new scheme that was designed to use the existing girls school site, thus minimizing the impact on the Green Belt. The Mayor has also stated that transport issues would need to be addressed.