Pentavia Retail Park 2021

Scheme for AMAZON distribution centre

In December 2020 Application 20/5933/FUL was made for a storage and distribution warehouse (Use Class B8)  with ancilliary offices, associated vehicle parking, van storage, pedestrian and vehicular access, landscaping and associated infrastructure works. The proposal is for what is know as  ‘a last mile storage and distribution facility’ – a site where parcels are sorted and then loaded onto vans for delivery in the surrounding area. Whilst it is not stated in the application, it is clear from press reports that this facility is for Amazon. Amazon.com.Inc is an American multinational technology company based in Seattle, Washington, which focuses on e-commerce, cloud computing, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence.

The operation will involve some 449 vans, space for deliveries by up to 8 articulated lorries (HGV’s) at any one time and employ the equivalent of 132 fulltime staff – plus delivery drivers. The site plan includes for staff and vistor car parking, a services yard for HGV’s and a multi-storey delivery van park. No on-site parking is proposed for delivery van drivers who must access the site by foot, bicycle, public transport or by car and park in the locality. Most of the delivery vans will leave the site between the hours of 06:30 and 10:00, returning to site between 16:00 and 19:00. All the traffic leaving the site will  travel north on the A1 to Mill Hill Circus roundabout before dispersing, and on return, their focus will be Fiveways Corner roundabout before again travelling north on the A1 to access the ste. This is likely to put additional strain on the local roundabouts and roads. 

The best view of the new depot will be from the M1. There will be a limited view of the building from the A1 heading north. When travelling south on the A1 the view of the main building will be obscured by the multi-storey van park. It is therefore important that all the buildings on site meet a high design standard and not just the main storage building. We have included some images here from the Design and Access Statement accompanying the application. The Society has commented on the application. The Society is pleased at the employment opportunity for the locality, but concerned that the transport issues have not been clearly set out and that the application is inadequate in respect of the information needed to resolve these issues. The design needs immprovement.

Aerial View of Site Plan
View from South on the A1
View from North on the A1

The design has been reviewed by the LBB planning committee and recommended for approval and the 106 Agreement has been resolved. The planning permission was Granted – 7th March 2023.



SOME RECENT SITE HISTORY

Pentavia Retail Park 2020 – Meadows Residential Application Withdrawn:

It is proving very difficult to obtain information on the Pentavia. However, we have seen on the Council website that Meadow Residential LLP has withdrawn their application 17/8102/FUL in a letter to the LBB dated 6th March 2020. The application has not been determined and no section 106 agreement has been signed. We quote… “Please take this letter as formal notification by both Meadow Residential LLP and Meadow Mill Hill Ltd that the above application has been withdrawn forthwith.”  Possibly a cause for celebration…
This has implications that may take a few moments to sink in. It means that the site has not obtained planning permission for the level of accommodation proposed i.e. 724 flats together with a ‘very tall building’. Therefore the last application approved for the site is 15/01825/FUL for a retail development with additional café, restaurant and gym. There seems to be no real logic as to why Meadow Residential should take this action, especially after all the work that has been put in – unless they had an offer they could not refuse! As to a possible purchaser  of the site we have failed to establish anything yet, but we do have a couple of notions. The site was sold in September 2013 for £27.8 million – so whoever buys it now is going to have to have deep pockets. We include  the withdrawal letter below: Watch this space.

Pentavia Situation January  2020:

In January we heard that the Secretary of State had decided not to call in and not to overturn the decision made by the Mayor to allow the scheme to obtain  planning permission. We tried very hard, along with other groups and residents, to block this regretable development that will blight Mill Hill. We would like to thank members and others who wrote to the Council and to the Mayors office objecting to the proposals. Democracy has not been seen to be done it seems
MHPS cannot believe for one minute that this is the end of the matter and we await further developments. 
 

Pentavaia NEWS RELEASE – Mayor of London:

Mayor Approves more than 800 new homes in Barnet – July 25th 2019

A major development in north west London of 844 new homes – of which 41% will be affordable – has been approved by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan. Plans to redevelop the disused Pentavia Retail Park in Mill Hill were rejected by Barnet Council in July 2018 because members of its planning committee felt the scheme was an over-development of the site and would not provide enough affordable housing. The Mayor ‘called in’ the application last November in order to subject it to further scrutiny before making a decision. The scheme approved by the Mayor will provide more affordable homes than were delivered across the whole of Barnet in the year 2017-18.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “This is a classic example of an underused site with the potential to deliver significant numbers of homes, including affordable homes at social rent and London Living Rent levels. I’m clear that I will use all the levers at my disposal to increase the delivery of new genuinely affordable homes across the capital. It’s testament  to the hard work of my planning team that, since I called this application in for further scrutiny, they have been able to increase the level of affordable housing even higher t8han it was previosuly”.
“As such, having considered all the evidence available to me, I’ve decided to approve this application.”
 
After consideration the Society has applied to the Secretary of State to intervene and to reconsider the decision by the Mayor. We have had some good letters of support sent to the Secretary of State from the community and from our MP Matthew Offord. We thank you all for these efforts. We do not know when this matter will be considered

Pentavia Situation June 2019:

Another application has been made by Meadow increasing the number of flats to 844 residences, with (we understand) parking for 366 cars, some residential ancilliary faciliuties and some non-residential floorspace. The scheme does nothing to address our previous objections and the buildings range from 4 storeys to 16 storeys high. The Society has objected to the proposals. Of most concern is that the scheme now plans to have overspill car parking on the local streets.
We understand that the scheme now goes to a hearing with the Mayor on Friday 26th July 2019, when a planning decision will be made by Sadiq Khan.

NEW SCHEME 2018 :

The application has been revised and a new scheme has been submitted 17/8102/FUL see images below. The project description is as follows:
“Redevelopment of site including the demolition of all existing buildings and construction of 717 new Build to Rent residential units (Use Class C3) along with 745 sqm of ancillary residential facilities, 985 sqm of retail floorspace (Use Class A1), 558 sqm of food and drink uses (Use Class A3 and A4), 152 sqm of community floorspace (Use Class D1) within buildings ranging from 5 to 15 storeys, a new pedestrian access off Bunns Lane, open space, landscaping, car parking, acoustic mitigation and highway / pedestrian improvements (Environmental Statement Received) | Pentavia Retail Park Watford Way London NW7 2ET”

If you wish to object you can still write to the Mayor (as above) or you can contact the Planning Officer at Barnet on email: Carl.Griffiths@barnet.gov.uk
You can view our letter of objection for this application on this website under MHPS Planning Reports.

New Scheme Photographs 2018

SITUATION July 2018:

At a meeting on 25th July 2018 Barnet Council Planning Committee refused the application numbered 17/8102/FUL. Many local stars spoke against the scheme including Andrew Dismore GLA, Val Duschinsky Local Ward Councillor, John Gillett chair Neighbourhood Forum and Roger Titchborne Liberal Democrat candidate. Only the developer spoke for the scheme. The latest proposal is for 724 Flats with 500 car parking spaces – plus 40 for commercial uses and visitors – and more than 1,200 cycle spaces. The mix was generated by a density calculation for an Urban site applied to a Sub-urban setting. A trick we do not approve of! The planning officer in his report to the council said:

” However, it is clear that the development as proposed is of a height and scale which is wholly at odds with the established character of the surrounding areas and would represent an excessive and incongruous form of development. Officers consider that the level of harm that would arise from this excessive scale and incongruity would be significant enough as to outweigh the benefits of the scheme and to justify refusal of the application.”