Barnet councillors will this evening be asked to further delay deciding on regeneration plans for Brent Cross Cricklewood in north London so that an unprecedented two-day meeting can review the £4.5bn scheme.
Members of Barnet Council’s Planning and Environment Committee will be asked at tonight’s scheduled meeting to delay considering Brookfield Europe, Hammerson and Standard Life Investments’ plans until a special meeting is held next month.
The acting chairman of the committee, Cllr Maureen Braun, said: “We recognise that there is growing public interest in this complex application, and that we need to allow more members of the public to give their views to the planning committee.
“Such a special meeting is unprecedented in Barnet and shows the importance we attach to both the proposals put forward and to proper public involvement and transparency in the debate about the scheme.
“We have had a great many submissions from the public covering a wide range of issues and I am keen that everyone has a chance to make their voice heard.”
A full meeting of Barnet council on 3 November will be asked to consider whether the standing orders of the Planning and Environment Committee can be suspended, so that a special two-day meeting can be held.
The committee meeting will be run over two evenings in the week commencing 16 November.
The council has already contacted speakers who had planned to address tomorrow’s meeting, to warn them that the committee would be recommended to delay consideration of the scheme.
The plans for a new town centre based around Cricklewood and Brent Cross would create 27,000 jobs, 7,500 homes, three schools, new health facilities, high quality parks and open spaces, and a circa £1bn investment package in transport and infrastructure from the private development consortium.
The 151 hectare regeneration area is bordered by Brent Cross Shopping Centre in the North, The A41 (
