West Hendon Playing Fields and Associated Community Facilities – Master Planning engagement Phase 2: Draft Masterplan

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This consultation has now closed.

Overview

Barnet has a great collection of parks and open spaces and these are an important part of what makes Barnet a green and family friendly borough. This consultation is asking for your views on proposed improvements to West Hendon Playing Fields. (location is on the map at the bottom of the page). We previously asked for your thoughts on possible options for the area and, as a result, we have created a draft Master Plan. Now, in Phase 2, we ask that you comment on the draft Master Plan.

Background

Barnet Council has appointed The Sport, Leisure and Culture

Overview

Barnet has a great collection of parks and open spaces and these are an important part of what makes Barnet a green and family friendly borough. This consultation is asking for your views on proposed improvements to West Hendon Playing Fields. (location is on the map at the bottom of the page). We previously asked for your thoughts on possible options for the area and, as a result, we have created a draft Master Plan. Now, in Phase 2, we ask that you comment on the draft Master Plan.

Background

Barnet Council has appointed The Sport, Leisure and Culture Consultancy (SLC) to undertake an appraisal of the options available to the Council for the development and creation of a sports hub with associated community facilities at West Hendon Playing Fields, in line with the recommendations of the Parks and Opens Spaces Strategy and Playing Pitch Strategy.

Earlier this year, SLC undertook initial public engagement with the local community to get a better understanding of what improvements residents would most like to see at West Hendon Playing Fields. Over 215 responses were received. Informed by this initial engagement, SLC has developed a draft masterplan for West Hendon Playing Fields which shows the proposed improvements.

What are we seeking your views on?

This consultation is asking for your views on the draft masterplan which can be found in the Document Library on the bottom right of this page. There is also a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document in the Document Library answering some questions on the project.

Specifically, we are seeking your views on:

  • the facilities proposed within the draft masterplan
  • the layout and location of the proposed facilities within the draft masterplan
  • any comments you may have on the overall draft masterplan.

How can you give us your views?

Please give us your views on the draft masterplan by completing the online questionnaire. We welcome responses from everyone including organisations interested in the future development of these sites. We would also like to hear the views of people from outside the London Borough of Barnet area.

To request a questionnaire in an alternative format, please:

  • email: nicola.cross@barnet.gov.uk,
  • telephone 020 8359 7404, or
  • write to us at: Greenspaces, London Borough of Barnet, North London Business Park, Oakleigh Road South, London, N11 1NP.

SLC is also running a public drop-in session, so you can come and look at the draft masterplan and provide feedback. SLC staff will be on hand to answer your questions.

The date and location of this event is:

Date
Time
Location
Tuesday 13 November
10.30am - 12.30pm & 3.15pm – 7.00pm
West Hendon Community Hub


How we will use your feedback

SLC will use the results of the engagement to inform the final masterplan, which will be presented to a meeting of the Environment Committee in 2019. Subject to the outcome of this meeting a full public consultation on the final masterplan will then take place.


This consultation has now closed.

  • We Asked, You Said, We Did

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    We asked:

    We asked you to share your views on an initial draft masterplan for West Hendon Playing Fields and Associated Community Facilities. This initial draft masterplan had been informed by the feedback received through the first phase of public engagement held in Summer 2018 where we had asked you what you would most like to see on the site. In this latest online engagement exercise, undertaken between 5 November to 2 December 2018, we asked you specifically for your views on the following:

    · The facilities proposed within the initial draft masterplan

    · The layout and location of the proposed facilities within the initial draft masterplan

    · Any comments you may have on the overall initial draft masterplan.

    You said:

    We received 98 responses to the online engagement exercise. 86% of respondents said they were either supportive or very supportive of the initial draft masterplan and 8% said they were either unsupportive or very unsupportive. Of the proposed indoor facilities, the most popular were the café and multi-use activity space and of the proposed outdoor facilities, improved pedestrian and cycle routes, woodland nature trail, community garden, picnic areas, tennis courts and play areas all scored highly. Less well supported facilities included the skatepark, the artificial turf pitches and the high ropes course.

    83% of respondents said they were either supportive or very supportive of the location and layout of the proposed facilities within the initial draft masterplan and 14% said they were either unsupportive or very unsupportive. Some people felt that the proximity of the proposed tennis courts, skatepark and high ropes course to areas of particular ecological interest was inappropriate.

    A number of concerns were raised about the potential impact of the proposed developments on local ecology, specifically in relation to areas of the wider site which are designated as a Site of Specific Scientific Interest (SSSI) and Local Nature Reserve (LNR). You expressed a desire to balance any development with the protection of the wildlife, flora and fauna on the wider site. You also said it was important to consider the impact upon parking and traffic movement as a result of new facilities.

    We did:

    The results of this further engagement were used to inform a review of the initial draft masterplan and to identify any required amendments. Taking account of the feedback received, a number of changes have been made in developing a final version of the draft masterplan. These include enlarging the proposed nursery provision within the Community Sports Hub and relocating the tennis courts and skatepark further away from the SSSI and LNR. In addition, a ‘softening’ of the proposed new car park on Cool Oak Lane through use of a natural surface finish and additional planting have been included in the final version of the draft masterplan.

    The final draft masterplan will form the subject of a report to the meeting of the Council’s Environment Committee on 14 March 2019 seeking approval to undertake a full public consultation on the final draft masterplan.