Many of you will have seen the posters around High Barnet of a badger coming out of woodland, highlighting a proposed development adjacent to Christ Church Lane at the eastern end of Sunset View. The proposal is for a large two-storey house with rooms in the roof space on about a third of a hectare of unmanaged land which, over about 50 years, has become woodland.
The site in question is in the Monken Hadley Conservation Area and is actually two plots of land, probably former gardens. The Council own one of the plots and purchased it originally back in the 1960s as part of a scheme to build a by-pass around Chipping Barnet. The scheme was abandoned following protests from the public about the devastating impact on Monken Hadley and Chipping Barnet town centre. Since then, the site has been left vacant and unmanaged. It’s fair to say that the proposed development has caused a lot of upset amongst locals, not only those who live on the surrounding roads but also those who live in other parts of High Barnet who take walks in the area.
After long and detailed consideration, the committee decided to object to the development.
We are grateful to the developers for alerting us to their intentions right from the very beginning but of course we could not make any decision until the planning documents were submitted and published.
We have two main concerns and these form the basis of our objection.
First, the impact on biodiversity. The National Planning Policy Framework states that planning should protect and enhance biodiversity and landscapes, and that any development should deliver a biodiversity net gain and enhance ecological connectivity. We could not see how building a large house with associated landscaping could protect or even enhance the biodiversity. A huge number of trees would have to be felled and, of course, it’s not just the trees themselves but everything on the under-canopy. Once gone, it cannot be replicated.
Our second concern is about the size of the house. It is to be significantly bigger than any of the surrounding houses and, as such, we consider it to be over development. Proposed works in Conservation Areas must generally preserve or enhance an area’s character. Although built in the Arts & Crafts style, we could not say it preserved or enhanced the area’s character.
So, for those two reasons, we have lodged an objection. At the time of writing this, there are 131 comments on the Council’s planning portal, not one of them in favour. We’ll let you know the outcome.
The Barnet Residents Association Committee
4Th February 2026