Grahame Park masterplan finally approved

A 2,000-home masterplan for the regeneration of the Grahame Park Estate in Colindale, north London, has been approved by the mayor of London two years after he sent a previous version back to the drawing board.

The scheme, from housing association Notting Hill Genesis and Barnet Council, will see 2,088 homes built over the next 15 years, with more than 1,000 of the homes affordable.

In 2017 mayor of London Sadiq Khan described the scheme, which at the time proposed demolishing nearly 700 social rented homes and replacing them with 435, as a “classic example of how not to do estate regeneration”, and ultimately turned it down.

Notting Hill Genesis has been working on the scheme since being selected by Barnet in 2002, and has already built a 700-home first phase.

Kate Davies, chief executive of NHG, said: “Since the Mayor of London’s decision on the previous plan in 2018, we’ve worked very closely with Barnet Council, the Mayor and local residents to ensure designs met the aspirations of everyone involved and this decision is the culmination of those efforts.”

She said Notting Hill was committed to providing high quality homes and facilities for new and existing residents and will be investing almost £700m over the next 15 years in the project.

Dan Thomas, leader of Barnet Council, said: “The transformation of Grahame Park will provide high quality homes and facilities for thousands of residents, creating a family-friendly place, while respecting existing communities.”

The masterplan was approved by Barnet Council’s planning authority on 2 March 2020, subject to approval by the Greater London Authority, which has now been received.