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| West Hendon residents block construction site vehicles © Paul Coleman, London Intelligence 2015 |
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| Protester climbs onto van trying to enter estate regeneration building site © Paul Coleman, London Intelligence 2015 |
"Get down off the van," growls the van's driver.
Ben defies the driver and deftly hops onto the van roof.
It’s 8.30am on a Friday (27 March), writes Paul Coleman.
Ben protests against developer
Barratt Metropolitan LLP’s demolition and redevelopment of the West Hendon
estate in the north London borough of Barnet.
It’s part of a Day of Action.
Defiant tenants and leaseholders block
lorries and vans trying to get to the gates of a vast building site.
Blame
A towering crane swings heavy loads
almost directly over nearby Tyrell, a block where residents still live,
including elderly people,
Sat on the van roof, Ben holds up photos of Hendon MP Matthew Offord and Barnet Council leader Richard Cornelius.
Sat on the van roof, Ben holds up photos of Hendon MP Matthew Offord and Barnet Council leader Richard Cornelius.
The clearly miffed driver snaps photos
of Ben and complains to two police officers.
Ben clambers down.
The police officers then take Ben for a
‘quiet word’.
“The driver isn’t part of what’s going
on here,” says a portly constable.
“Maybe, but he’s still working for the
developers who are to blame,” rebuffs Ben.
Chilly
Residents blame Richard Cornelius for
denigrating their homes and the estate’s immediate neighbourhood in order to
justify Barratt Metropolitan LLP’s phased scheme.
They also say Offord’s tacit support for
the scheme means the MP fully senses a chilly welcome if ever he ventures to
this corner of West Hendon.
Yet Cornelius remains undaunted.
“I’m convinced this will be a good
result for all the people of Barnet,” says Cornelius, in an oft-quoted TV
interview.
“The buildings are grotty down there.
“They need rebuilding.
“And the way you rebuild an estate is
you put in private housing which pays for the rebuilding.
“We believe this regeneration is very
much in the public interest.”
Private sale
Barratt and Metropolitan Housing's joint venture scheme for the estate is backed by
Barnet Council, and aided by Barnet Homes.
The ‘regeneration’
scheme will demolish the West Hendon Estate’s 680 homes block by block and
replace them with 2,000 new homes.
Of these, 1,494 will be for private
sale.
Metropolitan will offer 287
‘intermediate’ homes, including shared ownership and shared equity.
Just 219 will be ‘rented’, let to
existing secure West Hendon tenants at ‘target rents’, sometimes aligned with
‘social’ rents, closer to council rents.
Miss
Despite phases of the development
already forging ahead, a significant number of residents demand that all ‘flexible, non-secure tenants’ – many of whom
have lived on West Hendon for over nine years – be granted ‘secure’ tenancies.
A ‘secure’ tenancy would have suited
Shainaz, a ‘non-secure’ tenant who lived on the West Hendon estate for over
four years.
Barnet Homes, the ‘arms-length’ body
that manages and maintains Barnet’s 15,000 council homes, moved Shainaz to West
Hendon after she became homeless.
But, with the pending regeneration of
West Hendon, Barnet Homes have since moved Shainaz to another home, several
miles away in North Finchley.
“I don’t know anyone there,” says
Shainaz, who suffers from severe depression.
“I enjoyed living here at West Hendon
and miss the people.”
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| West Hendon resident Jackie now overshadowed by new block © Paul Coleman London Intelligence 2015 |
Expensive
Local resident, Jackie, a retired communications worker, recalls the initial
‘like-or-like’ promise made to residents.
“They promised everyone would have a new
home on this estate,” says Jackie.
“But the 2,000 homes being built here
will be mainly for private sale, and they’ll be so expensive for leaseholders.
Even the shared equity – people can’t afford it."
Jackie is a leaseholder of a two-bedroom flat now overlooked by construction workers and overshadowed by a new housing block.
“So, we’ve got to go," adds Jackie.
"But you need
enough money to leave here and buy something else.
“And the third offer they made, you
wouldn’t be able to buy a garden shed in this area of London.
The Council is basically telling tenants and leaseholders, ‘If
you can’t afford to live in this area, then clear off.’”
Densely
Jasmin Parsons, a BT engineer, has lived on the West Hendon estate for over 35 years.
Parsons bought her council home in the late 1980s.
She feels strongly that Barnet Council’s
current political leaders want wealthier people to live at West Hendon.
Affluent newcomers living densely in
new, luxury apartments raise local tax revenues.
They also don’t rely on public services,
like people on average and lower incomes.
That makes it easier to cut spending on
public services.
Lower the council tax.
And win easy votes.
Public
In the final analysis, Parsons says West
Hendon estate homes and the land on which they are built should be publicly owned.
No politicians should have the right to sell
this public land to corporate private interests.
“The biggest public asset we have is
land,” says Parsons.
“And it’s specifically for the majority
of people, not for the rich.
“But we have to fight to get it back."
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| Jasmin Parsons, West Hendon resident for over 35 years, taking direct action © Paul Coleman, London Intelligence 2015 |
© Paul Coleman, London Intelligence, March 2015
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