Pinkham Way site appropriation
Received: 11 July 2025
The Pinkham Way site meets both the following definitions of open Space' In the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, it is land '... laid out as a public garden, or used for the purposes of public recreation, or land which is a disused burial ground.' Previously, the Open Spaces Act 1906 defines it as '... land that is either not covered by buildings, or where buildings cover no more than one-twentieth of the area, and the remaining land is either laid out as a garden, used for recreation, or is waste and unoccupied.' The site is public open space by virtue of usage 'as of right' by local residents of the Freehold area over a long period (well over 20 years subsequent to the closure of the sewage works in 1963). This was acknowledged at the TVG examination in 2013. In 2010 the Council was responsible for installing new fencing around Pinkham Way. On 31st March 2010, at 14.29, Judith Ellis, LBB Head of Property Valuations, emailed George Church, LBB Principal Valuer, Resources. Copy attached (e-mail released in 2013 under FOI). Ms Ellis was concerned that repeated public access during installation meant that 'as discussed ... we are laying ourselves open to village green applications'. These two senior officers would have been aware of local residents' long term usage of the site for recreation and that the usage met the fundamental criterion for TVG application (usage over 20 years - see above). Hence the 'discussions' between Mr Church and Ms Ellis and Ms Ellis' concern expressed in the email.The two officers would or should have also been aware of Haringey's 1988 approval of its own planning application to designate the whole site Open Space for '... leisure, recreation, open space and other community purposes.' Copy attached.The Arup LBB Open Space Assessment 2009 that marks the Freehold area as deficient in Open Space. Map 10 in the subsequent UDP 2012 identifies Pinkham Way as 'Local Park'. See relevant maps attached. A Local Park is Open Space by definition.As an experienced officer, Ms Ellis was an experienced officer, plainly aware of the strict procedures surrounding any Council disposal of open space, and was assiduous in providing full details to members. Please see Sections 7 & 8 in both links below, including reports provided by Ms Ellis.https://barnet.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s6284/https://barnet.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s6761/CRC_2012.12.17_Grahame%20Park%20Open%20Space.pdfSection 8.3 of both the above reports states:Council's Constitution, Part 4, Management of Real Estate, Property and Land, Paragraph 7 (i) states 'Whenever a decision is taken by the Executive or the relevant Director acting under delegated powers to advertise the possible disposal or appropriation of open space land, the Director or designated officer shall report the matter to the next relevant Area Environment Sub-Committee to enable it to decide whether it wishes to make representations to the Executive in relation to the disposal of the open space land'. In connection with the Council's decision to dispose of land at Pinkham Way (at the time generally known as ' former Friern Barnet Sewage Works' ) to the North London Waste Authority, please supply: a)Reports to the relevant Area Environment Sub-Committee, as per Council's Constitution, Part 4, para 7 (see above) b)Minutes of any related decisions on 'representations to the Executive' taken by that Sub-Committee, as per Council's Constitution, Part 4, para 7 (see above) c)Copies of advertisements placed in locally distributed newspapers, as per LGA 1972, Section 123, subsection 2A.* In the absence of availability of local newspaper advertisement, please supply evidence of all steps that the Council took to meet its statutory duty under LGA 1972, Section 123, subsection 2A.
Outcome / Documents
- 14961028 Marketing Brochure - application/pdf - Download
- 14961028 TPO_1 - application/pdf - Download
- 14961028 B0878400_02 Public Utilities - application/pdf - Download
- 14961028 B0878400_03 Topographical Survey - application/pdf - Download
- 14961028 B0878400_04 Topographical Cross Sections 18-03-08 - application/pdf - Download
- 14961028 Cabinet Decisions 08.11.2009 - application/pdf - Download
- 14961028 Depot Requirements - application/pdf - Download
- 14961028 Disposal Docket_Redacted - application/pdf - Download
- 14961028 Former Sewage Works OS - application/pdf - Download
- 14961028 Friern Barnet offer letter_redacted - application/pdf - Download
- 14961028 Friern Barnet offer OS Plan - application/pdf - Download
- 14961028 Friern LQA Phase1_Original - application/pdf - Download
- 14961028 Item 6 - Pinkham Way Friern Barnet Sewage Works (Public) 08.08.2008 - application/pdf - Download
- 14961028 LBB Depot Requirement - application/pdf - Download
- 14961028 LQA2 Final Report1 - application/pdf - Download
- 14961028 Outline Planning Application 54295 - application/pdf - Download
- 14961028 Planning Notice ref 054295 - application/pdf - Download
- 14961028 Register interest - application/pdf - Download
- 14961028 TfL Road Widening_Redacted - application/pdf - Download
- 14961028 TPO_2 - application/pdf - Download
- 14961028 Statement of Planning Principles - application/pdf - Download
- Response (some exempt) - application/pdf - Download