Finchley Church End

The town centre strategy for Finchley Central, commissioned by Barnet Council, is being developed to set out a vision for the future of Finchley Church End and Finchley Central. 

We Made That are the consultants who will be helping to develop the strategy.

Aims and objectives

To give Finchley Church End a new sense of place and clearer identity, where businesses, residents and the wider community can come together and thrive, and to set out ways for the council and partners to deliver a more accessible, attractive, healthy, safe, vibrant, well used and locally-led high street.

Background

In December 2014, Barnet Council adopted Entrepreneurial Barnet, which broadly sets out the approach the council and its public sector partners are taking to realise the vision of making Barnet the best place in London to be a small business.

A key part of Entrepreneurial Barnet is an ambitious programme of town centre investment, which aims to contribute to making Barnet a great place to live, work and invest.

Finchley as a main town centre

Entrepreneurial Barnet introduced 
a new category of “main” town centre, to sit alongside the existing network of district and local centres as defined within the London Plan and expressed through Barnet’s own Local Plan. Finchley Church End is classified as a Main Town Centre.

Place-Based Commissioning (PBC) approach

Going forward, the council is seeking to take a Place-Based Commissioning (PBC) approach to town centre investment, by coordinating action across local partners to tackle existing issues in the area in a joined-up way and achieve greater overall improvement to local outcomes.

The defining characteristic of PBC is that it requires the rewiring of traditionally siloed activities to better integrate services and ensure activity is outcome-focused for local residents and maximises the impact of investment in regeneration. The PBC approach encompasses council, wider public sector and community-led activities.