Theresa Villiers, MP for Chipping Barnet, has urged the Mayor of London and developer Ballymore to scrap their proposals for regeneration of Edgware town centre and come up with a completely new plan.
The site is outside her constituency but if what is currently on the table goes ahead, this will have a major impact on the Edgwarebury area which will become part of Chipping Barnet at the next general election.
The Barnet MP said: "The proposals for Edgware town centre should be scrapped. The scheme now under discussion would be a massive overdevelopment. A new set of proposals should be produced following extensive consultation with local residents."
She has told the Mayor and TfL and their development partner, Ballymore: "Building 25 tower blocks, including 13 of over 20 storeys, is completely wrong for an outer suburban area such as Edgware. This would give Edgware town centre a higher population density than Manhattan or Hong Kong. Local roads and infrastructure would not be able to cope. Allowing these tower blocks would violate longstanding planning rules protecting the character of the London suburbs."
"There a case for taking forward a regeneration project in Edgware town centre which includes some residential development. But this must be in tune with the character of the surrounding area. The height and density need to be moderate and in line with what local residents are prepared to accept."
"Inclusion of family sized homes would be important. Sufficient parking spaces should be provided for any new homes and for town centre visitors."
"And TfL must provide answers on the facilities which they plan to provide if Edgware's covered bus station is removed. I know how important this facility is for passengers, not least because important bus services in my constituency (such as the 384 and 107) start and finish there. It is not acceptable for there to be so much uncertainty about the future of the bus station."
"It would be wrong for TfL to replace the bus station with poorer waiting facilities. They should conduct an extensive consultation on replacement facilities before anything moves forward on a planning application to redevelop Edgware town centre."
The image comes from the website of the Save Our Edgware group and gives an indication of what Edgware would look like if the tower blocks are built.
Digital imprint: Promoted by Theresa Villiers MP of 163 High Street, Barnet, EN5 5SU.
