Agenda item

At the invitation of the Chairman, Councillor Cohen introduced his Member’s item and outlined the following points:

·         That land adjacent to the old Finchley Memorial Hospital had been sold by Camden with the intention of its being used specifically for community sport but this had not happened.

·         That he had raised the issue of the use of this land with the Chief Executive of Barnet Council.

·         That he would be interested to discuss in an open forum, the possibility of the use of any such land as a site for accommodation for NHS staff.

The Chairman informed the Committee that an Enforcement Notice on the use of the land was going to be issued the following day, Tuesday 3 October 2017. 

The Vice Chairman commented that the use of the land was a matter of public interest and suggested that the Committee invite an Officer from the Estates work stream of the Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) to discuss the whole issue of building affordable housing for NHS staff.  The Vice Chairman advised that as the Committee had just learned that an Enforcement Notice would be served, it should be allowed to take its course.  However, at an appropriate point, the Committee should receive a report on NHS housing and its implications for healthcare provision in Barnet. 

Councillor Cohen welcomed the suggestion and requested that this report be received as soon as possible.

The Chairman requested that the Governance Service provide a copy of the Enforcement Notice, as well as information as to the extent of land that the notice applies to.  The Chairman expressed the need to be assured that the site would be used in the best interests of the STP in order to deliver health and wellbeing outcomes. 

The Chairman invited Councillor Helena Hart, Chairman of the Barnet Health and Wellbeing Board, to the table.  Councillor Hart advised the Committee that she had been in touch with Iain Sutherland, Planning Enforcement Manager from Development and Regulatory Services, who had provided the following statement:

“It was a condition of the planning permission for the new Finchley Memorial Hospital that the old Camden playing fields next door be opened to the public and that 3 football pitches be provided and maintained for public use.  

The land was opened up but the pitches were not forthcoming.   The NHS have informed us that they are keen to see the pitches delivered and maintained and they are in legal dispute with the developers over this failure. We have not heard from the developer.

Although we were content to recognise that the NHS are making all reasonable efforts to fulfil their obligations the planning enforcement team and the Community Health partnership agreed that a ‘breach of condition notice’ should be issued. The notice will put those served under a legal obligation to provide the pitches. As the notice would be a public document the health partnership would be able to cite its service in proceedings, effectively granting them a degree of leverage that might otherwise be absent.  The notice is due to be served tomorrow and extends 9 months to complete the work. At the end of this period those served must either demonstrate compliance or that they have taken every reasonable step to comply.

Unfortunately the ground is not yet suitable for pitches and therefore compliance requires a lot more than putting up some posts and marking out the lines in whitewash.”

Councillor Hart informed the Committee that there was a legal obligation to provide the pitches and was pleased the Council should endeavour to enforce this.

Following consideration of the item and having received advice from the Governance Officer, the Committee agreed that they wanted to receive a future report at the earliest opportunity which:

·         In the context of the STP, set out the provision for housing for NHS staff within Barnet.

·         Would be received by the Committee at their February 2018 meeting, if possible.

Additionally, the Committee requested to be provided with a position statement on the amount of land being covered by the enforcement and any other spare land around the site as soon as possible, but by the end of 2017. 

RESOLVED that the Committee provided its instructions as set out above.