Barnet Council has appointed a new head of regeneration to try to drive forward the borough’s five major regeneration schemes despite the recession.
Colin Ross, who joins from BPP Regeneration Consultancy, will join the council next month and work on schemes including Brent Cross Cricklewood, Grahame Park, West Hendon, Stonegrove and Spur Road, and Dollis Valley.
Ross has also worked on large regeneration projects in the past for Strathclyde and Glasgow City Councils and will work with Barnet’s cabinet member for regeneration and development, Councillor Anthony Finn, to address the economic challenges.
Ross’s appointment is part of a wider restructuring at Barnet, which will see senior regeneration managers, who are set to be appointed over the next few months, appointed to the individual regeneration projects.
The council is also planning to appoint a principal regeneration manager to lead on the borough’s £4.5bn flagship regeneration project at Brent Cross Cricklewood.
BARNET has been awarded more than £12 million to fund infrastructure projects that will encourage private developers to build homes in the borough.
The council applied for the funds in October last year to fund a number of projects in the hope the cash could be used as "leverage" to encourage the private sector and other bodies, such as TfL, to invest in the borough.
The cabinet has identified five schemes that could act as a catalyst for the house building market and encourage developers to build thousands of new homes.
£4 million has been earmarked for infrastructure projects in West Hendon, to bolster the regeneration of West Hendon Estate.
The project is being financed by private development firm Barratt Metropolitan, but the infrastructure costs have hit profit margins and caused delays, and the cash injection could prove a timely intervention.
A further £3 million is earmarked to improve roads in Colindale and Grahame Park, with the council currently working on a plan that would eventually see 10,000 homes built in the area.
A much-needed £1 million could pay for repair and improvement work on the run-down Granville Road Estate, in Childs Hill.
In November last year residents of the estate set up a community group to urge the council to make the improvements, and ward councillor Monroe Palmer desribed it as a "war time sink estate".
The work to replace the railway bridges over Aerodrome Road, in Colindale, which has run an estimated £4 million over budget, will take up £3 million of the funding.
The council's cabinet resources committee will consider the proposals on Thursday.
A VINTAGE Second World War fighter plane rescued from a scrapyard is set to be auctioned in Colindale today.
The fully-functioning MK IX Spitfire will go under the hammer at the RAF Museum, in Grahame Park Way.
It is the first two-seater plane of its class to be offered at public auction for more than 20 years, and it is expected to fetch more than the record £1.1 million paid for a non-airworthy 1945 Supermarine Spitfire last September.
The 1944 Vickers-Supermarine plane was originally a single seater, but converted to accommodate an extra passenger after the war for £5,200.
The RAF aircraft was sold in 1948 to the South African Air Force, although it is not known how and when it was used.
It was discovered in a Cape Town scrapyard in 1970 and rescued by a late building developer and aviation enthusiast, who began the restoration process.
It was then sold between private collectors before beginning a five-year restoration in about 2002.
Grahame Park, located on the site of the old Hendon Aerodrome in North West London, is the largest housing estate in the London Borough of Barnet with 1,777 homes. The project to build the estate was approved by the Ministry Of Housing and local Government in 1964 and the first family moved in on October 23 1971. The building of the estate was a joint project between the Greater London Council and Barnet Council. The estate is named in honour of Claude Grahame-White, the pioneer of aviation who established the original air-teaching school and aerodrome. Most building names, walkways and roads on the estate have names linked to the aviation history of the site. A typical characteristic of the estate is the plain square brick style terraced houses, also known as "block" style, and long winding low-rise flats with flat roofs
In the late 1980s the estate went through its first regeneration process which split the blocks of flats into smaller blocks and added arched roofs to many of the buildings. In 2003, residents voted in favour of a full regeneration of the estate. The Housing Corporation has earmarked £15 Million for the redevelopment. [1] The redevelopment is managed by Choices For Grahame Park, a subsidiary of Genesis Housing Group, with new houses being built by Countryside Properties PLC. In 2007 a web-site was launched by Countryside Properties PLC renaming part of the redevelopment as "New Hendon Village"
There is often confusion over the spelling of Grahame Park with many omitting the 'e' in Grahame, including Barnet Council.
Hendon Aerodrome was an aerodrome in Hendon, north London, England and between 1908 and 1968 was an important centre for aviation. It was situated in Colindale, seven miles (11.3 km) north west of Charing Cross. It nearly became "the Charing Cross of the UK's international air routes", but for the actions of RAF after the First World War. It was famous as a place of pioneering experiments which included the first airmail, the first parachute descent from a powered aircraft, the first night flights, and the first aerial defence of a city.
A community charity shop in Grahame Park has been awarded a £9,000 lottery grant to provide free computer and English classes.
The cash will pay for the teachers and the computers to provide twice-weekly, hour long sessions for residents of Grahame Park estate.
The shop, in The Concourse, was set up by Sandra Nadarajah last year to provide subsidised fresh fruit and vegetables to residents, saving the elderly and mothers with large families from taking bus journeys to the shops.
Mrs Nadarajah said 20 people, mostly Somalian women and Europeans, have already signed up to the classes, which begin this Saturday.
She said: "People on benefits can already get free lessons, but there is nothing for people on low incomes and often they can't afford to pay.
"A lot of women are really interested in developing their computer knowledge because their children use computers and they need to keep an eye on what they're doing."
The Mayor of Barnet will officially open a new children's centre in Grahame Park tomorrow.
The new Greentop Centre has been built as part of a drive to regenerate Grahame Park Estate.
It will provide space for events for parents with young children, including parent and toddler groups, and for schools to work with small groups of children who are at risk of exclusion.
Barnet Council will also provide an after-school club for children aged between five and 11 during term time and play schemes during school hours in all school holidays except Christmas.
Grahame Park residents celebrate opening of new children's centre
Choices for Grahame Park, part of Genesis Housing Group, and Barnet Council today celebrated the opening of the Greentop Centre, a stunning new activities hub and play area for children on Lanacre Avenue in Barnet.
Four children – Hilary, Jessica, Reha and Jasmine – read out poems written by local children about the place in front of The Worshipful, the Mayor of Barnet, Councillor John Marshall and Andrew Dismore MP. The Mayor, assisted by the children, drew back long gold-tinselled curtains to unveil a plaque commemorating the opening of the Centre.
It is hoped that the centre, built for the council’s Children’s Service, will become a multi-purpose space for the community to enjoy – it is already providing after-school clubs and holiday activities for children.
The Greentop Centre, constructed by Countryside Properties Ltd, is set in the Grahame Park Open Space, adjoining the 1,777-home estate. Built at a cost of £1 million, it has a green roof, planted with sedum to encourage biodiversity and rainwater run-off.
The centre consists of a large multi-functional room as well as a staff office, sizeable kitchen, WCs and storage. Glazed doorways open onto 1,690 sq. metres of external space, which includes play facilities in the form of a floodlit ballgames area, adventure playground equipment and imaginative play surfaces and structures.
The Greentop Centre replaces the old Log Cabin, a prefabricated structure within wooden palisades. Many local people have fond memories of children’s activities run at the Log Cabin, but the building is now obsolete and unused. Staff responsible for the Log Cabin were part of the Project Team that designed the new Greentop Centre, bringing in the children’s views at the key stages.
Sixty guests joined in the celebration, including, councillors, council officers, parents, children, local residents, representatives from local schools and voluntary organisations, staff from Choices for Grahame Park and Genesis Housing Group, the contractor Countryside Properties, the architects Pollard Thomas Edwards, and other consultants.
Councillor Fiona Bulmer, Barnet Cabinet Member for Children’s Services said: “We are delighted that the new Centre is open and providing a great venue for a range of different activities for young people.
"I’m particularly pleased that voluntary organisations are going to be using the Centre, further strengthening the partnership between the council and Barnet’s vibrant voluntary sector.”
Anne Dufton, Chief Executive for Grahame Park, said: “Successful communities work best when homes and community facilities are built together. We are delighted that, as well as building better homes for local families, we are helping their children to benefit from the excellent services that will be provided at the Greentop Centre.”
Grahame Park is Barnet’s largest housing estate with 1,777 homes built by the GLC in the 1970s. Although the estate is popular with many early residents, significant problems arose due to the concentration of vulnerable and disadvantaged people, and because of the estate’s design which isolates it from the surrounding areas.
The regeneration proposals for Grahame Park form a central part of the Colindale Development Plan, that aims to create a vibrant new community with major infrastructure improvements, improved transport links and community health facilities.
In 1914 the field was taken over by the Admiralty and became a Royal Naval Air Station. On 1st April 1918 The Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service amalgamated to form the Royal Air Force. In 1927 the site became an operational RAF station. On 17th March 1930, 604 Squadron was established: F/L F.J. Fogarty as adjutant and flying instructor. A Warrant Officer. 19 Airmen Hendon remained a major airfield throughout both World Wars, and afterwards it acquired an international reputation as a centre of aviation, through the staging of spectacular aerial pageants. On 4th November 1957 the airport ceased operations and entered a gradual decline. Eventually, the airfield was swallowed up by the concrete jungle of modern housing, with the Grahame Park Estate covering the majority of the site. On 15th November 1972, the RAF Museum on Grahame Park Way was officially opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The Museum occupies two of the original WWI Royal Naval Air Service hangars. In 1974, Graham - White's London Flying Club's buildings were finally torn down to make way for expansion of The Hendon Police College. The extensive collection on display includes everything from the basic stick and fabric planes to sophisticated jets. In 1978, The Battle of Britain Hall was opened, followed by the Bomber Command Hall in 1984. The Queen Mother was present at a ceremony to mark the official closure of the Hendon Aerodrome on 1st April 1987.
Claude Grahame - White (1879-1959) « Result #26 on Aug 5, 2008, 2:22pm »
Claude Grahame - White (1879-1959)
In 1909, he became the first Englishman to gain an aviator's certificate. He was also the first British pilot to fly at night. In 1910, as owner of the Aerodrome, he established the first London Flying Club on 207 acres of North London pasture, thus beginning the long history of aviation at Hendon. In September 1911 the Grahame - White company operated an experimental air mail service for two weeks between Hendon and Windsor. As well commemorating the coronation of King George V, and raising money for charity, the event publicised the possibilities of the aeroplane as a means of transport. In 1925 Grahame - White's London Flying Club closed to become part of the 400,000 sq ft of property which was leased (short term) to Standard Telephones and Cables Ltd. Eventually Hendon was sold to the Air Ministry. Aerodrome Road, separated some driving school garages from the disused Hendon Aerodrome. For a while the old runways were used by the driving school for students to practice their road skills. During the 1970s, Grahame Park - a mixture of flats, town houses and terraced housing was built on the site.
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