We asked, you said, we did

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We asked

We asked for your views on proposals to implement a School Streets Scheme enforced by Automatic Number Plate Reading (ANPR) cameras at Summerside Primary School. This was in response to requests for a School Street Scheme to deal with traffic congestion around the school entrance.

You said

We distributed 204 letters to the area around the school asking for views on our proposals. We received 59 responses to the consultation, with an overall 54% rate of support for the proposal, with 20% of respondents opposing the scheme.

We did

We took all the feedback into consideration and a Chief Officer’s Decision was made to proceed with the implementation of the School Street Scheme at Summerside Primary School. The scheme was completed in spring 2022 and is currently in place. You can read more about how the School Street will operate.

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We asked

We asked for your views on proposals to implement a School Streets Scheme enforced by Automatic Number Plate Reading (ANPR) cameras at Colindale School. This was in response to requests for a School Street Scheme to deal with traffic congestion around the school entrances.

You said

We distributed 413 letters to the area around the school asking for views on our proposals. We received 98 responses to the consultation, with an overall 41% rate of support for the proposal, with 27% of respondents opposing the scheme.

We did

We took all the feedback into consideration and a Chief Officer’s Decision was made to proceed with the implementation of the School Street Scheme at Colindale School. The scheme was completed in spring 2022 and is currently in place. You can read more about how the School Street will operate.

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We asked

We asked for your views on our proposals for the western entrance public realm planned for Barnet’s new Brent Cross West station.

You said

During a three-week public consultation period, 74 feedback surveys were received. Common themes included increased planting, decreased cycle parking, safety concerns for the area, accessibility concerns for disabled users at the drop-off bay, more seating, and dedicated parking.

We did

Feedback received enabled the refinement of the Brent Cross West western entrance public realm concept design. Design changes that were progressed included increase planting as both permanent and temporary features, decreased cycle parking which will be monitored in future to understand user demand, drop-off bay changes to be level with the carriageway, and increased seating. Safety has been fundamental to the design of the public realm, and whilst there were no significant changes to the design in this regard, we have provided a list of infrastructure and natural surveillance sources to enhance safety (within this document, page 6). Finally, further parking facilities were not considered as this would detract from the purpose of the Brent Cross West station and its public realm, which is to encourage active travel.

Further detailed information on the results of the consultation can be found here.

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We asked

Following the introduction of the Barnet Hospital (BH) Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) in 2018, we carried out an informal consultation during July and August 2020 to find out the views of residents and businesses situated inside and outside the CPZ, including whether they or their visitors experienced problems parking close to their property and if so at what times of the day. We also asked them if they would support having a CPZ introduced in their road.

You said

Roads within the Barnet Hospital CPZ

We consulted 449 properties within the CPZ. We received 109 responses to the questionnaire which included comments, suggestions and objections which are summarised below.

The majority of the resident and their visitors said that they found it easier to park closer to their home since the Barnet Hospital CPZ was introduced and were also happy with the current hours and days of the CPZ.

A few residents of Wellside Close raised concerns regarding the difficulties that they were experiencing after 6.30pm in the evenings due to its close proximity to Barnet Hospital.

Roads situated outside the Barnet Hospital CPZ

We consulted 1691 properties within the CPZ. We received 162 responses to the questionnaire which included comments, suggestions and objections which are summarised below.

The majority of the residents that responded expressed that they were in favour of a CPZ to be introduced on their street with CPZ controls operating all day to mitigate the effects of commuter parking.

Concerns were also raised regarding inconsiderate parking mainly at junctions that have an impact on visibility, traffic flow and general road safety.

You can view the consultation report, including responses to objections.

We did

We have carefully considered all the comments received to the informal consultation and have decided to extend the Barnet Hospital CPZ on an experimental basis in the roads listed under Schedule 1. It has also been decided to extend the Barnet “Zone C” CPZ to include Regina Close and Elizabeth Close (Schedule 2) on an experimental basis. This will enable us to keep the controls under review.

We also upgraded the operational CPZ controls of Wellside Close from 8am to 6.30pm Monday to Saturday to operate 8am to 8pm Monday to Sunday from 23 May 2022.

Introducing the above measures on an experimental basis gives the local community time to assess the effectiveness and impact of the measures and allow the council to consider if any further amendments will be needed to improve the parking situation. This may involve expansion of the existing CPZ to include the neighbouring streets. During the first six months, comments from the local community will be invited, considered and assessed to help decide if the experimental measures should be made permanent.

In addition to the measures mentioned above a number of resident permit bays, operating 8am to 6.30pm Monday to Saturday, within the existing BH CPZ will be converted to shared use parking bays. These bays may be used by residents and businesses permit holders and Pay by Phone users. These bays will operate from 8am to 6.30pm Monday to Saturday in Grimsdyke Crescent, Kings Road, Cavendish Road and Elmbank Avenue. These measures are proposed in order to provide improved parking opportunities for residents, businesses, and visitors in the vicinity of Barnet Hospital. It will also help in reducing parking pressure in the BH CPZ area.

As well as the above measures, lengths of double yellow lines will be introduced on street at vulnerable locations in order to deter inconsiderate parking, improve sightlines and improve traffic flow.

We will hand deliver notification letters with the scheme plans to the properties within the experimental CPZ informing residents and businesses of the properties that are eligible to apply for a resident permit, with information about how to apply for permits and how the scheme will work.

You can view a plan of the Barnet Hospital CPZ and Barnet “Zone C” extension boundary and detailed plans on the right-hand side of the consultation page.

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We asked

We asked your views on our Health Coaching Programme, delivered by Home-Start using their coordinators and volunteers. 49 questionnaires were completed in 2022, and included a combination of online and face-to-face questionnaire completion. We also consulted staff and stakeholders involved in delivering the service as part of this consultation.

We asked service users:

• how much you have engaged with the services offered as part of the Health Coaches Programme
• about the quality of service that you received
• what you valued about the service and what you think the service should do to improve and develop.
• what public health issues residents are concerned about
• whether staff and stakeholders understand the needs of service users, or residents.

You said

• 100% said you would be very likely or likely to recommend a health coach to your family or friends
• 64% would prefer face to face or home visit from their coordinator or volunteer.
• service users most value: Face-to-face contact (54%); Listening to worries and concerns (54%); Ability to contact them as necessary (42%).

We did

• we will continue to offer face-to-face support for those that prefer this
• we will ensure staff and volunteers receive adequate training about the range of support available to families, so that they can signpost
• we will promote the service to organisations that refer to Home-Start, ensuring they are fully aware of the range of support on offer
• we will consider a targeted recruitment campaign, focused on equality, diversity, and inclusion, to recruit volunteers from a range of backgrounds, especially those that speak multiple languages
• we will spotlight mental health in training, development, and activities since this has worsened as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic
• we will make families with young children aware of the scales available in Children’s Centres, after explaining the importance of monitoring their baby’s weight.

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We asked

We asked for your views on pharmaceutical services in Barnet. Pharmaceutical services include services provided from local pharmacies, dispensaries at doctors' surgeries, or specialist appliance contractors. Local pharmacies also provide healthcare help and advice and are often the first point of contact when people are concerned about their health.

You said

We received 482 responses to the public questionnaire. The analysis of the questionnaires shows:

• 90% of respondents have a preferred local pharmacy
• 67% of respondents have visited a community pharmacy at least once a month in the past six-month period
• 56% of respondents the main method of transport was walking
• 89% of respondents were able to reach the pharmacy within 15 minutes (100% within 30 minutes)
• 29% of respondents identified a difficulty in getting to a pharmacy, 23% of whom identified parking as the main issue.
• from the public questionnaire, accessing a community pharmacy in Barnet was not seen to be an issue by the vast majority.

We did

In response to the comments made, the Barnet draft PNA 2022 was compiled and available for consultation from 13 June to 12 August 2022. Anyone who uses local pharmaceutical services is invited to comment during the consultation process. We want to make sure that you can access pharmaceutical services easily and that you are happy with the service you receive.

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We asked

We invited members of the local community who care about North Finchley Town Centre, and have the time, to come together and work in partnership with the council and others to support the town centre to thrive.

You said

We received 16 applications to join the board.

We did

We assessed the applications in line with the Council’ standard procurement system and 11 members from the local community joined. The first meeting was held on 22 November 2021. More information on the North Finchley Partnership Board is available here and you can find the agendas and minutes for previous meetings online.

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We asked

We asked for your views on our draft Fit and Active Barnet Framework 2022 – 2026, which sets out the direction for the development and delivery of physical activity in Barnet over the next five years. This is underpinned by our proposed vision to ‘create a more active and healthy borough’ through a whole-systems approach.

You said

We received 73 responses to the questionnaire:

• an average of 77% agree with the vision of the framework
• 92% agree with the guiding principles laid out in the framework
• the majority (between 87% and 92%) agree with the aims of the framework.

There were also a number of comments made by residents completing the questionnaire, in relation to the framework and action plan:

• consideration needed for funding (2 comments)
• suggestions for more specific wording (2 comments)
• barriers to access (e.g. cost) (11 comments)
• inequalities (4 comments)
• Community Safety (3 comments)
• Active Travel (22 comments)
• consider provisions available for people with a disability (6 comments)
• culturally specific interventions (3 comments)
• improve parks and open spaces (13 comments)
• comments on community support (3 comments).

We did

In response to the comments made, we amended the Framework and it’s supporting implementation plan to include the elements that respondents asked to be incorporated, and/or provided as suggestions.

The Framework has now been finalised and the final version is available on the Barnet Council website

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We asked

We asked for views from residents and businesses in Burnt Oak and Colindale on our proposals to introduce traffic measures in Booth Road and The Greenway which are aimed to help reduce vehicles taking short cuts through these roads. We wrote to 5,000 properties in Burnt Oak and Colindale as part of the consultation and held a public meeting.

You said

We received 1163 Responses to the consultation which included comments, statements, petitions and objections to the scheme. We have compiled a consultation report analysing and detailing the responses and have carefully considered all the responses received.

We did

Given the significant level of objections to the scheme the Director for the Environment has decided that the proposals will not proceed and that instead we will engage in a dialogue with residents and road users to better understand the situation and what if any, measures they consider would best solve the existing issues in these two locations. We will seek to devise new proposals which will reflect the wishes of the community. You can view the responses in the consultation report.

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We asked

We asked for your views on our consultation on proposed private rented property licensing schemes. Options considered were re-introducing a borough-wide additional licensing scheme for houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) and three separate selective licensing schemes for other privately rented properties in a total of nine wards.

You said

We received 466 online responses to the questionnaire and nine written responses via email. We also held three events for those interested in participating, with tenants, homeowners, landlords and managing agents, with 29 people attending. In summary:

• overall 53% supported the re-introduction of additional licensing
• overall 40% supported the selective licensing schemes
• for both types of scheme respondents renting their home and owner occupiers were more inclined to support the proposals than landlords and letting agents.

There were also several comments made by respondents completing the questionnaire, in written responses and at the consultation events in relation to the proposals:

• one comment suggested the additional licensing scheme should only be for a smaller area of the borough, in 4 wards with the most HMOs
• one comment suggested that a smaller selective licensing scheme should be implemented, rather than three schemes
• one comment suggested that the inclusion of areas that have recently been regenerated in the Colindale area was not warranted
• one comment was received that for what are known as section 257 HMOs, the scheme should only apply to buildings where all the flats are rented
• various comments were made about the detail of the licence conditions to be applied to the schemes
• comments, mainly from landlords were made that the schemes are not necessary
• some consultees thought the schemes were a money-making exercise
• some consultees thought that the schemes would penalise responsible landlords
• some comments were made that the costs would be passed onto tenants
• one respondent thought references should not be required from prospective tenants
• some landlords thought they should not be responsible for their tenant’s behaviour
• those in favour of the schemes tended not to make further comment as to why they supported them
• attendees at the forums did report concerns about poor accommodation and amenities and landlords not acting on issues raised
• some attendees thought there was a lot of sub-letting and overcrowding leading to a lack of control by landlords
• some attendees said anti-social behaviour is a big problem for tenants
• some tenants felt unsupported by the council
• some tenants felt that rental costs are high but poor value for money
• some landlords said that they want to know everything is okay so that tenants do not need to contact them.

We did

In response to the comments made, some of the proposals have been amended.

• for the borough-wide additional licensing scheme we reviewed all our data against the new ward boundaries, (the data had only been available against the old ward boundaries at the time of consultation). We concluded that there remains a case for a borough-wide additional licensing scheme, as there are many potential HMOs spread right across the borough that have not previously applied for a licence
• we also reviewed the data for the selective licensing proposals and have decided that only Designation A (for Burnt Oak, Colindale North and Colindale South) will go forward for designation at this time. We intend to use the updated data to draw up new proposals for a further selective licensing consultation, probably later in 2022
• we have decided to exclude certain regeneration and new development areas from the scope of the selective licensing scheme for Burnt Oak, Colindale North and Colindale South so that the many new properties in those areas will not require a licence
• we revised the scope of the additional licensing scheme such that only buildings converted into flats, where all the flats are privately rented will require a licence
• we took on board various comments relating to the licence conditions and have amended them accordingly, where we thought this was appropriate.

The final proposals were considered by the Housing and Growth Committee on 17 February 2022. The amended proposals described above were agreed and the borough-wide additional licensing scheme is now likely to come into operation from July 2022. The designation will likely be made in April and applications for licences from landlords and agents can be made from April. The selective licensing Designation A is likely to come into operation in January 2023. The designation will likely be made in October 2022. Applications from landlords and agents for both schemes can be made from the date that the designation is signed.

A further consultation will be launched for selective licensing in some other wards in 2023. You can view the final report on the consultation and the summary of comments and the council’s response to them, as well as the final licensing designations once they are signed, on the council’s website Barnet Online.