A legal fight over a disused monastery in the London Borough of Barnet has reached the High Court.
Developer Metro Construction says that the Barnet council wrongly designated the former Carmelite Monastery at 119 Bridge Lane, Barnet, as a Conservation Area in order to prevent its demolition.
It says that the Council was not entitled to designate a single building as a Conservation Area in this way, and that it only acted in response to an application to demolish the monastery. It says that the decision did not involve the necessary assessment of whether the monastery – which the government had elected not to protect via the means of statutory listing – had any special architectural or historic interest worth preserving.
Metro Construction has now altered its plans and obtained planning permission for a redevelopment scheme that will include the retention of the monastery building. Under these plans the monastery will be converted into 27 residential units, while five dwellings and two blocks containing 13 affordable flats will be added within the grounds. However, the site would still remain subject to the tight controls of a Conservation Area, and Metro is asking senior planning judge Mr Justice Andrew Collins to quash the Council’s decision to impose those restrictions.
It says that the decision was irrational and an unlawful misuse of the Council’s powers under the Listed Buildings Act, because it was aimed solely at preventing demolition, not preserving or enhancing the character and appearance of the area. It also complains that he Council failed to take material considerations into account, including the secretary of state for Communities and Local Government’s decision that the monastery was not of special architectural or historic interest. The judge is expected to reserve his decision in order to give it in writing at a later date.
