Barnet Council has made a mockery of its much-flaunted consultation process on the Tally Ho scheme.
In February the council held an exhibition and distributed questionnaires. The cut-off date for this consultation was February 25.
The brochure it produced did not fairly represent the proposed arts centre, which appeared on the front page, to be about two-thirds of the height of the existing office block on the corner of Kingsway and the High Road whereas it is, in fact, almost as high.
Of greater importance is the enormous block of flats which could only be appreciated by looking at the models at the exhibition.
In March, the council published a feedback document giving details of the comments made by 957 respondents ,, nearly 35 per cent of these people did not like parts of the scheme. Very little was done to change it and on March 6 the council published the planning application. This then started the 'statutory consultation period'.
As a result only 200 objections were received, according to officers' reports, which was included in Wednesday night's environment PDC.
So we have a scenario for appearing to consult the public but discounting any concerns raised.
Pat Dunnill
Cornwall Avenue, Finchley
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