The building in Grove Road has been left empty for two years, reports Simon Allin, Local Democracy Reporter

*Grove Road Church Hall and (inset) the planned redevelopment of the site*

Plans to demolish a disused church hall and build 24 new homes have been given the go-ahead by councillors.

Developer Beverley Homes has won permission to knock down Grove Road Church Hall in Grove Road, New Southgate, and build a block of flats and maisonettes up to six storeys high.

Ten of the homes will be for social rent, with three for intermediate rent and the remainder for private sale.

Built in the 1950s, the church hall was used by Christ Church New Southgate and Friern Barnet before its closure in 2020. It was put up for sale because of high upkeep costs and to help fund the refurbishment of the historic Grade 2-listed church building in Friern Barnet Road.

The scheme was presented to a meeting of the planning committee on Tuesday. Addressing the meeting, principal planning officer Gideon Whittingham acknowledged the unit mix “falls short of policy expectations”, with only four of the homes (13%) having three bedrooms. However, he added that officers had to take into account “what can reasonably be provided” and wanted to include “larger family units with larger garden spaces”.

Conservative committee member Mike Rye raised several concerns over the scheme, including the deviation from policy in terms of the unit mix and a children’s playground that he said seemed partly designed to overcome “problems of Suds [sustainable urban drainage systems] and drainage”.

The planning officers’ report reveals that the proposed scheme “fails to appropriately consider and mitigate the risks of flooding” and the communal garden is described as “imperative in achieving Suds and removing the original Suds objection”.

Gideon repeated that officers had been “pragmatic” about what the site could deliver, adding that government planning inspectors recognised that while a mix of units is a “policy aspiration”, the council had to recognise that it still needs to deliver homes. He added that the children’s play area was not a requirement for Suds, but the “green roof” was.

Labour’s Doug Taylor asked for assurance that the rooftop play space did not pose a safety risk. Gideon replied that it was recommended for the play area to be supervised and said there would be frosted glass surrounding it “to the height that building regulations would require”.

When questioned over the lack of car parking spaces – the scheme includes only three bays for disabled people – officers replied that it would be in a “highly accessible” location, close to bus routes, New Southgate Station and Arnos Grove Underground Station.

After further concerns were raised over the rooftop play space, councillors agreed to add a condition to the application to look at measures to further enhance safety and security.

When it came to the vote, nine councillors voted in favour of the scheme, three abstained and none were against.

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