Edgware Growth Area Supplementary Planning Document June 2021 Preface Edgware Town Centre has a diverse character, vibrant The SPD supports comprehensive redevelopment of community and excellent commercial opportunities key sites to reflect Edgware’s status as a major town including for retail, office and leisure. There are also centre, reinforce the role of the high street, provide new enormous opportunities to bring improvements to public spaces and make the street environment more Edgware through positive change and growth. attractive. The environment for pedestrians and cyclists will be improved, providing better options for more The town centre falls within the boroughs of both sustainable transport and safe and active movement. Barnet and Harrow and the councils jointly prepared this The town centre will also provide opportunities for new Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) to guide how high quality homes, including affordable housing. Edgware Town Centre can successfully undergo renewal and better serve as a destination for local residents and businesses. 1. INTRODUCTION 5 2. VISION AND OBJECTIVES 13 3. SPD SPATIAL CONTEXT 16 4. DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES 25 5. KEY SITES DESIGN GUIDE 37 6. PUBLIC REALM GUIDE 46 7. TRANSPORT AND MOVEMENT GUIDE 50 8. DELIVERY AND IMPLEMENTATION 54 TABLE OF CONTENTS OF TABLE 1. Introduction Figure 1 – Inter-war shopping frontage on the corner of Hale Lane 1. Introduction 1.1. Edgware has evolved from a small market town 1.6. Despite its many advantages as a destination, the into a major town centre1 and a well-known town centre has experienced a range of pressures suburban hub of North London. The centre is in recent years like many town centres and high situated in the north-west corner of Barnet and streets nationally. In common with similar town extends into a small part of Harrow. Edgware centres there has been a significant shift in retail has a long and proud history. The town centre is resulting in the loss of major retail anchors as popular, diverse and valued, providing extensive more people have moved to shopping online shopping, cafes, restaurants and services for or attracted to out of town retail centres as they communities in both boroughs, north London expand their offering. and beyond. 1.2. The presence of Edgware Underground Station at the end of the Northern Line, along with Edgware Bus Station, make it a public transport hub. People use the buses and tube to access Edgware for shopping, leisure and work, while commuters can travel in directly to Central London. 1.3. The Town Centre is an important commercial driver of the local economy and provides a range of important employment opportunities, largely in Tube Station d high street retailers and office work. a o R Bus Station n io t a t 1.4. There is also much valued local community S Broadwalk St Margaret’s Centre infrastructure, including a primary school, a Church library, religious buildings, and numerous active A 5 / community organisations. E d g w Railway e a n re a Hotel L R h o rc a 1.5. Edgware has attractive inter-war shopping u d ch it h frontages, along with many nationally and W locally listed buildings across the town centre. Edgware has a long and interesting history which is reflected in important heritage buildings that A 5 / E provide distinctive designs and links to the past. d g w a re R o a d 1 A Major Town Centre is defined within the London Plan Hierarchy and generally contain over 50,000 sqm retail, leisure and service floorspace. They may also have significant employment, Figure 2 – Key features within the Edgware SPD Boundary leisure, service and civic functions. Edgware Growth Area SPD | 5 1.7. This SPD seeks to build on the current assets of 1.11. Some of Edgware’s building frontages are the town centre and identify where there are not shown in their best light due to excessive opportunities for improvement and development. signage. Areas to the buildings’ rear are often It sets out a clear vision for a town centre that poorly maintained, encouraging anti-social will guide regeneration and renewal activity by behaviour and crime. Some of Edgware’s heritage the councils as well as encourage investment into is well cared for and well used. In other cases, the town centre by landowners, investors and particularly the Railway Hotel, the buildings other public sector bodies. It aims to deliver the have been neglected and must be restored and vision both Barnet and Harrow Councils have for brought back to suitable uses. a reimagined Edgware Town Centre and thriving high street. 1.12. To the rear of the Railway Hotel and within the wider area known as Forumside, is a large area 1.8. Edgware is very well connected by tube and of brownfield land sometimes used for illegal bus, however, travelling to the town centre dumping. It has become a blight on the town by more sustainable and active means is less centre and encourages anti-social behaviour, appealing and often not so easy. Major routes including further littering and fly-tipping. The along the A5 and Station Road are heavily whole area to the south of the Broadwalk Centre trafficked, which adds to air and noise pollution and Railway Hotel often does not feel welcoming and a poor environment. The A5/ High Street or safe. The Broadwalk Centre car park means creates a physical barrier when travelling east/ this area is dominated by vehicles rather than west to or from the main shopping areas and pedestrians, while the long Church Way footpath Edgware Station. Furthermore, the presence of which connects Station Road to Fairfield Crescent the tube lines, along with poor quality pathways feels enclosed and isolating. connecting south of the Broadwalk Centre car park, make for difficult access to the residential areas to the south and east of the town centre. Strategic Context 1.13. London continues to grow, with rising populations moving out of central into outer London suburbs placing an ever-increasing pressure on the need for more housing, jobs and supporting infrastructure. 1.14. Through the London Plan the Mayor establishes the growth needs for London and places housing targets for all 33 boroughs. The London Plan sets out where the Mayor would prefer to see growth delivered, within an emphasis on directing development towards land that: • Is brownfield and within or on the edge of town centres; • Is well connected by existing or planned public transport; Figure 3 – The Boardwalk Centre frontage on to Station Road • Can intensify the use of land to support additional homes and workspaces, promoting 1.9. The public realm, comprising footpaths and the higher density development, particularly in streetscape environment, is often not as good as locations that are well-connected to jobs, it could be. In particular there is a lack of open services, infrastructure and amenities by public public green spaces within the town centre, with transport, walking and cycling. no parks and little tree coverage or planting. Where planting has taken place, most notably 1.15. Outer London boroughs like Barnet and Harrow the street trees along the north eastern part of are required to meet the Mayor’s growth Station Road, it is already having a beneficial requirements through our local plan documents effect. by identifying suitable places where new housing and supporting infrastructure could be delivered. 1.10. The town centre lacks a sense of arrival, despite the huge flow of people through the 1.16. The Mayor’s Good Growth Principles underpin Underground and bus stations. This misses the this approach, in particular Policy GG2 Making the opportunity for a pleasant and welcoming heart best use of land, which expects application of a to Edgware which encourages people to visit and design-led approach to determine the optimum enjoy the town centre. capacity of sites. A high density approach in 6 | Edgware Growth Area SPD Edgware Town Centre is a sustainable way of an enormous opportunity to significantly improve meeting the boroughs growth needs while its leisure and cultural experience to draw more protecting precious green spaces, including people to the town centre during the day and Green Belt. evening. This could mean more entertainment such as a cinema, increased eating out options, 1.17. This SPD seeks to ensure that alongside growth and leisure such as sports activities. we also see the delivery of benefits for the local Edgware community within Barnet and Harrow, 1.23. The Edgware town centre experience can be including improvements to the physical and greatly improved for pedestrians and cyclists commercial environment, transport, housing, through improvements to the street environment and social infrastructure such as schools and and dedicated routes. While public transport healthcare. This should be green growth that access is already good, the relationship of the delivers benefits for the natural environment, tube and bus facilities with the surrounding town including tackling climate change. centre could be made much better. There will continue to be provision of car parking spaces for town centre users. Managing Growth 1.24. Edgware’s economy must be supported to 1.18. The town centre offers a diverse range of shops, adapt and grow to provide new local job cafes and restaurants, including numerous opportunities and an entrepreneurial spirt. independent outlets reflecting the mixed local Sustainable economic growth within Edgware is community. The Broadwalk Centre and central vital to supporting a dynamic community and parts of Station Road support some national high employment opportunities for local people. street chains. 1.25. Local employment opportunities can be greatly 1.19. Retailers and high streets have undergone expanded through delivery of workspaces for huge changes in recent years, largely due to business start-ups and SMEs (Small & Medium the rise of internet shopping as people make Enterprises).