London council set up private police planning panel

Barnet Council’s quality assessment committee is chaired by local architect Russell Curtis, founder-director of London-based practice RCKa.

Vice-chairman Selina Mason, another local resident, is director of masterplanning and strategic design at Lendlease, focusing on urban regeneration masterplans.

The Chairman and Deputy Chairman will work with a team of 26 other independent experts from the planning and design sectors tasked with ensuring that new developments in the borough are built to high standards with sustainable credentials.

This work is usually carried out by council planning officers; Barnet effectively outsources it to local design giants.

The Barnet Quality Assessment Panel will try to ensure that design issues can be discussed in the early stages of the planning process.

Cllr Ross Houston, deputy leader of the council and cabinet member for housing and regeneration, said: “The expert team will help deliver our commitment to high quality development that complements our borough’s existing townscapes. At the same time, we are strengthening our planning policies to focus on building communities, not just houses, to ensure developments integrate well with surrounding areas and align with our ambitious environmental goals.”

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