PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Title: “Barnet Council Backs Unsafe, Undeliverable Underground Bus Garage in Edgware Redevelopment despite 7,000 Public Objections”
Edgware, 29 July 2025 — on 23 July, Barnet Council’s Strategic Planning Committee voted 6–3 to approve Ballymore and Transport for London’s controversial redevelopment of Edgware’s Broadwalk Centre — including an entirely untested underground electric bus garage beneath residential towers.
The underground EV bus facility — a type of infrastructure with no UK fire safety regulations and widely regarded as undeliverable in the near term — drew strong warnings from the London Fire Brigade and prompted more than 7,000 public objections, most citing fire safety. Despite this, officers told councillors that “the level of objection is not a reason” to defer or refuse.
All six Labour councillors voted in favour; all three Conservatives voted against. A Conservative motion to defer over unresolved safety and legal risks was rejected by Labour chair Cllr Nigel Young.
Residents were shocked when Ballymore’s own director publicly corrected Barnet’s planning report during the meeting — and officers offered no rebuttal. “When an applicant has to correct your officers on policy and they stay silent, that’s deeply troubling,” said a Save Our Edgware spokesperson.
The scheme also appears to lack an Equalities Impact Assessment carried out by the council, as required by law, and proposes replacing Edgware’s covered bus station with a lay-by to serve more than 20 bus routes — despite no finalised design or operational plan. The proposed lay-by is approximately half the length of the lay-by at Stanmore, which accommodates just four routes. “It’s a small, clearly inadequate space being put forward to replace a critical piece of transport infrastructure,” the campaign said.
Over 95% of local consultation comments opposed the scheme. In contrast, support comments — mostly from outside Edgware — were traced to two lobbying agencies paid by Ballymore. “Residents’ voices were effectively ignored, and consultation treated as a box-ticking exercise,” the campaign added.
Only one local resident was allowed to speak against the scheme. The sole supporter permitted to speak was a non-local individual, apparently living on a science researcher grant and residing with an aunt, who was not local to Edgware and appeared to have no actual historic link to the town, referring only to a general past family connection to the borough.
Conservative councillors representing Edgware and Edgwarebury opposed the plan, warning of excessive scale, infrastructure strain, and future legal liability. A Reform UK councillor, who grew up in Edgware and retains strong ties to the town, also chose to speak out against the scheme — highlighting its disconnect from the needs and wishes of the community.
“The council has approved an unsafe and undeliverable plan — one that ignores fire safety, legal duties, and the will of residents,” said the Save Our Edgware team. “This isn’t regeneration; it’s a political choice. We will keep fighting for a safer, community-led future for Edgware.”
ENDS
Appendix:
Barnet document confirming that 6,957 objections to the Broadwalk plan were received:
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Please also see our email to all the Barnet Councillors ahead of the vote on 23 July:
Date 22 July
To all Barnet Councillors,
Following our email to Strategic Planning Committee members last week, we now write to all councillors in Barnet to ensure you are fully aware of the extraordinary safety risks associated with the Edgware Town Centre planning application (24/2686/OUT) — due to be determined this Wednesday, 23 July.
The London Fire Brigade (LFB) has issued a stark and unprecedented warning regarding the plan to locate a 200-electric bus garage beneath nine high-rise residential towers. This week’s Barnet Post article summarises the danger clearly:
“Inadequate protection from structural collapse”
On October 1st 2024, a report from London Fire Brigade (LFB) stated: “The structural integrity of many of the blocks above the bus garage are intrinsically dependent on the structural integrity of the bus garage below.
It added: “This is particularly relevant in this proposal as the potential for so many EV buses poses risks that are not fully understood by the industry at this point in time. The general expectations of guidance may therefore be inadequate in protecting the structural elements of the garage in the case of an EV bus fire, and therefore may provide inadequate protection from structural collapse to the blocks of flats above.”
A spokesperson for LFB confirmed to Barnet Post on Friday (18th July) that the position outlined in the report has not changed
On page 113 of the planning committee document, it is made clear that an important element of the development for TfL is building a bus garage suitable for EV buses, which cannot be charged at Edgware’s current bus garage (to be replaced by the underground facility): “TfL’s Bus Action Plan sets out a target for the delivery of a zero-emission bus fleet by 2030. However, the TA indicates that there is insufficient space within the existing bus garage facilities to introduce EV charging facilities without losing stand capacity.”
However, LFB’s position on the plans has resulted in the developers adopting a fallback position, which means that the garage risks being restricted to housing ‘internal combustion engine vehicles’ – petrol or diesel vehicles – until safety concerns are satisfied.
They further warn of the risk to firefighter lives, as well as TFL personnel, in the event of an EV fire — which could trigger a catastrophic collapse, similar in scale to the worst modern fire disasters.
This warning is not isolated. These Edgware Bus Garage safety concerns have now been widely reported in the International Fire and Safety Journal, Fire Protection Association, The Daily Telegraph, The Sun, BBC, the Evening Standard and others. The lack of regulation, precedent or suitable emergency response protocols for such a scheme is a glaring red flag.
And please take 2 minutes to watch this short video from a Broadwalk Development Q&A session with 3 Labour councillors, where a resident raised the issue of fire risk in the proposed underground electric bus garage housing 200 buses beneath 25 tower blocks: https://youtu.be/GKj9k4QLC_8
It is absolutely clear that while the underground garage remains integral to the scheme, your only recourse to preserving public safety is to oppose the application. It is a clear choice – agree with the London Fire Brigade assessment, or vote to disregard the risk of death and catastrophic destruction.
We urge you to read the LFB letter very carefully ( LFB Official Response (PDF)) and to come to the only conclusion that has no risk and protects the whole community. It’s to vote NO. You should not wish to be the cause of another Grenfell.
A fire could cause an explosion spreading to the Sainsburys car park above, Sainsbury’s store and lead to 9 tall blocks collapsing as well as toxic fumes being released into the atmosphere. This risk is on a par with 9/11.
Kind regards,
Anuta
on behalf of Save Our Edgware
saveouredgware@gmail.com