Stoney Wood Quarter, a proposed development of up to 463 homes in Mill Hill, reaches a decisive mayoral representation hearing on 9th October 2026. The Deputy Mayor for Planning, Regeneration and Skills is scheduled to consider whether to grant permission after Barnet councillors resolved to refuse the scheme earlier this year.
The hearing takes place at City Hall at 1pm, with Jules Pipe acting under delegated mayoral authority. The development at The Fairway, NW7 3HJ, would replace the existing site with buildings of up to six storeys, new public spaces, landscaping and ancillary commercial and amenity uses.
The application became a Greater London Authority decision after the Mayor called it in on 30th March. The issue is now the merits of the revised proposal, the environmental information and any enforceable planning obligations, not whether Barnet can simply repeat its earlier decision as the determining authority.
Handling a major planning application or call-in?
Discuss strategic planning objections, applications and hearing preparation with Planning Geek.
Stoney Wood Quarter: what happens on 9th October?
The official City Hall hearing notice schedules a public representation hearing in the Chamber at 13:00. The Deputy Mayor will hear the officer’s assessment of the scheme and contributions from the borough, applicant and registered interested parties before reaching or deferring a decision.
For Stoney Wood Quarter, the GLA says a decision may be announced following the hearing, usually after a short adjournment, but there is also provision to defer for up to five working days. Reporting the meeting as an approval or refusal before that decision is issued would be premature.
Interested readers can follow the published hearing arrangements and supporting papers. The consultation period for the revised proposals closed on 27th September, but earlier representations to Barnet remain part of the material considered by the GLA.
Why the Mayor took the case from Barnet
Barnet validated application 25/2743/FUL in December 2025. Following a Stage 1 mayoral report in February 2026, the borough’s Strategic Planning Committee resolved to refuse on 16th March. On 30th March, the Deputy Mayor issued an Article 7 direction under the Town and Country Planning (Mayor of London) Order 2008.
That direction transferred responsibility for determination to the Mayor under section 2A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, as amended. It does not itself approve the project or overturn all planning objections. It changes which authority will make the final decision.
Mayoral call-in is a specific strategic intervention power. It differs from an appeal to a planning inspector and from a Secretary of State call-in. The GLA now acts as the local planning authority for this application, while Barnet is able to present its position at the hearing.
For applicants elsewhere in London, the case underlines the significance of considering London Plan policy and mayoral involvement alongside a borough’s local development plan. A council recommendation or refusal resolution is not invariably the final planning outcome for a strategically important scheme.
What is proposed at the Fairway site?
The scheme, submitted by Stoney Wood Property Developments Ltd, comprises up to 463 residential units in Use Class C3, with buildings reaching six storeys. The description also includes flexible ancillary amenity and commercial floorspace in Use Class E, landscaping, public squares and play space.
The Stoney Wood Quarter scheme also includes residential amenity areas, cycle and car parking, waste and recycling storage, plant and other necessary infrastructure. Because the application is accompanied by an Environmental Statement, the determining authority must take account of the relevant environmental assessment material and consultation responses.
After the call-in, the applicant submitted further drawings and information. City Hall identifies changes to internal layouts, façades and exterior details, cycle-parking numbers and locations, plant space and the balance between ancillary residential and commercial uses.
The revised material also included a July 2026 Environmental Statement addendum under Regulation 25 of the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations. The material has to be considered with the original application, rather than assuming that the initial committee proposals remain completely unchanged.
Environmental impacts and planning obligations
The public hearing material places environmental information at the centre of the decision. Assessments of the built form, open space, natural environment, movement and residential quality need to be read together with the revised drawings, consultation evidence and the applicable development plan policies.
The Greater London Authority hearing-document collection contains a Stage 3 report, draft decision notice, hearing agenda and draft section 106 agreement. These documents indicate the issues to be considered, but a draft permission or proposed legal agreement should not be mistaken for an executed decision.
Planning obligations may be relevant where impacts cannot appropriately be addressed through conditions alone. Their necessity, connection to the development and proportionality require scrutiny, especially where the agreement is intended to secure mitigation or other measures essential to an acceptable scheme.
The final legal and planning position must be checked against the published decision notice and any completed section 106 agreement. A committee or hearing recommendation does not replace those documents, and commencement of construction can depend on satisfying further conditions and obligations.
What the hearing can and cannot resolve
The Deputy Mayor may grant permission, refuse permission or defer a decision within the applicable procedure. The hearing provides an opportunity to test the balance between housing delivery, design, environmental impacts and local concerns, but it does not necessarily resolve every detailed construction or discharge-of-condition issue.
For local residents, attention should be paid to the actual form of development sought, not just the headline home count. Height, access, traffic, planting, public-space proposals and the way the scheme interfaces with surrounding streets can all affect the planning balance.
For the Stoney Wood Quarter development team, a favourable decision would still have to be implemented in accordance with approved plans, conditions and legal obligations. The planning status should be described precisely until the GLA posts its formal determination.
Next steps and official documents
The 9th October hearing is a particularly consequential event because a borough-level refusal resolution has already been superseded by the mayoral decision-making process. However, no final outcome can be reported before the public hearing takes place and the determining authority announces or publishes its decision.
The GLA reference is GLA/2026/0196/S3 and Barnet’s application reference is 25/2743/FUL. They allow practitioners to locate the correct drawings, representations and hearing documents without confusing the proposal with other Mill Hill housing schemes.
Primary sources: City Hall Stoney Wood Quarter hearing page; Greater London Authority hearing papers; London mayoral call-ins and hearings. For further planning news see Planning Geek England.
0 Comments