Brent Cross
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Inside shopping centre |
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| Facts and statistics | |
|---|---|
| Location | Barnet, UK |
| Coordinates | 51°34′36″N 0°13′26″W / 51.57667°N 0.22389°WCoordinates: 51°34′36″N 0°13′26″W / 51.57667°N 0.22389°W |
| Opening date | 1976 |
| Developer | Hammerson and Standard Life |
| Management | Brent Cross Centre Management |
| Owner | Hammerson and Standard Life |
| Architect | BDP |
| Total retail floor area | 74,320 m2 on opening[1] |
| Parking | 8000 |
| No. of floors | 2 (3 in Fenwick, John Lewis & M&S) |
| Website | www.brentcross.co.uk |
Brent Cross (also known as Brent X) is an area of north London along both sides of the North Circular Road between the A5 Edgware Road in the west and the A41 Brent Cross Flyover in the east.
Situated in the London Borough of Barnet the area takes its name from the plan of the main roads and the River Brent which runs east-west through the site. The northern side of the North Circular Road contains the first shopping centre of its kind to be built in the UK.
Contents |
[edit] History
The north-south A5 road dates from Roman times, as Watling Street. In the 1860s, the Midland Railway London Extension (to St Pancras) was built, parallel to the road and just to the east, with a long viaduct over the River Brent, a small river that had been dammed to the west, and formed a lake called the Welsh Harp. The Welsh Harp has since retreated, and the river now only flows through one of the eighteen arches of the railway viaduct.
In the 1920s and 1930s, the other two major roads, the east-west North Circular Road and the north-south A41 Hendon Way were constructed. In 1965, the Brent Cross Flyover was built at the junction of those two roads, and in the 1970s, the North Circular Road was upgraded to motorway standard, with a huge east-west flyover above both the A5 road and the railway line. The M1 motorway was extended south to meet the North Circular Road slip roads below this flyover. The rest of the North Circular Road has never been upgraded to the same standard, and the renaming from the A406 to the M15 motorway has never been adopted.
Just beyond the A41 to the east, the Northern Line Edgware Branch crosses the North Circular Road on another short viaduct.
The wider Brent Cross area, beyond the shopping centre, has not been well maintained by the local authority, with rusty metal railings, little maintenance of the green spaces, and uneven pavements. Local people have little affection for the area, given the dominance of the major roads and car parks - and little else. Air pollution is, not surprisingly, some of the worst in London, but documentation of that fact is sketchy, given long-term lack of monitoring.
[edit] Shopping Centre
The shopping centre was the first experiment in this style of shopping experience in the UK when it opened at Brent Cross in 1976 and it was initially constructed in an I shape parallel to the North Circular Road, with the two largest stores (John Lewis and Fenwicks) placed at either end. Suffering later from a rather dated look, subsequent expansion started in 1995 and saw the open parking areas to the north replaced by further shops, mid-market restaurants and multi-storey parking giving the present inverted T shape. The original malls still retain a 1970s look, even though the shops have been modernised over the years.
Although small by the standards of more recent shopping complexes such as Meadowhall, Bluewater and the Metro Centre in Gateshead it suffers from site area limitations, having been built within the conurbation rather than out-of-town. This in turn has meant it has increasingly been criticised over the years for not having better access by public transport, given its wholly urban setting.
Despite its small size, the shopping centre has one of the largest incomes per unit area of retail space in the UK. The centre became a 'No Smoking' area on 1 January 2002.
In 2006, the centre announced plans to start charging for car parking sometime in 2007, but that was dropped after fierce opposition. Brent Cross currently offers 8,000 free parking spaces, and the fact there is free parking is heavily promoted by the shopping centre in its advertising.
When some scenes for the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies had to be re-shot, one of the extensive shopping centre car parks was used. Warning notices were placed around the mall to prevent shoppers from panicking at the sounds of gunfire and explosions.
Brent Cross shopping was advertised by agency Baber Smith with a "Feed Your Addiction" campaign. Under head of marketing Norman J Black, between 2002 and 2006 Brent Cross won 11 awards for its marketing, events and promotional activities.
Every December BXFM (Brent X FM) broadcasts to the local area on 87.7FM, in addition to the shopping centre itself. The radio station features Brent Cross news and promotions, with music and travel updates every 15 minutes.
[edit] "Development Framework" plan
On 5 January 2004, the London Borough of Barnet approved a "Development Framework" plan[2] to redevelop the whole Brent Cross area on both sides of the North Circular Road, with more shops (retaining the old shopping centre), housing and offices, and to attempt to regenerate Hendon and Cricklewood. The plans were jointly promoted by the Greater London Authority, the major land owners, developers and the local council.
The main developers are Hammerson, Brookfield Multiplex, and Standard Life Investments.
In March 2008, a partly outline, partly full, planning application was partly registered with Barnet Council[3], but the "Transport Assessment" part of the application was only published in mid-November 2008. Barnet had given 5 January 2009 as the deadline for public comments on the planning application, but later said that the date no longer applied.
In February 2009, the neighbouring London Borough of Brent decided to oppose the application.
Extra documents were added to the planning application in late March 2009. A new deadline for public comments (to the email name BXCapplication at barnet.gov.uk) was given, which was 23 April 2009, but comments after that date were still being registered.
In April 2009, the London Borough of Camden decided to oppose the application.
In May 2009, the London Borough of Brent concluded, although without wide-spread public pronouncement, that the developers needed to apply for planning permission from Brent as well as from Barnet, because of various road changes that spilled over on to Brent land.
[edit] Transport
The nearest London Underground station is on the Northern Line and was renamed from Brent to Brent Cross tube station when the centre opened. The station is an unattractive 10-minute walk from Brent Cross shopping centre, however the shopping centre is about equidistant from Hendon Central station.
Neither tube station is a particularly easy or attractive walk from the shopping centre, however, due to lack of maintenance and the sheer number of major roads intersecting the area. Despite their names, neither the tube station nor the shopping centre are located in the London Borough of Brent.
The shopping centre also has a very utilitarian bus station, open 24 hours and serving 13 routes around north London and the West End. When the shopping centre is closed, the only facilities are some phone boxes and a cash-point machine.
In early 2008, the London Group of the Campaign for Better Transport (UK) published a plan[4] for a light-rail service through the Brent Cross site, along the freight-only Dudding Hill Line to Wembley and Ealing Broadway, and also to West Hampstead and Finchley Central.
The light-rail line would mainly share existing freight railway lines and old track beds, but would rely on the retention of the current Tempelhof Avenue bridge over the North Circular Road, and the route currently available under the Brent Cross Flyover. Both these are threatened by current redevelopment plans.
In February 2009, Brian Coleman, London Assembly Member for Barnet and Camden (and Mayor of the London Borough of Barnet for 2009/2010), gave his views on the subject.[5]
In April 2009, the London Borough of Harrow and London Borough of Ealing both decided unanimously at meetings of full council to support, in principle, this North and West London light railway (also called the Brent Cross Railway - BCR) alternative.
[edit] References
- ^ Museum of London - Shopping Centres
- ^ Development Framework - Contents and chapter 1 only - chapters 2 to 7 also can be accessed
- ^ Planning application by Brent Cross Cricklewood Development Partners
- ^ London Campaign for Better Transport North and West London light railway (NWLLR) / Brent Cross Railway (BCR) plan
- ^ Brian Coleman gives his views on Barnet light-rail scheme Ham and High local newspaper, 26 February 2009
[edit] External links
- Brent Cross official website
- BXFM (Brent Cross FM) website
- Brent Cross Cricklewood regeneration website
- Area Regeneration plan
