Thameslink may be coming to Barnet earlier than expected as part of the Brent Cross Cricklewood development, though some campaigners have spoken out against the proposal.

The development will see a Thameslink station open in Brent Cross in 2022 rather than the previously estimated 2031, with a modernised Brent Cross shopping centre, new high street, 7,500 new homes and up to 27,000 jobs created.

Barnet Council are seeking residents’ opinions on the earlier timeline before a new planning application is submitted after 2 April, but campaigners say that a new station will lead to more road congestion.

Coalition for a Sustainable Brent Cross Cricklewood Regeneration coordinator Alison Hopkins said: “We aren’t against the regeneration – the problem is how it’s being done and the plans.”

She added: “We’re all being ignored, Brent and Barnet residents alike.”

The £4.5billion Brent Cross Cricklewood development will cover around 370 acres, while the station itself is funded by a £97m government grant and ring fencing business rate growth from the expanded shopping centre.

Councillor Richard Cornelius, Council Leader, said: “The proposed Thameslink station links the north and south side of this exciting new development.

“The additional station not only unlocks the potential for the development to create thousands of new jobs and homes, it will also have a real impact on those that live and work in the area by improving travel links into central London.

But residents have also spoken out about the concerns over plans for a waste transfer station to be built one year earlier in 2019, as well as a bridge built in 2021, which will allegedly not be suitable for those using prams, wheelchairs or bicycles.

Ms Hopkins added: “They don't mention the huge rubbish dump right across from us, the 29,000 extra cars a day, the several hundred lorries visiting the tip.”

Transport campaigner John Cox said: “It may be that an expansion of Cricklewood and Hendon stations instead, and building phase one of a north London tram system, is better than spending hundreds of millions of pounds on new roads in the area.

“At the very least, alternatives must be considered, and the current plan is unfair under English common law.”

Planning permission for the regeneration project was granted in 2010, then amended in 2014 before this application to amend the timeline.

Visit https://engage.barnet.gov.uk/housing-planning-and-regeneration/brent-cross-thameslink-new-project-timescales/ to register your views.