Council planners are playing “hide and seek” with critics of a huge redevelopment on the Barnet and Harrow border, according to campaigners.

Barratt Homes has been commissioned to demolish the 1950s Stonegrove estate, between Green Lane and Spur Road, as part of a multi-million pound council regeneration project in the area.

Principle planning permission was granted in 2008 but the developer is now seeking approval for the exterior design, appearance and landscaping.

Critics of the plans say a consultation into the latest application has been unclear and confusing.

Barnet Council sent out 1,400 letters publicising the application and encouraging residents to comment last month but planning documents were not uploaded to the website until two weeks later.

The council blamed the delay on a website error and pushed the closing date for comments back to August 31.

But some have accused the authority of a lack of transparency after its planning department refused to send out further notices publicising the change.

The confusion was worsened, say campaigners, after another administrative error blocked anyone from leaving comments on the planning application for at least seven days last week.

Rhona Myers, of Stonegrove, lives opposite the development and is unhappy with designs for the redevelopment.

She said: “It seems they’re just trying to fudge the issue by confusing people and hoping they can push the plans through with subterfuge. They say they have gone through the correct processes but they haven’t.

“We want a new consultation process consulting all the people that should have been asked in the first place. They need to make sure everything is accessible. We want transparency, this confusion is not helpful.”

Neighbours on both sides of the development have criticised the designs, claiming the “cardboard box apartments” and tower block flats will be an eye sore.

GLA member for Barnet Andrew Dismore has also previously slammed the proposals for being “disappointing” and “unimaginative”.

Harrow councillor for Husain Akthar, representing the Canons ward, wrote to Barnet Council leader Richard Cornelius expressing his concerns about the consultation process.

The councillor says he is yet to receive a reply.

“I haven’t heard from them yet and I don’t know if I will. There was a similar situation a few months ago and we never got any reply.

“The whole situation is very unsatisfactory. It feels like a hide and seek process – there is no transparency.

“It is causing a lot of concern among people living around the development. I’m disappointed with the way Barnet is operating and we hope they will have some sense in terms of working with people and sorting this out in a transparent fashion.”

A representative from the council’s planning team said in a statement: “The council has complied with the statutory requirements for publicising the current application as a major planning application.

“Since the renewal of the outline planning consent in October 2011, the council and Barratt have continued a programme of community engagement which has included quarterly newsletters delivered to residents on the estate and two public exhibition events in February and May this year.”