Green space in East Finchley has been saved after Barnet Council’s housing arm backtracked on plans to build on it.

Barnet Homes has revised its plans to redevelop sites at The Grange Estate to ensure there is no loss of green space at Brownswell Road and Tarling Road.

Proposals outlined in February at the council’s housing and growth committee would have seen 43 affordable homes built at sites on the estate, including 23 in Brownswell Road.

This sparked an outcry from neighbours, who warned it would remove one of the only suitable play spaces in an area already lacking in parks and open space.

The proposals have since been scaled down, with Barnet Homes ditching the plans for Brownswell Road and now aiming to build only 16 homes for affordable rent in Central Avenue and High Road.

Rebecca Weston, of The Grange and Brownswell Road Residents’ Association, said she was “really pleased” that the plans for the green space were not going ahead. “People are much more relaxed,” she added. “It has brought us together as a community.”

After Rebecca’s council house was earmarked for demolition under the proposals, she became locked in a dispute with Barnet Homes over its rehousing offer. She said she thought the revised plans for the estate had come as a result of the Labour group taking charge of the council in May.

The three Labour councillors for East Finchley – Arjun Mittra, Claire Farrier and Alison Moore – had opposed the scheme, and Labour’s election manifesto included a pledge to protect and enhance green spaces.

Cllr Mittra said: “We are delighted that one of the first decisions of the new, Labour council has been to comply with our manifesto commitment to preserve green spaces. The residents were treated appallingly by the previous administration, but we have listened and we have delivered.

“We are progressing with the two smaller blocks on The Grange as part of our commitment to alleviate the housing crisis and will continue our engagement with residents there.”

Conservative group leader Dan Thomas hit back, saying: “There are Barnet residents on low incomes desperate for new, affordable housing. This decision means that these houses will have to be built elsewhere, and those waiting will have to wait even longer."

A Barnet Homes spokesperson said: “The Barnet Group is delivering much-needed affordable housing across Barnet. We have listened to residents at The Grange and have adapted our plans so that there will be no loss of green space.

“We will be building 16 homes for affordable rent across two sites at Central Avenue and High Road, where the proposed development includes tree planting and greening of the areas as well as additional amenity space for new and existing residents.”