A BUSINESS chief says plans to levy charges on new developments in Barnet for Crossrail are “disproportionate”.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson plans to bring in the charges to put £300m towards the £17bn project, which will connect Maidenhead to Canary Wharf via central London.

Barnet developers will be asked to put £35 per square metre of developments towards the project, despite the borough only being expected to benefit by around £30m per year from the project.

Councillor Richard Cornelius has already come out against the proposals, which could impinge on Barnet Council's ability to impose its own community levy on developers for local schemes.

Huw Jones, the chairman of the North London Chamber of Commerce, which covers Barnet, Haringey, Enfield and Waltham Forest, said they would be putting objections in to the proposals.

He said: “At a time when they should be encouraging developers to come into the area a new levy is disproportionate.

“If the market benefits of Crossrail were going to be big for this area I would understand. We have already had a business levy to help fund it on the area.

“If you look at other boroughs like Westminster and the City of London in terms of property and land prices there it isn't such a large charge, because it's already expensive”