EXASPERATED protesters asked councillors “Do you ever talk about Barnet?” after a series of debates about national policy at a full council meeting last night.

Around 300 people made their voices heard throughout the first hour of proceedings at Hendon Town Hall last night as they demanded approval for a huge waste site planned for Pinkham Way was rejected.

Chants of “No to Pinkham Way” and loud booing could be heard after Tory councillors refused to bring the item to the beginning of the agenda, making them wait until 10.30pm before a cursory discussion on the matter.

People from Barnet, Enfield and Haringey are angry at what they claim is a lack of consultation on the scheme by the North London Waste Authority, which would be the largest in Europe.

When the matter was discussed Labour Councillor Barry Rawlings pointed out no proper consultation about the plans had gone out to people living in Friern Barnet.

He added: “Proper processes have not been gone through. This can’t be ignored by the council and it has to go back for proper consultation.”

But Councillor Richard Cornelius, who is in charge of planning, told protesters they were “complaining too early” as “we don’t know what we’re getting there”.

Labour and Lib Dem members were joined by Tory Councillor Kate Salinger to vote against provisional approval of the plans, but were outvoted by the rest of the Conservative members.

Provisional plans for the former Friern Barnet Sewage Works site will now go to Haringey Council’s planning committee for a decision, expected at the end of next month.

Barnet Council also plans to locate a new depot for its service vehicles on the site, which has become a nature reserve, and sell-off the current depot in Mill Hill East for housing.

Afterwards Colin Parish, a member of the Pinkham Way Alliance opposed to the plans, said the council had just “dumped the problem on Haringey Council”.

He added: “It was shameful. They knew why we were there but they ignored Cllr Rawlings’s plea for this to be dealt with earlier in the meeting.

“They were obviously ruffled to see the strength of feeling about this crazy scheme and too embarrassed to let people see them make this decision.

“This was one of the biggest decisions the council has had to make in years and there was no debate.”