New planning advice will be put in place to improve a north London town centre and protect it from overdevelopment.

Harrow Council’s cabinet yesterday (Thursday, June 17) approved the adoption of a supplementary planning document (SPD) in Edgware town centre.

It comes after Barnet Council, which shares responsibility for Edgware, ratified the proposals at its own cabinet meeting earlier this week.

The new document, which will offer both councils “more detailed guidance” on planning matters, seeks to renew the town as a key destination in the region through improvements to shopfronts, transport links, and public spaces.

It adds it will encourage more housebuilding, ensuring this meets the right needs and covers “a mix of sizes and tenures, including affordable housing”.

The SPD also protects the area from overly tall buildings – the scope for such developments in the Harrow part of Edgware is already limited due to its layout but in Barnet, where taller buildings are permitted, schemes must now “be of excellent design and demonstrate an appropriate relationship with other town centre buildings and the surrounding low-rise suburbs”.

Cllr Paul Osborn (Pinner), leader of Harrow Conservatives, welcomed the adoption of the SPD and said he “hopes to see more coming to Harrow” to help “protect suburban areas from overdevelopment”.

His group previously submitted a motion calling for an SPD which would limit buildings in the borough’s suburbs to six storeys.

Cllr Graham Henson (Roxbourne, Lab), leader of Harrow Council, acknowledged the value of SPDs in the right context but suggested in the majority of Harrow’s cases, areas would already be protected by current planning policies.

Responding to the motion in February, which was ultimately rejected by full council, his administration argued the issue should instead be reassessed at the next local plan review.