Campaigners say their bid to reopen an overgrown open space next to a park is "being ignored".

Friends of Hollickwood Park, a community group that looks after the park, has been campaigning to bring part of a neighbouring six-hectare site off Pinkham Way back into public use for more than two years.

The land is in Haringey borough, but four hectares is owned by North London Waste Authority and the remaining two by Barnet Council.

The friends group has been trying bring Barnet's land into public use since Labour took control of the authority in 2022, but chair Chris Faulkner says there has been little progress.

Mr Faulkner said: “We’ve had discussions with Barnet Council leader Barry Rawlings about the possibility of having a seven-year lease to manage it, bring it up in terms of its biodiversity standards, and we keep getting knocked back. 

“Effectively they’ve been ignoring us, it’s taken a lot of effort on our part to get an answer out of them. The site’s been a public open space since 1963.”

He added: “We thought now’s our time, we thought we’d be pushing at an open door, but we’re pushing at a slammed door.”

Mr Faulkner said the council was “safeguarding” the site in case it has to relocate its waste disposal and lorry park depot, currently based in Oakleigh Road.

Crossrail 2 has proposed a new railway station at New Southgate, which could make use of Oakleigh Road and force the depot to move, although plans have been paused since 2020.

Mr Faulkner believes the transfer of the depot is unlikely given the planning obstacles and lack of access on the Pinkham Way site.

He said: “At the very best, this plan is 35 years in advance, so they can safeguard the land as much as they like but it doesn’t stop us using it for the next seven, 14 or 21 years, basically until it’s ready to go, so it doesn’t make any sense.”

In 2022, a government planning inspector changed the North London Waste Plan to ensure any development brought forward at Pinkham Way would lead to a net gain in biodiversity.

Mr Faulkner said this made the depot relocation plan even more improbable.

A Barnet Council spokesperson said: “We are waiting for Network Rail and its strategic partners to finalise proposals for the land at Oakleigh Road. This will help to inform any future decisions regarding the Pinkham Way site.

“We understand the importance of local open spaces and will continue to engage with the community association, residents and other stakeholders regarding the site’s use.”