Transport for London, owners of the land surrounding Northwood station which they were threating to bulldoze to make way for a Sainsbury's, confirmed in a meeting they were re-thinking plans from scratch and want the community to suggest ideas.
At a meeting on Wednesday night (July 2) TfL's property director Graeme Craig explained how consultation company Make:Good would be based in the town for the next four months at an office where people can drop in and put forward ideas.
"It was an excellent meeting, a full house," said Northwood councillor, Scott Seaman-Digby (Con).
"The willingness of TfL to engage directly and via their consultation team was evident TfL were clear that they are committed to starting from scratch, they recognised the failing of their initial plans.
"It bodes well and they were clear that they want to make amends."
Tony Ellis, chair of the Save Our Northwood (SON) campaign group and the Northwood Residents' Association (NRA) said he is proud of the community for fighting the plans.
"It's going to be a very transparent process and we're delighted at that," he said.
"SON's job is to make sure Tfl and Make:Good now do as they've promised.
"I don't think we'll have to intercede in any way, but we'll monitor what they're doing.
"TfL have said they're starting off with a blank piece of paper.
"I'm very pleased with the way they conducted the meeting and I'm optimistic.
"It's a tremendous achievement in such a short space of time to get TfL to change their process."
Nick Hurd, MP for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner also attended the meeting and said TfL must win back the trust of the Northwood community.
Make:Good are opening an office in Green Lane opposite Waitrose on July 16 where they will be based for four months. Anyone concerned about the plans or who wants to find out more can drop in.
