Author: Nick Jones

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Importance of first aid training emphasised by Mayor of Barnet who praises St John Ambulance at their open day in Underhill

Mayor of Barnet Councillor Zahra Beg joined in a training session for skills in first aid when she visited an open day held at the Underhill headquarters of Barnet St John Ambulance.

Eha, a St John Cadet (see above), helped to provide practice during a session on how to treat a patient who has been choking and needs airway to be cleared – a task which the mayor set about with great enthusiasm.

“Learning first aid is so important, and it so encouraging to see at first hand the fantastic work done by St John Ambulance,” said councillor Beg.

“St John volunteers are part of the community, they live in our community, and they are all so well trained and they are all so keen to share that knowledge and expertise with local residents.”

Eha’s mother, Eva, who is a St John Youth Leader and First Aider, said her daughter was delighted to help at the training sessions which were held as part of St John’s Save a Life September campaign.

Councillor Beg was welcomed at the headquarters in Priory Grove, off Westcombe Drive, Underhill, by Sam McCully, the Barnet Network Lead and the Community Lead Winnie Bacon (see above).

Barnet St John Ambulance is made up of 64 volunteers – adults and cadets, plus Fellowship members who support the charitable work of St John – and Winnie Bacon said the aim of the open day was to provide lessons in basic life support and to underline the importance of learning first aid to save lives.

“By offering training in key first aid skills we hope we can give people the confidence to step in if an emergency ever happens and perhaps save a life.”

Emergency Responder Robert Bacon and First Aider Johnny Newport (see above) gave a demonstration of how to get a casualty into the recovery position after checking first for a response and whether the patient was breathing.

Johnny, who is studying medicine at Cambridge University, joined St John Ambulance five months ago.

“One of the other medical students at Cambridge introduced me to their work. I’m now one of the logistics officers for our first aid society at university so it’s great to have the chance to support my local St John Ambulance here in Barnet.

“Since being a volunteer with St John, the more I have realised how important it is to understand life-saving routines.”

Sam McCully showed visitors the equipment which is installed in one of the large St John Ambulance mobile treatment centres, four of which were purchased to support the London Olympic Games.

Barnet’s mobile centre is used to support major events across the country and in recent weeks went to the Notting Hill Carnival and then the Great North Run.

Volunteers take a smaller community support unit to local events. They will be attending the annual Barnet Christmas fayre in December.

Mayor of Barnet Councillor Zahra Beg joins St John Ambulance voluntees at Underhill hq and praises their work on training first aid and helping save lives

The Barnet headquarters, which is the centre for St John Ambulance across the borough, was opened by the late Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, in 1990.  The Duke of Westminster, President of the London District of St John, laid the foundation stone in 1989.

Posted on by — 1 Comment

Imminent sale of abandoned and derelict former Quinta Youth Club has added urgency to fund raising for new community hub in Mays Lane  

With a rapidly approaching deadline of mid-October, a fund-raising campaign has taken on new urgency as Mays Lane residents prepare their community bid to take over the derelict former Quinta Youth Club.

Their target is to raise £10,00 in small donations to demonstrate to Barnet Council and potential charity donors the strength of local support for a new community hub.

At the latest count just over 80 people have donated nearly £2,500 towards the £10,000 target.

“What Barnet Council and our charity supporters need to see is evidence that we have real community backing with local people prepared to make a contribution,” said Gina Theodorou (see above), who is chair of the Quinta Village Green Residents Association.

Quinta Youth Club, which was originally constructed by the Underhill community, and which has been derelict for the last 20 years, is to be sold by Barnet Council for £300,000.

Two charities – Hadley Trust and Common Nature – have told the residents’ association that financial assistance might well be available towards the purchase and reconstruction of the youth club if the local community unites around the plan and succeeds with its bid.

Barnet Council has been forced to wait until 17 October before selling the property after a successful application for the building to be nominated as an asset of community value gave the community six months to prepare their application.

“We are not the only bidder and there is fierce competition, but we are the community which the building was originally created to serve,” said Ms Theodorou.

“We walk past it every day, and we believe the people who live here should be the ones who decide what happens at Quinta.

“The number of people who give towards our fundraiser – https://gofund.me/70e0fe9c2 matters more than the total.

“Even £5 or £10 from someone locally adds another person to the evidence that the residents want to see the building brought back into use.”

Quinta Village Green, now established as a community interest company, has commissioned feasibility work on developing a single-storey community hub with the option of first floor accommodation.

A community survey  https://forms.gle/Ynmib6DYGKxCTcoD7 is underway to reveal local needs and has already had around130 responses.

Ms Theodorou says they would welcome more responses from local young people, and they hope to run a focus group with students at Totteridge Academy to get their ideas.

“We want Quinta to help address the lack of youth provision in the north of the borough identified in Barnet’s own youth strategy work while still remaining a multi-generational hub.”

Possible options include a café looking out on to Quinta Village Green (registered as a public open space), rooms for local charities and organisations, and space for activities for teenagers.

Architectural options are being developed by architect Simon Kaufman and chartered surveyors Graham + Sibbald are carrying out cost assessment.

Much of the professional consultancy work has been funded by the Hadley Trust which has written to the council confirming serious interest in supporting the purchase of the former clubhouse.

Ms Theodorou says the trust’s support has made an enormous difference.

In a statement, the founders of the trust, Sir Philip and Lady Hulme, say the proposed Quinta community hub is one of the more promising local projects they have seen.

“It is locally led and we have been greatly impressed by their professionalism, enthusiasm and commitment.

“We have funded the professional feasibility work and, subject to a satisfactory outcome and our normal due diligence, we expect to go on supporting the acquisition and development of the building.

“Projects like this are strongest when funders and the local community come together, and we would encourage others to join us.”

A second charity, Common Nature, has also written to the council confirming possible support through a community land purchase facility, co-invested with the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation.

To promote the plans for the Quinta community hub a “vision and stakeholder” night is to be held on Wednesday 30 September at 7pm at the clubhouse of the East Barnet Old Grammarians. The aim is to build up support before the bid goes to Barnet Council.   

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/quinta-help-us-bring-it-back-vision-evening-tickets-2001273193996?aff=oddtdtcreator

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Former customers make renewed bid to safeguard the future of former Builders Arms pub in New Barnet which is now up for sale

With continuing uncertainty about the fate of the Builders Arms – although it is now under offer – a group of former regulars have nominated the vacant New Barnet pub to be declared an asset of community value.

In the immediate aftermath of its closure in mid-April a petition was launched in the hope of collecting sufficient support for an ACV application but this stalled due to the difficulty in finding a community group to make the nomination.

Greg Allam (above), who once worked behind the bar at the Builders Arms, is lead organiser of a renewed bid to safeguard the future of the former Greene King pub which is now on the market for £595,000.

The aim is to secure as much protection for as long as possible to see if there is a chance of a new owner or tenant coming forward to re-open the pub.

Mr Allam submitted the application for an ACV to Barnet Council in the name of an unincorporated organisation which requires the backing of 21 individuals whose names and addresses are on the electoral roll.

Greene King put the Builders Arms on the market soon after it ceased trading along with another 300 of its tenanted and managed pubs. It paid £920,000 for the pub in 2008.

Prospects might seem bleak at present given the number of pub closures across the country, but the Builders Arms is well placed in Albert Road to benefit from the completion of the massive Park Quarter development on the site of the former New Barnet gas works.

Fairview Homes are building eleven high-rise blocks of flats which will offer 420 new homes.

Disruption in Albert Road caused by construction work, which began in 2024, proved too much for the Builders Arms’ landlady Silva.

Trade was so badly affected that she did not renew her tenancy as she could not afford to wait for the completion of the Park Quarter estate.

Supporters of the ACV nomination believe completion of the flats will offer a fresh opportunity for a new owner to come forward.

ACV protection allows a community organisation to make an expression of interest as a potential bidder.

This would trigger a six-month moratorium preventing the sale of the asset on the open market.

ACV status has to be taken into consideration by local councils and inspectors and could be a factor in refusing planning permission for a change of use or demolition.

Renewed bid to get vacant Builders Arms pub New Barnet declared an asset of community value to give added protection.

If the Builders Arms is not sold off and re-opened, there might be support for a community-owned pub in New Barnet, perhaps specialising in craft beers.

In recent years several vacant pubs in and around High Barnet have been protected by ACV nominations.

When in early 2024 the Stonegate group announced the closure of the Prince of Wales – the one and only pub in East Barnet village – a petition was launched attracting 2,000 signatures.

An ACV nomination was approved within weeks – a safeguard which in the event was not needed because new owners took on the property and refurbished the premises.

More recently ACV protection strengthened the hand of three former regulars of the Black Horse in High Barnet who succeeded in securing a one-year tenancy for a new community-led business, Barnet Community Pubs Ltd.

The Black Horse re-opened in late June after its sudden closure in September 2025.    

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Baking Christmas cakes for QE Girls’ 75th anniversary in 1963 – just one of the memories of guest speaker at school’s awards evening

Prizes at the annual celebration of excellence at Queen Elizabeth’s Girls’ School, Barnet, were presented by a former pupil who was later awarded an MBE for her contribution towards supporting young people.

Alison Mihail, who lived in New Barnet, passed the 11-plus exam in 1957 to gain a place at what was then Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School for Girls.

She followed her father Ronald Orton, who studied at QE Boys when classes were still being held at the Tudor Hall in Wood Street, and who went on to become clerk to the trustees for the two QE schools.

Ms Stephanie Rodgers (above, right), newly appointed interim headteacher at QE Girls, welcomed Ms Mihail who inspired the assembled students with an amusing account of her time at the school.

Her aim was to encourage students to take advantage of challenges and opportunities whenever they occurred.

The only mention about herself which she had found in QE Girls’ records was for 1963 when she was commended for decorating Christmas cakes baked by the pupils to celebrate the school’s 75th anniversary.

Cookery, then included in QE’s domestic science classes, was one of the skills which changed the course of her life.

After leaving QE in 1964, she did her teacher training at Bath University and became a home economics teacher.

Home economics – now rebranded once again as food technology – was a subject taught to boys and girls and included instruction in cooking, cleaning, laundry and other household chores.

During the covid lockdown – when Ms Mihail was on Facebook – she recognised boys and girls whom she had taught at her first school in the 1970s. She reminded them she was the teacher who showed them how to bake a Victoria sponge sandwich cake.

Being awarded the MBE for her voluntary work with the Prince’s Trust (now the King’s Trust) was “absolutely brilliant” but being told on Facebook by five boys that in the 1970s she was their “best ever teacher” was perhaps the biggest reward of her career – and a valuable reminder for the pupils of today that going through life “you don’t forget people” you knew and worked with.

Perhaps the biggest event during her time at QE was a visit by the late Queen Elizabeth in November 1957.

“QE Girls was the first state school she visited after becoming Queen. She was 31 years old, and she came into our classroom, 3B, where Miss Bradshaw was telling us all about Egyptian hieroglyphics.

“The Queen was wearing a wine-red velvet waistcoat…and I remember her beautiful skin.”

On her return visit to the school, Miss Mihail said she had walked along one corridor and noticed that the parquet flooring was just same as in the 1960s, as were the tiles on the wall.”

After 11 years as deputy head of a secondary school at Aylesbury, she enrolled in 1996 as a volunteer with the Prince’s Trust (now the King’s Trust) which helps young people build confidence, develop essential work skills, and find jobs or start a business.

Looking back on the great job satisfaction of 30 years with the trust – work for which she was awarded an MBE in 2015 for her outstanding contribution to young people in the Thames Valley area – she said was proud to have contributed to their extensive fund raising.

She had helped to raise £3 million, which had gone towards supporting 3,000 young people.

Queen Elizabeth's Girls' School awards at annual celebration of excellent presented by former pupil awarded the MBE for her contribution to helping young people

Miss Mihail said she had been asked to give the prizes at the celebration of excellence after being approached at a QE old girls’ lunch earlier this year by Violet Walker, the outgoing headteacher, who retired at the end of the summer term.

See above, from left to right, Violet Walker, Alison Mihail, and the Mayor of Barnet, Councillor Zahra Beg.     

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Pumpkins a plenty ripening for harvesting at autumn open day at school and community farm at Totteridge Academy

Hundreds of pumpkins and squashes have been ripening in the autumn sunshine ready for Pumpkin Time on Saturday 24 October at Grow, the school and community farm alongside Totteridge Academy.

Tickets for the event – which are now on sale – include a serving of pumpkin soup, a farm tour and children’s activities.

Grow fund raiser Lucy Gray – seen above surveying the crop – was full of praise for volunteers at the farm who continued watering the various plots throughout the summer heatwaves and drought.

“Thanks to their efforts – and they came as early as seven o’clock in the morning to avoid the heat – we do have a great crop coming along to harvest later in the autumn.

“Some of the pumpkins and squashes are perhaps slightly smaller than last year, and there seem to be slightly fewer, but there will be plenty for our Pumpkin Time event.”

Lucy and Grow’s marketing lead Tara Rudd welcomed visitors to the latest of Grow’s summer Pick Your Own Flowers events.

They have proved highly successful with families allowed to walk through the farm and choose their flowers.

Pumpkins ripening at Grow school and community farm at Totterdige Academy ready for Pumpkin Time event on Saturday 24 October.

Two first-time visitors were amazed by the range of flowers ready for picking.

“We read about the flower picking online…and we hope to be back for the pumpkins.”

Grow, which was established in partnership with Totteridge Academy, produce fruit and vegetables for the school as well as for sale to the community from a stall just off Barnet Lane.

Tickets for the Pumpkin Time event on Saturday 24 October: www.wearegrow.org/events

Posted on by — 5 Comments

A switch from weekly to fortnightly bin collections is one of the options as Barnet Council struggles to reduce a £200 million deficit

Barnet Council’s dire financial position has led to a warning that “very painful” decisions will have to made within weeks to find ways to reduce a predicted shortfall of £200 million.

A five per cent increase in council tax and a switch from weekly to fortnightly bin collections are two of the most likely options.

In an official statement the council says it needs to have a “brutally honest conversation with residents” about how to balance the books to find £200 million of savings.

The warning follows release of a government commissioned review which says the Borough of Barnet is in “a highly fragile financial position” and its deficit is projected to increase to £243.5 million by 2030-31.

By next year Barnet will have the largest budget gap of any London borough and it is one of nine councils relying on exceptional financial support from the Treasury.

East Barnet councillor Simon Radford, who is Barnet’s cabinet member for financial sustainability, says their budget for next year assumes there will be a council tax increase close to the legal maximum of 5 per cent and the council will review its waste collection service.

A failure to save costs by switching bin collections from weekly to fortnightly – a measure already introduced by many other councils – was a “missed opportunity” according to analysis conducted for the government by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountability.

Cost savings were not being implemented by Barnet Council at the “pace of scale required” because of “cautious decision making” and being slower to implement difficult reforms.

Recommendations about a switch to alternate weekly bin collections, as well reforms to the provision of temporary accommodation, children’s services and adult social care, needed to be in place by the end of September ready for a meeting of the council cabinet on Monday 12 October.

Barnet Council faces difficult decisions over need to reduce £200 million budget short fall with 5 per cent council tax increase and switch from weekly to fortnightly bin collections likely options

When the possibility of switching Barnet’s bin collections from weekly to fortnightly was last considered in 2019 under the previous Conservative administration, moving the waste collection to an alternate weekly service would have saved an estimated £400,000 a year.

At the time three quarters of English local authorities had already moved to fortnightly collections, and the CIPFA report says this was “a missed short-term opportunity.”

Barnet’s productivity and recycling performance in its waste services was weaker than in other comparable London boroughs.

The report also identified what it said was evidence of “savings fatigue” and the deferral of difficult decisions.

Another significant factor had been the council’s previous approach to council tax increases.

“Due to historic decisions to increase council tax by less than the maximum permissible, the council’s low tax base further constrains income flexibility.”

Previous Conservative administrations had taken pride in their policy of keeping Barnet’s council tax as low as possible – but the CIPFA analysis suggests this failed to acknowledge that Barnet faced “materially higher demand and cost pressures” than other comparable boroughs for adult social care, temporary accommodation and children’s social care.

In his response to the CIPFA findings, Councillor Simon Radford said reaching financial sustainability was Barnet’s top priority and the council welcomed recognition of the “scale and pace of change” required to solve our £200 million structural deficit by March 2029.

The need for services which the council had to provide was growing twice as fast as its income and far outstripped government funding.

“We have brought council spending under control, maintained high standards of adult social care while reducing the cost below national average, stabilised in-year spend on temporary accommodation and reduced our call on exceptional financial support by £10 million.

“The reality is that none of the levers in our control can tackle the scale of future demand without national policy intervention.

“Even if we were to cut all non-statutory spend, the short-term impact would be an £18 million budget reduction compared to the £200 million forecast gap.

“The report recommends reviewing council tax levels and waste collection, which we will do.

“Our budget assumes a council tax increase close to the maximum of 5 per cent. Anything further would need permission from government or a referendum in favour.”

Residents can have their say on moves to put Barnet’s finances on a sustainable footing at the next Barnet Question Times on Monday 26 October.

To apply for tickets: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/barnet-question-time-budget-special-meet-the-leader-and-cabinet-tickets-1998956822667?aff=oddtdtcreator

Posted on by — 2 Comments

Dame Theresa Villiers withdraws from political life to return to an academic career of university teaching and research

Dame Theresa Villiers decides not to stand again as a Conservative candidate for Chipping Barnet to focus instead on an academic career

Former Chipping Barnet Conservative MP Dame Theresa Villiers has decided to leave the political fray of competitive politics to focus instead on an academic career undertaking advanced postgraduate research at University College London.

She has told members of her local Conservative Party that she will not be putting her name forward as a candidate at the next general election.

Despite her defeat in 2024 when the Chipping Barnet constituency elected Labour MP Dan Tomlinson, Dame Theresa remained active in the politics of the Barnet area.

She campaigned on behalf of the Conservative candidates in recent council elections, attended numerous political events, and appeared to have left open the possibility of standing again.

Her decision to focus and writing and her academic career of university teaching and research has disappointed many of her admirers.

Posts on social media expressed regret at her withdrawal from local politics.

She was described as having been “a great local MP” who had every chance of being elected once gain. Well-wishers said they hope she enjoys academic life.

In her statement she said after careful reflection she had decided not to put her name forward when Chipping Barnet Conservatives start the process in a few weeks’ time of selecting a new parliamentary candidate. Nor would she apply to stand in any other constituency.

“I believe the Conservatives have a great chance of regaining Chipping Barnet, but it is time to hand over to someone new to tackle that challenge.”

Dame Theresa, who was made Dame Commander of the British Empire by the Prince of Wales at Windsor Castle last December, said she was grateful to Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch for having included her in the Conservative candidates list.

“I strongly back Kemi’s leadership. I will continue to campaign energetically for the Conservative cause, in Barnet and beyond.”

During her two decades as an MP at Westminster – after previously serving for six years as a Member of the European Parliament – Dame Theresa was frequently in the national news.

Her roles as a cabinet minister included nearly four years as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. She became a leading and much-quoted supporter of Brexit.

She thanked Chipping Barnet Conservatives for having chosen her as candidate in five successive general elections.

“I feel immensely proud to have been given the opportunity to serve the community in which I live as its MP.

“Now I will be focussing on the writing and academic career – university teaching and research – to which I have returned after my stint in elected office.

“I am delighted to say that this will include research for an MPhil/PhD at University College London in October.”

Image: Dame Theresa Villiers’ Facebook page

Posted on by — Leave a comment

New kitchen installed at the Black Horse as High Barnet’s community-led pub continues to strengthen its neighbourhood support and appeal

After its re-opening as a community-led public house, High Barnet’s historic hostelry the Black Horse is now being fitted out with an up-to-date kitchen – the latest investment by the three regulars who set up a new company to take on the tenancy.

Since customers were welcomed back at the end of June following a lengthy closure, the Black Horse has gone from strength to strength demonstrating the depth of local support with an impressive record of well-attended charity fund raisers and events.

Prospects looked bleak last September when the premises closed unexpectedly.

Fearing the worst nearby residents succeeded in getting the pub listed as an asset of community value, but working behind the scenes, without any fanfare, were three former regular customers.

They established Barnet Community Pubs Ltd and succeeded in negotiating a year’s tenancy with Star Pubs, part of the Heineken Group, with a pledge to ensure that once again the pub would renew its links with the local community.

After what the trio describe as an incredibly busy summer, and on one occasion nearly running out of beer, they felt confident to take the next step.

They have made what they say is a “big investment” in fitting out the pub with an up-to-date kitchen.

Taking pride of place is a large new rotisserie.

Newly-appointed head chef Karl Omell was on hand to help with the installation – see above, from left to right, Martin Taylor, director who handles finances for Barnet Community Pubs, plumber Paul Kelly, James Rix and Karl Omell.

New kitchen installed in Black Horse as High Brnet's community led pub celebrates an incredibly busy first two months in business

Work repairing and stabilising the front wall of the pub has taken longer than expected but should be completed by the end of September when the scaffolding will be removed.

Within a few days of re-opening, to reinforce their commitment to the community, the pub staged an all-day music event, “Hall of Sound”, in memory of the late Graeme Hall who had previously performed at local Open Mic events.

During the day there were performances from 17 acts, mainly duets, attracting well over 1,000 people, raising £6,000 shared between Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice, Cherry Lodge Cancer Care and Foodbank Aid, the charity of Graeme Hall’s wife.

Joint organiser of the event was Ken Rowland of Barnet Residents Association which had backed the campaign to secure protection for the Black Horse through registration as an asset of community value.

“The three directors of Barnet Community Pubs proved within a matter of weeks that, as they predicted, there is really strong local support for a community-led pub like the Black Horse,” said Mr Rowland.

“From what we hear they had something of a David and Goliath contest with Star Pubs to secure the tenancy.

 “There were six other bids but clearly the local effort to secure ACV recognition backed by a 4,000 strong petition was a great help and we are all so proud of how it has turned out.”

Mr Taylor said that he and his two fellow directors Simon Anderson and Danny Daly had been heartened by all the support they had received from the community.

“We have had regulars coming here for 25 years of more who told us they are delighted to be back in the Black Horse.  They had never seen the pub so busy or so friendly.

“We are taking every opportunity to connect with the area.

“We are sponsoring Hadley Football Club and from September we will be opening in the daytime as a community space where people can work on their on laptops with WIFI, just another example of the contribution we can make.”

For the night of the total eclipse of the sun, the pub bought in 100 special spectacles. “We are so lucky because the pub garden faces south and there must have been 400 or so enjoying the event with everyone sharing their glasses.”

A charity fund-raiser in August with events for children had raised £1,800 for the Hospice of St Francis charity at Barnet Hospital.

With space in the pub for up to 150 people for special occasions they were already booking in events with plans for a charity quiz night; a Halloween night event for children on 31 October; and a black-tie casino night on 7 November in aid of Noah’s Ark.

Posted on by — 1 Comment

Concern over added pressure which new housing developments in Barnet area will place on already busy GP surgeries

New housing developments around High Barnet and New Barnet are likely to lead to an increase of well over 2,000 in the local population but residents’ groups say there is no sign of health authorities delivering on promises to boost capacity at already over-stretched doctors’ surgeries.

Of the five GP practices within a two-kilometre radius, three already have fewer doctors than recommended by the British Medical Association.

Long-standing Save New Barnet campaigner, John Dix –above – says assurances given by developers when recent planning applications were approved have turned out to be misleading and so far, have not been honoured.

Despite the absence of any plans to expand GP practices, developers are continuing to claim that these five local surgeries are accepting new patients indicating that there is “some spare capacity in the local area”.

Mr Dix told the Barnet Society that these assurances are not supported by the latest Barnet-area statistics from the General Practice Workforce for the ratio of patients per doctor.

A failure to get meaningful replies from the integrated care board for north Lonon highlighted what he believes is the failure of the health authorities to address the extra demand being placed on doctors’ surgeries by the scale of housing redevelopment underway in High Banet and New Barnet.   

When permission was given for nearly 500 new flats which are being built on the site of New Barnet’s former gas works, local residents were led to believe that there were proposals to merge three nearby doctors’ surgeries to create a combined practice to be housed at the East Barnet Health Centre.

Concern over the extra demand which will be placed on doctors' surgeries in High Barnet and New Barnet as a result of new housing developments adding over 2,000 to local population.

To his consternation Mr Dix has discovered that the original proposal to increase the number of doctors and enlarge East Barnet Health Centre – at an estimated cost of £1.4 million – appears to have been shelved.

He has now been told by the integrated care board that it disputes whether there was ever a proposal to merge The Addington and The Village surgeries with the practice at the East Barnet Health Centre.

“Apparently the developers Fairview did offer some of the retail space in the Park Quarter development for a new GP surgery, but this was considered unsuitable and the board said it did not get the money it needed to enlarge the East Barnet Health Centre.

“So, the net outcome is that we are going to have 486 new flats at Park Quarter   and no additional GP services for 1,000-plus new residents.”

Mr Dix said the GP shortfall had been acknowledged by Berkeley Homes when it obtained planning approval for 80 new homes next to Park Quarter on the site of the former gasometer.

“Berkeley Homes’ consultants recommended that Barnet Council should undertake measures to increase GP capacity through the use of community infrastructure levy money, but again there is no sign that any action is being taken.”

The GP shortfall in New Barnet is likely to be mirrored in High Barnet where major housing developments could add nearly 600 new homes – 145 in Moxon Street; 115 at Whalebones in Wood Street; and 328 at High Barnet tube station.

There is still the possibility of a High Court challenge to the decision by the Deputy Mayor of London to approve the construction of five blocks of flats on the station car park and adjoining land, but Mr Dix says consultants for Transport for London relied on the same assurances given by other developers.

A consultants’ report for TfL’s subsidiary, Places for London, said there were “five GP surgeries within 2 kilometres of the site, all of which are accepting new patients”, and that any increase in demand could be offset through financial contributions from Barnet Council’s income from the community infrastructure levy.

Mr Dix believes the failure of the integrated care board and Barnet Council to address the local GP shortfall results from their concentration of resources into the provision of primary care facilities for major housing developments at Brent Cross and Colindale.

“Unfortunately, the health authorities and the council are failing to look at the bigger picture and recognise that all the infill developments around High Barnet and New Barnet are having a significant cumulative impact on already over-stretched GP services.

“To be fair, the integrated care board insists it continues to keep local primary care capacity under review and remains interested in exploring future opportunities to expand services at East Board Health Centre should funding become available.

“The new draft London Plan says we need to build 32,730 new homes in Barnet so there is real concern that the health infrastructure, including hospital beds, will not be in place to meet the demand.”

General Practice Workforce statistics published in June indicate the strain current demand is placing on GP services at the five surgeries which the developers have referred to in their planning applications:

(The British Medical Association recommendation is 1 full-time equivalent qualified GP per 1,800 patients.)

The Old Court House Surgery, Wood Street – 10,239 patients; 5.2 full-time equivalent qualified doctors; 4.2 qualified doctors; ratio of patients to qualified GP, 2,420.  

Longrove Surgery, Vale Drive Primary Care Centre – 17,186 patients; 11.5 full-time equivalent qualified doctors; 9.5 qualified doctors; ratio of patients to qualified GP, 1,793.

The Village Surgery, New Barnet – 6,339 patients; 3.1 full-time equivalent qualified doctors; 3.1 qualified doctors; ratio of patients to qualified GP, 2,016.

Addington Medical Centre, New Barnet – 9,806 patients; 3.4 full-time equivalent qualified doctors; 3.4 qualified doctors; ratio of patients to qualified GP, 2842.

East Barnet Health Centre – 11,290 patients; 7.1 full-time equivalent qualified doctors; 6 qualified doctors; ratio of patients to qualified GP, 1,859.

Posted on by — 1 Comment

Barnet Council faces dilemma over deteriorating state of condemned blocks of flats at Dollis Valley Estate

Vandalised blocks of flats and maisonettes awaiting demolition are likely to remain an eyesore for months to come following the sudden and unexpected collapse of a deal previously approved by Barnet Council to complete the regeneration of the Dollis Valley Estate.

Homes which were condemned as unfit some years ago were about to be replaced by developers Vistry under a scheme which had qualified for a £58.85 million grant from the Greater London Authority.

In a rarely used procedure Barnet’s Conservative councillors called in the agreement on the grounds it lacked “financial sustainability” – a process which halted the deal and resulted in the loss of the GLA grant.

Barry Rawlings, Labour leader of the council, told the Barnet Society that it would be early next year or even later before it would be possible to come up with an alternative scheme.

In the meantime, the council faces a dilemma. The cost of demolishing the flats and maisonettes, which was due to start in September, could be as high as £3 million – money which Councillor Rawlings said the council had not budgeted for.

The only alternative might be to fence off the whole site with secure hoardings to prevent access and deter further vandalism.

Given the presence of squatters in some of empty flats and the general state of decay – with large pools of stagnant water formed by leaking pipes and mains – the owners of nearby houses on what is now the Brook Valley Gardens estate say they should not have to put up with such gruesome dereliction.

Conservative group leader Councillor Peter Zinkin recognised that the cost of securing the abandoned blocks of flats was high, but he thought the council probably had no option but to wait for the housing market to improve.

His preferred course of action – one backed by a Brook Valley Gardens residents’ group – was for the council to return to the original proposal to finish off the Dollis Valley regeneration with 126 new privately-owned and 95 affordable homes.

When Vistry declared this scheme was unviable, the council negotiated a fresh agreement with the developers to complete the regeneration with 208 new affordable homes, a deal which qualified for the £58.85 million GLA grant towards the cost of new affordable housing.

Once the renegotiated deal was called in by the Conservatives on the grounds it lacked “financial responsibility” the council was unable to meet the GLA’s deadline of Friday 31 July for approving the project and the offer of a grant was withdrawn.

A hurriedly arranged meeting was held on Tuesday 4 August at which a group of residents and the Barnet Society were excluded on the grounds that issues regarding the “financial responsibility and financial sustainability” of the council’s agreement with Vistry had to be discussed in private.

This was the first time for 14 years that the call-in procedure had been triggered and the Conservatives’ action was defended by Councillor Zinkin.

He said it was “really important” for the opposition to test whether the council’s cabinet had taken the “correct decision” in approving the Vistry deal.

In a note setting out their case, the Conservatives said the Vistry group was under severe financial strain, and they considered the cabinet meeting had not been provided with “sufficient assurance as to the financial viability and delivery risk” for the scale of the commitment.

Councillor Zinkin’s action in calling in the deal was supported by Peter Esposito who was allowed to ask questions on behalf of residents who were opposed to the latest Vistry scheme and who believed those who had purchased new houses had been misled about the GLA funding for the scheme.

These residents were against the Vistry agreement because it abandoned the original undertaking that 60 per cent of the new homes in the Dollis Valley regeneration would be privately owned with only 40 per cent available for social rent.

By switching the completion of phases 4 and 5 to the construction of 208 affordable homes, the balance would be reversed with only 40 per cent of the houses on the estate remaining privately owned, a proportion which they argued would make it more difficult to obtain mortgages and could depress the value of their properties.

Vandalised flats and maisonettes on Dollis Valley Estate will continue to be an eyesore following collapse of Barnet Council deal to build 208 new affordable homes

The Dollis Valley estate was built in the 1960s and 1970s and Barnet Council acknowledges that the five-storey blocks of flats and maisonettes suffered from many of the problems such as dampness and condensation which affect post-war estates.

The first three phases of the regeneration, with the construction of 408 homes of mixed tenure, was completed in 2023 but the council has been dogged with problems over agreeing a scheme to build the final 208 new homes.

The deal agreed with Vistry to build 187 homes for social rent and 21 for key workers for living rent – to be managed by Barnet Homes – was described by the council as the “only one viable option”.

Councillor Rawlings told the call-in meeting which probed the collapse of the deal that he did not think the issues raised in the scrutiny process did “materially affect the decision which was made”.

After the meeting he said he feared yet another delay in completing the Dollis Valley regeneration would create more uncertainty for those residents who had been moved out of their “unsafe and leaking flats” and transferred to other temporary council accommodation.

“These residents had been forgotten in all of this. When they were moved away, they were promised they would get a chance to move back to Dollis Valley.”

He said that the first three phases of the regeneration – and the creation of the new Brook Valley Gardens estate with 400 new homes – had been a success.

“Years back people used to say that Dollis Valley was a no-go estate, but the area has been transformed, and we are anxious to see that regeneration completed.”

Posted on by — 1 Comment

Spring water continues to flow without interruption at Barnet’s historic Physic Well despite summer months with no rain

While many natural ponds around the town have dried out due to the prolonged drought and successive heatwaves, the water level at High Barnet’s historic Physic Well has remained constant.

When visitors descended the wellhouse steps at the monthly open day, they were shown the two tanks filled by mineral water from a spring which was first mentioned in a Tudor guidebook in the late 16th century.

In almost 20 years since Barnet Museum first started campaigning to get the wellhouse restored and re-opened, volunteers – including Bob Langley above – say the water level has rarely ever changed.

Occasionally during exceptionally wet weather the well tanks overflow a little, but otherwise the water level always remains at a constant depth.

All around High Barnet numerous ponds filled by surface water have dried out.

Joslin’s Pond on Hadley Green, where generations of children have fed the ducks, has been reduced to an expanse of mud with the duck house beached in the middle.

Hadley Green’s largest pond, Brewery Pond, next to site of the former Hadley Brewery, is filled by a spring and although the water level is much lower than usual it provides a refuge for ducks and other wildlife.

After re-opening in 2018 following repairs, Barnet Physic Well, famous for its chalybeate spring water, has become a popular attraction on its monthly open days on Saturday afternoons between February and November.

Once fashionable to drink the water was sold in London and attracted gentry to Barnet because it was said to have healing and other medicinal qualities.

The well’s most famous visitor – and consumer – was the renowned diarist Samuel Pepys who after lunch at the Red Lion in 1664, continued to the well “and there I drunk three glasses and went and walked and came back and drunk two more”.

Among the open day visitors were Eamonn Brady who as a child lived opposite in Well Road and who had never been inside the well house or seen what the well looked like.

“When I was a child in the 1960s the wellhouse was always padlocked.

“We used to play football on the green outside so what went on inside the well house was always mystery” said Mr Brady – above second from right with well guide Charlie, second from the left.

“Soon after we moved from Well Road to Potters Bar, so I never got the chance to look inside. As you can imagine this was something I had to put right.”

Mr Brady was fascinated to descend into the well chamber and learn more about its history.

He recalled a family story about how his grandma and aunt, who lived next door in Well Road, saying that one night they separately saw a black shadow cross the landing of their houses.

“They both described an old-fashioned man with a hat on, and we have always wondered whether it was the ghost of Samuel Pepys.”

Open days at the Physic Well are always a moment of great pride for Mike Jordan who led the campaign to get the well house restored and re-opened.

Mr Jordan – seen here with a mural celebrating Barnet history which was donated by Waterstones bookshop – was chairman of trustees at Barnet Museum for 14 years and on retirement was appointed president.

For many years the Physic Well, which is in Well Approach, a short walk from Barnet Hospital, was in such a sorry state that the building was placed on Historic England’s at-risk register.

The well house was constructed in 1937 to protect the dis-used well and its spring. Restoring the building to its full mock-Tudor glory and making it safe for visitors cost £150,000. It is now in the care of Barnet Museum.

“My main commitment nowadays is the well,” said Mr Jordan.

“When we open the doors on a Saturday afternoon every month, we are always so pleased to welcome visitors to what is one of the best-preserved medicinal wells in the country.

“We spent so much time with Barnet Council and Historic England rescuing the wellhouse the sense of achievement is really gratifying. If I leave anything to Barnet, it is helping to preserve the Physic Well for the future.”

Five heatwaves and two months without rain has dried out the ponds on Hadley Green except for the Brewery Pond which is fed by a spring and is next to the site of the former brewery which had its own artesian well.

Hadley Brewery, opened in around 1700, was demolished in 1978.

Unlike the duck house on Joslin’s Pond, which is beached on the mud, the duck house at the Brewery Pond is still afloat – the duck houses were purchased in 2018 by Keith Chapman of Hadley Residents Association.

Joslin’s Pond was named after William Joslin, who lived in one of the Georgian cottages next to the green and who in the 1880s ran a nearby bakery.

Posted on by — 1 Comment

Extension of ULEZ and switch to electric cars is cutting pollution from vehicle exhaust emissions in High Barnet town centre

A steady and significant improvement in air quality in Barnet High Street is continuing to be recorded by Barnet Council’s scientific services which indicates that levels of nitrogen dioxide should fall at even faster rates with the growth in the number of electric vehicles.

To encourage progress towards Barnet’s net zero targets more on-street electric charge points are to be added to what the council says is already one of the largest networks in the country.

Tests for nitrogen dioxide are carried out in Barnet High Street show a significant decrease between 2013 and 2025.

The latest samples indicated a reading of 25.3 for the High Street (down from a reading of 51 in 2013) and this is comparable with other similar locations such as the High Road Whetstone and Ballards Lane.

Concentrations of nitrogen dioxide in these high street shopping areas are much lower than at testing points on major through roads such as Hendon Way.

Air quality is monitored at locations across the borough because of elevated road traffic emissions.

A report last year by the Mayor of London estimated that across the outer London boroughs, the extension of the Ultra Low Emission Zone in August 2023 achieved a 21 per cent reduction in nitrogen dioxide and that particulate matter from exhaust emissions dropped by 31 per cent.

The mayor’s target is to reach World Health Organisations guidelines by 2030. Barnet is committed to becoming a net zero borough by 2042.

Use of electric vehicles is being encouraged with the rollout of electric charge points. With 2,045 installed by the end of 2025, Barnet already has one of the largest networks in the country.

Over 500 charge points have been attached to lamp posts including an installation by char.gy in Union Street Barnet.

There are plans to install a further 500 points on lamp columns. These points are suitable for residents who do not have off street parking to charge their vehicles from home.

A lamp column point takes 8-12 hours to fully charge a vehicle, and they are considered ideal for overnight charging.

Testing shows steady improvement in air quality in Barnet High Street with levels of nitrogen dioxide due to fall even lower with switch to electric cars

Where lamp column charge popints are not appropriate, they are set in the pavement.

PodPoint operates a network of charge points across Barnet Council car parks and there is no parking charge when charging an electric vehicle.

Where residents would like an electric charge point in their street they are asked to email EVCharging@Barnet.gov.uk

Barnet Council continues to promote its scheme to promote pay streets – where minor roads are closed temporarily to encourage children to play safely outside in an environment free of traffic and exhaust emissions.

Five applications were made in 2025 – and there was a first for High Barnet in April this year when a cul-de-sac at the end of Calvert Road became a designated Sunday morning play space.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Family stories of life in Barnet during Second World War brought back to life in autumn production at The Bull Theatre

Cast members are going through their storylines before rehearsals start in September at The Bull Theatre for a new play which aims to portray the life and times of the townspeople of Barnet during the Second World War.

Much of the action revolves around the wartime comings and goings at Barnet Odeon (now the Everyman) – both in the cinema and a bomb shelter where patrons and staff gathered during air raids.

In mid-October the Blue Door Theatre Company will be staging four performances at The Bull of A Nightingale Sang in Barnet – all about the blitz and beyond.

Director Siobhan Dunne, see above right with cast members Val Golding (far left) and Jan Parker, said they hoped to capture the drama and uncertainty of wartime in Barnet.

“We have five writers working on the play and some of the scenes are based on verbatim stories of family memories and others are imagined scenarios.

“But because we are portraying wartime experiences not all the story lines have a resolution so that adds to the drama and poignancy of the production.”

Jan Parker has the role of Mrs Sprat who is a wartime dealer in the black market and operates with her son.

“Mrs Sprat is the brains behind her black-market business swapping and selling things like eggs for cigarettes or whatever.

“We see her selling a chicken in the bomb shelter – the very kind of activity frowned upon during the war.”

By contrast Val Golding’s role as Mrs Leonard is a reminder of the legacy of the First World War.  Her husband was killed at the Somme, and she is very upset by the renewed outbreak of war across Europe.

Ms Dunne said they had all jumped at the chance to build a production around Barnet in the 1940s and extend Blue Door’s well-earned reputation for delivering sell-out shows that celebrate the town’s history.

There will be four performances – Thursday 15 October, 7.30pm; Friday 16 October, 7.30pm; Saturday 17 October, 2pm and 7.30pm. Tickets at £19 plus booking fee now available via www.thebulltheatre.com

Drama portraying life and times of townspeople of Barnet during Second World War to start rehearsals at The Bull theatre in September

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Fund raising campaign for Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice backed by Barnet councillors and a deputy mayor of London

A time capsule was buried in the grounds of Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice in Byng Road, Barnet, as part of the celebrations to mark its 20th anniversary.

Twenty messages from children and families supported by the hospice were placed in the capsule to help commemorate its work.

High Barnet’s two councillors and a deputy mayor of London attended the event to help launch the annual campaign, From That Moment, to raise £1 million towards the hospice’s running costs.

See above, from left to right, Philip Roethenbaugh, Noah’s Ark director of fund raising and communications, Councillor James Esses, Sophie Andrews, Noah’s Ark chief executive, Joanna McCartney, Deputy Mayor of London for Children and Families, and Councillor Emma Whysall.

Noah’s Ark’s operating costs exceed £7 million a year.

The From That Moment fund-raising campaign will run from 1 September to 12 October with match-funding partners ensuring that every donation – up to £500,000 – will be doubled in value.

Groups and organisations are being encouraged to think of fund-raising ideas and organise events.

Two events aimed at individuals offering support are Step-tember by walking, running, cycling or swimming 90 miles in September or by taking part in the Walking 9-5 Challenge aimed at step-counting in businesses.

Time capsule buried at Noah's Ark Children's Hospice to celebrate 20th anniversary and start of new fund raising campaign.

Councillor Whysall (Labour) – above, far right, who has been a High Barnet ward councillor since 2022, said her visit and tour of Noah’s Ark had been an opportunity to see its inspirational work.

“We are so lucky to have such an amazing centre in the heart of our community for 20 years – let us hope that Noah’s Ark continues to prosper with the support of the community for another 20 years.”

Councillor Esses (Conservative), who was elected in the May council elections, said his wish was that no child ever needed hospice care.

“For those children that do and end up at Noah’s Ark, I know they are in a truly special place; filled with warmth, care, compassion, and even laughter and joy.

“So much has been achieved in the first 20 years of Noah’s Ark and it is a privilege to join them to celebrate this milestone.

“I have no doubt that they will go from strength to strength in the next 20 years.”

The importance of fund raising was stressed by chief executive Sophie Andrews who explained that for the last four years Noah’s Ark had relied on incredible support from the community during the autumn fund raising appeal.

Children’s hospices are under increasing financial pressure as demand for services continues to grow.

Two thirds of children’s hospices in England ended the year operating at a deficit and Noah’s Ark relies on voluntary donations for 76 per cent of its income.

Posted on by — 1 Comment

Reprieve for Mays Lane traders as Barnet Council lifts all day parking charges outside their parade of shops

Retailers in Mays Lane have welcomed Barnet Council’s decision to remove all but one of the parking charges which were introduced at the end of last year outside their parade of shops.

Charges now apply for only one hour between 2pm and 3pm which aligns with the restrictions and charges which operate in the rest of the Chipping Barnet (D) controlled parking zone.

Imposing a parking charge between 2pm and 3pm is aimed at deterring all-day parking and the Mays Lane traders accept that this is a possible compromise.

When the council imposed six-day-a-week pay-by-phone parking charges on the Mays Lane parade from 8am to 6.30pm the shopkeepers said it would kill off their passing trade and threaten the viability of their businesses.

Local residents rallied to their support organising a petition which attracted over 1,300 signatures.

A case for lifting the restriction was presented to Barnet Council by Gina Theodorou, chair of the Quinta Village Green Residents Association and Jon Wolfson, lead organiser of the Underhill Residents Group.

Mays Pets shop assistant Sarah Burley – who helped to collect signatures for the petition – said the traders were pleased the council had seen sense and recognised the dramatic impact which all-day parking charges were having on their passing trade.

She thought imposing charges for only an hour each afternoon was a step in the right of direction, but the shopkeepers still had concerns because the changes only lasted for a trial period.

They apply for an 18-month experimental period with a six-month consultation period from 3 August 2026 to 3 February 2027.

A notice says this period will give the council time to consider any comments received and to assess the effectiveness of the amended controls.

Nonetheless the traders still have worries about the restrictions as they know shoppers can be easily put off by any risk of incurring a penalty notice.

Mays Lane retailers welcome Barnet Council decision to lift parking charges on their parade of shops

Mohinder Dhingra, proprietor of Coopers of Barnet, who was distraught at the loss of trade when the charges were introduced, said he was “very pleased” the council had changed its mind.

“We can see how applying a parking charge between 2pm and 3pm does fit in with the CPZ for the surrounding area.

“Getting the council to back down is all due to the work of Gina and Jon who we cannot thank enough.”

Barnet Council is still considering protests about the imposition of a new Underhill South CPZ.

After a receiving a deputation to the council, the cabinet member responsible for parking, Councillor Alan Schneiderman said staff were analysing data received during a consultation period and the council hoped to make a decision by the end of December.  

To comment by 3 January 2027 on changes to the Mays Lane restrictions see:

https://www.barnet.gov.uk/chipping-barnet-d-controlled-parking-zone-cpz-paid-parking-experimental-consultation

Posted on by — 2 Comments

Public excluded from special Barnet Council meeting when councillors probed financial failure of controversial Dollis Valley housing scheme

Fresh proposals are unlikely to emerge until at least the New Year for the completion of the Dollis Valley regeneration following the call-in and collapse of a scheme previously agreed by Barnet Council to build 208 new affordable homes on the estate.

Residents from Dollis Valley – and the Barnet Society – were excluded from a part of a special call-in meeting when a sub-committee of councillors considered financial issues surrounding the failed scheme.

Before members of the public were asked to leave, the leader of the Conservative group, Councillor Peter Zinkin, told the meeting why they had called in the deal agreed in July between the Labour-controlled council and developers Vistry.

He said the decision taken by the council’s cabinet was contrary to “financial responsibility and financial sustainability” and in their judgement those issues were “sufficient to go over the line and lack financial responsibility”.

It would be up to the committee to decide whether the judgement of Conservative councillors was correct, but Councillor Zinkin said it was “really important” for the opposition to test whether the deal with Vistry was the “correct decision”, concerns which had prompted them to call in a decision for the first time in 14 years.

In a note setting out their case, the six Conservative councillors said the developers Vistry were under severe financial strain and the council’s cabinet had not been provided with “sufficient assurance as to the financial viability and delivery risk” for the scale of the commitment. 

After an hour-and-a-half discussion, the sub-committee decided the council would undertake a comprehensive financial assessment of all future options for completing the Dollis Valley regeneration.

An undertaking was given that future redevelopment would be in the interests of the existing residents whose views would be properly considered through the Dollis Valley Partnership Board.

Complaints about the lack of consultation with residents about the decision to build 208 affordable homes – qualifying for a £58.85 million grant from the Greater London Authority – had triggered a protest petition at an earlier council meeting. 

Dollis Valley resident Peter Esposito – above left with Councillor Peter Zinkin – opened the meeting with a question about why residents had been misled about the GLA funding.

The cabinet meeting was told the grant decision was pending but he said council officers knew it had already been approved, and the public had been misinformed.

In his presentation Councillor Zinkin reinforced criticism of the way the cabinet meeting had been conducted.

A scrutiny committee was not called until 24 hours before the decision and a paper answering questions which had been raised was not provided until 17 minutes before cabinet met.

In reply, Councillor Barry Rawlings (above) agreed there should have been more distance between the meetings, but he insisted the issues which came up during the scrutiny process did not “materially affect the decision which was made”.

The deal agreed with Vistry to build 187 homes for social rent and 21 for key workers was the “only one viable option”.

As a result of the call-in and the withdrawal of the £58.85 million GLA grant, the council would have to go over the options once again.

Given the difficult housing market Councillor Rawlings thought it would be difficult to find another viable scheme immediately and it would be next year before a decision could be made on how best to complete the Dollis Valley regeneration.

In response to the Barnet Society, Councillor Zinkin said that he thought the best course of action in the circumstances was to demolish the vacant and vandalised blocks of flats and maisonettes which were deemed unfit three years ago.

“The cost of securing the abandoned housing is high. Demolition is definitely the preferred option while the council waits for the housing market to improve.

Councillor Zinkin said it might be possible in the future to get much closer to the original scheme to finish off the Dollis Valley regeneration with 126 new privately-owned and 95 affordable homes – a scheme which Vistry had said was unviable.

Peter Esposito and other Dollis Valley residents agreed that returning to the scheme which was originally approved by Dollis Valley Partnership Board was also their preferred option.

Fresh proposals unlikely before New Year to complete regeneration of Dollis Valley after collapse of deal between Barnet Council and developers Vistry

Councillor Rawlings said it was too early to speculate on what action might be taken but the council had estimated that the cost of demolishing the vacant blocks of flats and maisonettes and clearing the site could be as high as £3million.

His concern was that yet another delay in completing Dollis Valley was creating yet more uncertainty for those residents who had been moved out of the “unsafe and leaking flats” and transferred into other temporary council accommodation.

“These residents have been forgotten in all of this. When they were moved away, they were promised they would get a chance to move back to Dollis Valley”.

Councillor Rawlings said the regeneration of Dollis Valley – now known as the Brook Valley Gardens estate – had been a success with the construction of 400 new homes.

“Years back people used to say that Dollis Valley was a no-go estate, but the area has been transformed with regeneration and we are anxious to see that completed.” 

Posted on by — 1 Comment

Summer heatwave taking its toll on ponds and streams which are such a popular feature of Chipping Barnet’s green spaces

Record breaking hot weather and a lack of rain have dried out many ponds and streams in and around High Barnet. Hadley Green and Hadley Common have both been hard hit by the drought.

Exposed mud and a small patch of slimy water are all that is left of the famous duck bond where Hadley Green meets Barnet High Street – see above.

Past generations of children found delight in feeding ducks on the pond – although this is now discouraged with a prominent notice declaring: “Please do NOT feed the birds as uneaten food encourages vermin”.

Although much reduced in depth, brewery pond at the northern end of the green near Dury Road, still manages to provide an aquatic refuge for ducks, other birds and wildlife.

Next to the site of what was the former Hadley Brewery, brewery pond is naturally replenished by local groundwater and springs across the green.

London firefighters drew water from the pond in 2025 when fighting a fire which gutted a Georgian property Hollybush House close to the junction with Sydney Chapman Way.

Other smaller ponds on the green have dried out completely including a pond close to Old Fold Manor Golf Club.

Record breaking hot weather and lack of rain has dried out ponds and streams which are soch a popular feature of green spaces in and around Chipping Barnet

Another casualty is what is known as Gladsmuir pond which borders Hadley Common roadway, close to the junction with Camlet Way.

Bullrushes have grown across the base of the pond which in the spring is said to host Great Crested Newts, a protected species whose habit must be preserved.

Posted on by — 3 Comments

Dollis Valley redevelopment delayed yet again after Barnet Council loses out on £58 million Greater London housing grant

Barnet Council has had to abandon an immediate go ahead for the final stage of the Dollis Valley redevelopment following the sudden withdrawal of a £58.85 million grant from the Greater London Authority for building new affordable homes.

A council cabinet decision two weeks ago to proceed with the construction of 208 new homes – despite protests from some of the residents – has been called in for further discussion.

As a result, the council has failed to meet the GLA’s deadline of July 31 for approving the project.

Conservative councillors demanded that the cabinet’s decision should be called in – and therefore postponed – because of their concerns about the financial viability of the scheme and the lack of adequate consultation with residents.

Council officials will now have to draw up fresh proposals for the completion of what has become the Brook Valley Gardens estate.

Vacant blocks of flats and maisonettes – see above – have been awaiting demolition for the last three years and this fresh postponement is only the latest setback in a long, drawn-out saga.

A group of Brook Valley Gardens residents – where 60 per cent of the 400 homes are privately owned – have fought a sustained campaign against the council’s decision to finish off the estate with 208 affordable homes.

They say this would result in the estate having 60 per cent of homes for social rent which they argue is a breach of the undertakings they were given when they bought their homes and were told it would be 60 per cent privately owned.

Under the scheme approved by the cabinet on July 21 the council said it had reached an agreement with developers Vistry to construct 208 affordable homes which would be managed for the council by Barnet Homes.

To qualify for access to £58.85 million of GLA affordable housing grant the scheme had to be approved by July 31.

In confirming the funding was no longer available, the GLA said there was no longer “sufficient certainty” the grant conditions could be met and there were other schemes around London which could qualify.   

Barnet Council has to abandon immediate completion of Dollis Valley redeveopment following withdrawal of GLA affordable housing grant of £58 million in another setback to troubled scheme.

Demolition of the block of flats and maisonettes deemed unfit for occupation and a start on the construction of the new homes was due to begin in September.  

When approving this plan two weeks ago, the cabinet meeting acknowledged the “potential guilt” felt by some councillors for letting down the private owners.

What cabinet members and council officials had not taken into account was the determination of the private residents’ group to press for the decision to be called in.

Once this action was taken by Conservative councillors, council officials were no longer in a position to give the guarantees which were needed by the GLA over access to the £58.85 million grant.

A full report on the setback is to be considered by the council’s call-in sub-committee on Tuesday 4 August.

Residents who have been consulted by the Dollis Valley Partnership Board have welcomed the news that the grant is “no longer available” and say it has strengthened their argument for the council to start again and undertake meaningful discussions with them.

Among the financial issues facing the call-in sub-committee will be the demand for more information about the council’s contribution to finishing off the Dollis Valley estate – said to be another £40 million.

Unless the deal with Vistry can be renegotiated, the council might be left with no other option but to demolish the vacant blocks and clear the site with the hope that conditions in the housing market might improve or that the site can be sold to a private developer.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Appeal to Barnet residents to train as volunteer advisers for local drop-in sessions held by Citizens Advice Barnet

Citizens Advice Barnet launches recruitment campaign for residents to train as voluntees for drop-in advice sessions at Chipping Barnet Library and St James Church, New Barnet

Citizens Advice Barnet has launched a recruitment campaign for new volunteers and is keen to appoint new advisers for its two local drop-in advice sessions at Chipping Barnet Library in Stapylton Road and at Jim’s Café at St James Church, New Barnet.

No previous experience is required, and new recruits are offered full training as volunteer advisers.

Citizens Advice Barnet is undertaking its biggest recruitment drive and is aiming to recruit 25 people into its advice services team who hold advice sessions across the borough – see above stall run by Mallika and Samuel.

The two local sessions are held every other week with the next drop-in at Chipping Barnet Library on Tuesday 11 August (10am to 1pm) and at Jim’s Café, St James Church, New Barnet, on Wednesday 12 August (9.30am to 12.30pm).

All volunteers will be given full training to equip them to give high-quality advice on a range of problems.

Due to the extensive training needed, the minimum commitment for the role is two working days a week for at least nine months.

Nadya Bari, head of advice services, says that many more people need advice than they are able to help and to address this Citizens Advice Barnet has launched its biggest recruitment drive.

Benefits from volunteering include gaining “nationally recognised, sought after training”, being part of a welcoming and supportive team, and securing life skills and hand-on experience.

Volunteers who later move on to other occupations and employment said they learned so much about advice work and the privilege of being part of an organisation dedicated to helping people.

To find out more information and apply to volunteer, visit: https://barnetcab.org.uk/get-involved/volunteer/

Or volunteer@barnetcab.org.uk

Posted on by — Leave a comment

New play at The Bull Theatre aims to celebrate life and times of townspeople of Barnet during the Second World War

Wartime comings and goings among patrons and staff at Barnet Odeon contribute to storylines in the latest production by the Blue Door Theatre Company to be staged at The Bull Theatre in October.

A Nightingale Sang in Barnet – all about the blitz and beyond – is based on memories and tales about life in Barnet in the 1940s during World War II.

Barnet Odeon – now the Everyman – opened in 1935 and the cinema became a popular venue during the war years.

The newly built picture house and a dusty, makeshift air raid shelter are two of the settings for what director Siobhan Dunne says will be backdrops allowing the cast to weave “a rich tapestry of verbatim stories and imagined events”.

For at least four members of the Blue Door company, the new production is a personal affair as they have family stories of life in Barnet during the Second World War.

They aim to recreate a Barnet where some say they continued to hear the nightingale sing when life in the town was “ruled by the skies, the sirens, the thrum and the silence”.

Ms Dunne said they had all jumped at the chance to build a production around Barnet of the 1940s and extend Blue Door’s well-earned reputation for delivering sell-out shows that reflect the town’s history.

“We visit the newly built Odeon. A flickering projector mirroring the heartbeats of people who work and visit the picture house of dreams.

“A magic lantern bringing light to break the shadows, respite for all the strangers brought together as a family in a dusty, makeshift shelter.” 

Writing what is billed as a “fascinating and moving production full of war time drama and classic songs” has been a team effort by Sarah Munford, Hannah Gerolemou, Rafaela Golding, Claire Fisher, Dominique Carruthers-Reeve, Francesco Giacon and Brigid Hekster.

Music has been arranged by Nick Godwin.

There will be four performances – Thursday 15 October, 7.30pm; Friday 16 October, 7.30pm; Saturday 17 October, 2pm and 7.30pm. Tickets at £19 plus booking fee now available via www.thebulltheatre.com

A photograph from the Barnet Museum collection shows a children’s street party in Crescent Road, New Barnet, celebrating Victory in Europe Day on 8 May 1945.

What would they have eaten is the question which was posed when the photograph was reproduced in the museum’s 2018 calendar.

“There would have probably been a lot of sandwiches and at least one ‘eggless’ fruit cake since eggs were rationed.

“It is likely that hoarded tinned fruit and similar treasures would also have appeared at this party.

“Certainly, the happy young mothers portrayed would have pooled their rations and exercised a great deal of ingenuity to make a treat that the children would remember for a very long time.”

Barnet Museum’s photograph of Barnet Odeon – see above – is dated 1937. The cinema was opened on 15 May 1935 before an audience of 1,110, including the architect, Edgar Simmons.

Its façade is an example of Art Deco architecture, and it was awarded Grade II listing in 1989.

There were four local cinemas in the 1940s and 1950s – the Odeon; Cinema Palace which opened in Barnet High Street in 1912 and was later known as the Barnet Cinema and then the Gaumont; New Barnet Kinema in Lytton Road which later became the Regal; and the Dominion, opened in 1938 in East Barnet village to come the Essoldo in 1950.

Posted on by — 2 Comments

Redevelopment of Dollis Valley estate due to restart in September after three-year delay in demolishing vacant flats

Completion of the redevelopment of the Dollis Valley estate – where blocks of flats and maisonettes have been awaiting demolition for the last three years – is finally to go ahead with access to a £58 million grant from the Greater London Authority.

Regeneration of the estate was stalled in 2023 because the developers Vistry said the scheme previously agreed with Barnet Council for 126 new privately-owned and 95 affordable homes was no longer viable.

A revised plan approved at a cabinet meeting will now provide for the construction of 208 affordable homes which will be managed for the council by Barnet Homes.

The new Dollis Valley houses – 187 for social rent and 21 for key workers – will provide what is described as a “significant” contribution to Barnet’s target to deliver 1,000 new council homes.

But by abandoning the previously agreed construction of over 100 new private homes, the council has angered owners of new Dollis Valley houses who fear this will alter the balance of an estate which was supposed to be a 50/50 split between private and social ownership.

Despite what was described at the meeting as the “potential guilt” felt by some councillors for letting down the private owners, the cabinet decided there was no other viable option than to accept Vistry’s latest proposal.

To qualify for access to £58.85 million of GLA affordable housing grant, construction of the new houses has to start by September this year.

If the council failed to meet the deadline one option would be to demolish the vacant flats and maisonettes and retain the empty site until the housing market improved but that would expose the council to further financial risk.

The first three phases of the Dollis Valley regeneration have delivered over 400 new houses in what the council describes as “a low-rise, gentle density garden suburb style development dominated by houses with gardens and traditional streets.”

Dollis Valley regeneration to restart after Barrnet Council agrees new deal with developers Vistry for 221 new homes

The final two phases of the scheme – which would result in the demolition of the vacant Garrowsfield and Mill Bridge blocks – were originally intended to provide 126 private and 95 affordable homes.

Poor market conditions and increased construction costs were said to have made this “significantly unviable” which resulted in Vistry proposing the construction of 208 affordable homes at “a fixed price” and 13 private homes, the scheme which has now been approved.

Posted on by — 1 Comment

Spare land around New Barnet bowling green becomes a community garden under Barnet Council scheme to take advantage of under-used space 

A new community garden has been established in New Barnet through a partnership between a church and a bowls club.

A blessing to celebrate the opening of the garden at the East Barnet Valley Bowls Club was conducted by the Reverend Sharon Ejinkonye, the newly installed vicar at St James Church, New Barnet.

Produce from the garden will be offered to needy residents visiting Jim’s Café, a Wednesday morning community advice centre and coffee morning organised by the church.

The partnership came about because the bowls club, next to Victoria Recreation Ground, New Barnet, had spare land and the church was looking for a new site for its community garden.

In her blessing to celebrate the opening of the new garden, Sharon thanked Barnet Council and the bowls club for sharing their vision and creating a space where they could work together nourishing plants and vegetables.

Jeremy Alford – see above with Sharon – who helped co-ordinate the development of the new garden said it was a replacement for a previous community garden in the former St James vicarage.

“When we lost that garden at the old vicarage, we realised the bowls club had spare land on an ideal site where we could work together and we have now adopted the space.”

A garden shed purchased with a grant from the National Gardens Scheme was moved successfully from the vicarage to the bowls club.

Every Tuesday morning volunteers care for the garden which was developed with raised beds and stocked with the help of grants from the Faiths Forum for London and the National City Park Foundation.

East Barnet Valley Bowls Club hosts community garden for St James Church New Barnet taking advantage of spare land for new community initiative

Bowls club secretary David Mulford – see above with Sharon – said it was the ideal solution to use their vacant garden to host a community garden for the church.

An extra bonus was that following the reseeding of the club’s green, there was plenty of surplus soil to build up the new beds for the garden.

Work started developing the garden last November and despite the summer drought, they are hoping for a good crop of vegetables, including tomatoes, runner beans, sweet corn, garlic and other crops.

Now that the community garden is a visible presence in Victoria Recreation Ground, the bowls club and church are hoping users and visitors to the park and leisure centre will get involved.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

First summer pick your own flowers day at Grow, Totteridge Academy school farm, where monster crop of pumpkins is under cultivation

A bumper crop of 1,000 or more pumpkins is expected at Grow, the school farm at The Totteridge Academy, where volunteers are having to water the crops to cope with the drought during the summer holidays.

Eve Rogers, the newly-appointed managing director of the farm – see above – surveyed the crop in one of several large plots devoted to pumpkins.

The aim is to have them all ready to harvest in time for Grow’s Pumpkin Time celebration on Saturday 24 October – just one of several summer events being held at the farm.

“Given the length of the drought, our volunteer watering teams have been tremendous.

“They start at 7am and we could not have survived without them as there is no irrigation system for the farm and the watering has to be done by hand.”

Already looking like a possible prize winner for the largest pumpkin is a rapidly maturing squash which has been grown by one of the families benefiting from Grow’s popular community programme supporting low-income families with no outdoor space.

“This amazing pumpkin has been grown by a grow-cook-share family and children who come every week to look after vegetables in their raised bed,” said Eve.

Grow supports families living below the poverty line with a project helping them to grow, cook and share their own produce.

The farm’s first Pick Your Own Flowers event proved highly successful with families allowed to walk through the farm and choose their flowers.

Three more are planned for the rest of the summer – on Saturday 8 August, Saturday 5 September and Saturday 19 September.

A new event in Grow’s summer calendar are weekends for volunteering when parents and children can visit the farm and help with the cultivation – starting on Sunday 23 August.

At the first of this summer’s Pick Your Own events a stream of visitors left the farm in Barnet Lane with bunches of flowers and vegetables.

“Here I am coming away with two wonderful bunches of the freshest possible flowers,” said Jo, see above left, with Grow Farm trustee Sam.

“Totteridge Academy cannot be praised enough for encouraging what is a great initiative – a school farm supported by the local community.”

Grown, school farm at Totteridge Academy holds its first pick your own flowers event and prepares for a monster harvest of pumpkins

Another happy purchaser was Robert with a bag of tomatoes and another of new potatoes.

“I have an allotment myself and I now have allotment envy seeing what wonderful fruit and vegetables are being produced here by Grow.

“I have to admit I am jealous just looking around the farm at all their crops. It is an amazing achievement by the Totteridge Academy pupils, parents and volunteers.”

Posted on by — Leave a comment

New museum at Trent Park reveals wartime espionage secrets of fashionable country house which once entertained London high society

A decade long campaign to get Trent Park House open to the public was celebrated with the official opening of the House of Secrets, a new museum within the house which reveals the secrets of espionage during World War II.

Actress and comedian Helen Lederer – above – sat at the listening station in the basement where her grandfather listened in to the conversations of top German generals to gather information for the British war effort.

Over 80 German generals were held at the former stately house as prisoners of war.

During the 1920s and 1930s Trent Park was visited regularly by British Prime Ministers and royalty who were the guests of Sir Philip Sassoon, one of the wealthiest men in the country.

For several years the fate of the house and grounds – on the border between Enfield and Barnet – hung in the balance after it was vacated by Middlesex University and purchased by the Berkeley Group which obtained planning permission in 2017 to build 262 houses and flats on the site.

A campaign to preserve the house and open it for public benefit had already been launched in 2014 by Enfield councillor Jason Charalambous.

A trust was formed to establish a museum at the house, which had witnessed so many pivotal events and which had made such a significant contribution to wartime espionage and deception.

For Mr Charalambous – above – founding trustee and chair, the official opening of the Trent Park House of Secrets was a magnificent illustration of what could be achieved by a campaign which drew widespread support across Enfield, Barnet and further afield.

“It is truly heart warming to see the museum take shape and for Trent Park House to be restored and accessible to the public – our vision of a decade ago has finally become a reality.”

He said negotiations with the Berkeley Group were tough to start with but had ended really well and there was now a “wonderful partnership” of which the developers could be proud.

The shell of Trent Park House was restored by the Berkeley Group, and the upper floors are being converted into 17 apartments.

The has museum has taken over both the ground floor, which has been refitted to recreate Sir Philip Sassoon’s grand state receptions room, and the basement, where there has been a painstaking reconstruction of the concealed wartime listening rooms.

“Secret listeners”, many of whom were German-speaking Jewish refugees, recorded conversations between captured German officers and produced crucial intelligence for the Allies.

Helen Lederer’s Czechoslovakian grandfather Ernst spent the First World War in the trenches alongside German and Italian soldiers.

He sent his son to England and arrived himself in 1939 with his wife and daughter following on of the last trains out of Czechoslovakia.

He was recruited by the British Intelligence Corps and posted to Trent Park. Among his tasks was to act as a stool pigeon, to mix among the German generals and manipulate their conversations to tease out information.

Ms Lederer – see above with Dr Giuseppe Albano, museum director and trustee Francesca Mendes – said returning to the house for the opening, and sitting where her grandfather listened in to conversations, had brought her out in goose pimples once again.

Ernst took the secret that he was a secret listener to the grave. To imagine how he must have felt listening in to conversations of the captive German generals was “as important and it was humbling”.

The recreated listening rooms, which are on either side of the basement, were linked to a complex network of miniaturised bugging devices, hidden in every corner including walls, light fittings, plant pots, window ledges, the billiard table and even garden benches.

The German generals held as prisoners of war were encouraged to relax in relative comfort, unaware the site was bugged, and their conversations were providing intelligence.

Under the direction of Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Kendrick, the secret listeners gained critical information from a conversation between a Luftwaffe pilot and a U-boat petty officer about how German Enigma cipher machines coded instructions to U-boats at sea.

In March 1943 a whisphered conversation between two generals, Ludwig Cruwell and Wilhelm von Thoma, revealed that German scientists were developing weapons which could travel “15 km into the stratosphere”. British scientific intelligence staff realised the Germans were developing ballist weapons, V! and V2 rockets.

The state rooms on the ground floor have been restored to their 1930s opulence, with artwork and furnishing belonging to the Sassoon banking family which has been returned for the first time since 1939.

During the 1930s Trent Park became one of the most fashionable houses of the era with Edward VIII and Winston Churchill among those entertained at weekends with artists, writers and entertainers including Rex Whistler, George Bernard Shaw, Noel Coward, T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia), Charlie Chaplin and Fred Astaire.

The original Trent Park House, with a landscape modelled by Humphry Repton, passed to the Bevan family, who remodelled it into a Victorian mansion.

The house was bought by Sir Edward Sassoon, whose son Philip inherited it in 1912 and remodelled it on the lines of an early Georgian country house.

After Philip died in June 1939, the house was requisitioned the following September and became a site used for holding prisoners of war including high-ranking Germans, of whom more than 100 passed through the house.

David Cholmondeley, the 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley – the great-nephew of Sir Philip – is co-chair of the museum trust.

He said that after a decade of fundraising and restoration work, the trustees were thrilled that the extraordinary stories of Trent Park House could be revealed and inspire and inform future generations.

Museum director Dr Guiseppe Albano (above) said he hoped the opening of the house to the public (from Tuesday 21 July) would prove especially popular in the local community and become an attractive and interesting visit for local schools and history groups.

For more information: enquiries@trentparkhouse.org.uk

Posted on by — 6 Comments

Approval for new High Street retail premises and housing at junction with Moxon Street as demolition underway on two other nearby developments

Planning approval has finally been given after four years of negotiations and discussions for a new four-storey building at a prominent site in Barnet town centre at the corner of High Street and Moxon Street.

Architect Simon Kaufman is confident the new building – see above – with 11 new homes over commercial premises with a traditional shop front will enhance the character of a site at the heart of the Wood Street Conservation Area.

Moxon Street itself is currently being transformed by new housing developments.

Demolition is underway at the former Checkalow Tiles showroom, where there will be 21 new homes, and at the much larger site of the former Intec House, where there is approval for a new block of flats.

Discussions over how to redevelop the two empty shop premises at the corner of High Street and Moxon Street – where there had been a photo-copying business, a Foxtons estate agency and then a community pop-up shop – began six years ago.

Simon Kaufman Architects consulted planners, conservation officers, the Barnet Society, nearby residents and other local stakeholders.

“A collaborative design process has helped shape a scheme which responds positively to both the site and its historic setting while delivering an exciting new future for this important High Street building,” said Mr Kaufman.

Once the planning application was submitted, negotiations with Barnet Council’s planning department took another four years.

“This has been a long journey.”

“It is tremendously rewarding to see this prominent High Street building restored and given a new lease of life, making a positive contribution to the local community once again.

“The approved design carefully restores and enhances its historic character through the recreation of a traditional shop front, sensitive restoration of the masonry and architectural detailing, and a carefully designed roof extension that complements the historic townscape.

“This will bring 11 new homes, fresh investment and new life to this important part of Chipping Barnet.”

Dan Tomlinson, MP for Chipping Barnet, said he had worked closely with Simon Kaufman Architects to ensure that the site – 98-100 High Street – was brought back into life after such a long delay.

“This site spent years stuck in process and paperwork, and it was my intervention that finally stopped the administrative ping-pong.

“I am over the moon that through hard work, alongside my team, Simon Kaufman Architects, and local groups like the Barnet Society, we will finally see this eyesore turned into a new retail site and, most importantly, housing for residents.”

Demolition work is now underway on the Checkalow site in Moxon Street where a car-free mews with two rows of terraced homes is to be built to provide a total of 21 new homes for Barnet Homes.

The new tree-lined mews will connect Moxon Street to Tapster Street and will be open to pedestrians but have no access for motor vehicles.

Half the new one- and two-bedroom houses will be affordable housing, some perhaps under shared ownership.

Planning approval granted for new retail premises and housing at High Street corner with Moxon Street as demolition is underway on two other nearby housing developments

Demolition of the former Intec House, a three-storey office block, will make way for the construction of a six-storey block of 113 homes of which 17 will be for social rent.

Approval for the redevelopment by Moxon One Ltd was given by Barnet Council in October 2024 despite opposition from some nearby residents in South Close who fear that because of its height the new block will overlook their homes.

Top image Simon Kaufman Architects

Posted on by — Leave a comment

A well-attended open-air service in Ravenscroft Park was held by Christ Church, Barnet, to reach out to the community     

Ravenscroft Park was the setting for an outdoor service held by Christ Church, Barnet, allowing the congregation and passersby to take advantage of a sunny Sunday morning.

“Church in the Park” was the first service of its kind organised by Christ Church as part of its ongoing commitment to reach out to the community.

Worshippers were invited to stay on for a picnic lunch under the shade of the park’s mature trees – and an ice cream van was on hand as well.

Andy Rimmer, the Christ Church vicar, said it was the first time they had organised an open-air service.

They were determined to take advantage of the exceptional summer weather.

Open-air service held by Christ Church Barnet in Ravenscroft Park takes advantage of exceptional summe weather

“Our ‘Church in the Park’ event builds on our church in the community programme.”

In recent years Christ Church has organised well attended Christmas carol concerts in Ravenscroft Park.  

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Another accolade for staff at Chipping Barnet Foodbank as key campaigner receives top award for work combatting low pay

Pioneering work on behalf of the low paid by Bob Bevil, who is a lead campaigner for Chipping Barnet Foodbank, has won national recognition.

He was presented with a Living Wage Champion of the Year Award at the annual awards ceremony held by the Living Wage Foundation.

Mr Bevil (centre) is seen above with Matthew Bolton (left), chief executive and lead organiser of Citizens UK, and Bruce Daisley, host of the awards.

The award recognised his role in campaigning to encourage the London Borough of Barnet to become an accredited real living wage employer which means Barnet Council now pays more an hour than the legal minimum under the government’s national living wage.

The higher rates will benefit hundreds of sub-contracted professionals across the borough, especially essential care workers.

His next challenge is to help step up the campaign to persuade Barnet’s largest employer, the Royal Free Foundation Trust, to follow the borough council’s example and provide an increase in the pay of hospital workers across the borough.

The legal minimum wage, known as the national living wage, is £12.71 per hour, whereas the real living wage, as calculated by the Living Wage Foundation, is £13.45 per hour across the UK and £14.80 per hour in London.

Nearly 17,000 accredited employers across the country pay higher rates on a voluntary basis.

Chipping Barnet Foodbank, through the advocacy of Bob Bevil, is at the forefront of campaigning across the borough to try to reduce dependency on foodbanks by increasing the wage rates of low-paid workers.

After he was presented with his award, Mr Bevil said the accreditation of Barnet Council as a real living wage employer had provided a big economic boost for the borough and they were hoping to persuade the Royal Free Trust, the borough’s largest employer to follow suit.

There was recognition at the awards ceremony that demand for emergency food parcels has increased because of the cost-of-living crisis.

Poor wage levels were largely responsible which was why the progress being made in Barnet was so important in a borough with “very few” accredited real living wage employers in the borough.

Graham Griffiths, director of the Living Wage Foundation, congratulated Mr Bevil and the living wage campaign team in Barnet for helping to transform the lives of local employees.

A full-time worker paid the £13.45 real living wage receives £1,400 in additional wages each year compared to those on the legal minimum and for a full-time worker in London this figure rises to over £4,000 a year.

Since it began 25 years ago, the real living wage has secured over £4.1 billion of pay rises for low paid workers which had made a “profound difference” to millions of people.

Award for Beb Bevil, who is advocacy and campaigning lead for Chipping Barnet Foodbank for his work combatting low pay -- his award is for living wage champion of the year

Chipping Barnet Foodbank – one of over 20 across the borough – helped to organise an all-day conference in 2024 to discuss concern about the levels of malnutrition among local people seeking support.

Mr Bevil – seen above with foodbank manager Victoria Miller and the Chipping Barnet MP Dan Tomlinson – joined other speakers in arguing that assisting those on low incomes was the only way to improve the life of those whose food intake was insufficient to meet the needs for normal health.

Posted on by — 13 Comments

High Barnet hostelry The Black Horse is welcoming customers once again after a surprise initiative to rescue threatened pub

Standing proud in the re-opened garden of the Black Horse public house are three former regular customers who have taken on the lease of what they hope will once again become a popular community pub.

When everything looked bleak last September after a sudden closure of the premises – and while worried residents succeeded in getting the pub listed as an asset of community value – the local trio were working away behind the scenes to mount their rescue bid.

Without any fanfare the three regulars – above, from left to right Danny Daly, Simon Anderson and Martin Taylor – started putting together a business plan and began negotiating with Star Pubs, part of the Heineken group.

Months went by because of legal complications following the pub’s closure last year, but the trio pressed on establishing Barnet Community Pubs Ltd to take on the tenancy.

“We three all live within a five-minute walk of The Black Horse, we understand what the locality wants, and Star Pubs realised we were really serious about wanting to run a proper community pub,” said Simon Anderson.

“We have secured a first year’s tenancy, and we finally got the keys on June 8 and here we are a fortnight later serving drinks.”

Barnet Community Pubs has taken on a staff of 12, led by a new general manager, Phoebe Thickson – see above with Archie Taylor (left) and Arni Nolan.

The new tenants say they plan a soft re-opening of the pub, taking it step by step, and, after some reconstruction work, hope to re-open the kitchen within the next six weeks so that they can offer a new simple menu of well-prepared food.

“We are keen to establish a family pub which knows what its customers like. “All 12 of our staff live within walking distance and our new manager Phoebe was formerly an assistant manager at The Black Horse, so she knows many of the former customers.

“We are a fully tied house. We have seven beers and four of those are cask ales which we know is what the locals want and appreciate.”

After being closed since last September the Black Horse public house has re-opened after three regular customers successful bid to re-open popular High Barnet community pub

Scaffolding outside the pub, which was installed when Star Pubs carried out some essential repairs, will have to remain for several more weeks because brickwork on the frontage of the building needs attention.

Simon said they were determined in the coming months to prove to Star Pubs the success of the business.

Once they had established themselves, they hoped to get a longer lease. Barnet Community Pubs might even take on other licensed premises if opportunities arose.

“Star Pubs have been really good to work with. I think they appreciated that what we were proposing was a community pub that had every chance of succeeding.”

The trio behind the initiative, who invested their own money in fitting out the pub, believe they have a good skills match to make The Black Horse a going concern.

Martin has considerable expertise in finance and sorted out much of the paperwork and agreements with public utilities.

“We turned round the pub in a couple of weeks, newly redecorated and with the garden re-opened.”

Simon has a track record in hospitality. He previously owned The Albion in Islington which was an award-winning pub.

Danny, who has experience in publishing and promotion, said that although they did not want to go public on their plans, they were helped by the petition that was launched to save The Black Horse and then the declaration by Barnet Council that it was an asset of community value.

“All that community support and loyalty worked in our favour when negotiating with Star Pubs.

“It’s great to see The Black Horse open again – our nightmare vision was that we might lose the pub and see the site redeveloped with a block of flats.”

Posted on by — 18 Comments

Strong objections registered to a possible threat to a much cherished and historic setting at Monken Hadley

Residents and conservationists have reacted with alarm at a proposal to include the historic gate at Monken Hadley within an eruv – a symbolic boundary for Orthodox Jews – which would require the installation of two 5.5metre high poles with a crosswire over the road.

If planning permission is granted, an eruv would be created largely within the Borough of Enfield which would take in the United Synagogue in Hadley Wood, but which would also require eruv installations at three boundary points which are within the Borough of Barnet.

The application affecting Monken Hadley – establishing a boundary from Hadley Common – is for permission to install a 5.5metre pole on the footpath outside Rectory Close; another 5.5 metre pole on the other side of the road on the footpath outside Clocktower Cottage; and an overhead a connecting wire.

A series of objections posted on the Barnet Council’s website (closing date 25.6.2026) claim the two poles would be unsightly and an unacceptable intrusion into the most sensitive and significant setting within the Monken Hadley Conservation Area.

The Reverend Francesco Aresco, recently appointed rector of Monken Hadley Parish Church, says that as a nearby resident he objects to the installation because it would result in visual harm to an historic setting and create hazards for pedestrians.

The pavements outside Rectory Close and Clocktower Cottage are both “very narrow”.

They are used regularly by school pupils, requiring pedestrians to step into the road when trying to pass parents pushing prams.

Among the objectors was the Hadley Wood Neighbourhood Planning Forum Committee which considered the eruv would be of no benefit to the population at large and hoped that an alternative option would be to use the tollgate itself as a symbolic boundary – a suggestion which is apparently to be considered by the relevant “eruv” authorities.

Monken Hadley Common Trust agreed with the planning forum committee that the white tollgate might itself form the eruv boundary.

In its application, the United Synagogue Trust Ltd – of which the Hadley Wood Jewish Community of 471 members is a constituent member – says the proposal would encourage social cohesion within the community.

Residents and conservationists alarmed by application for an eruv installaton close to historic gate at Monken Hadley

There would need to be three eruv installations at three locations within the Borough of Barnet – two poles and a crosswire at Monken Hadley; a tubular steel arch at Bakers Hill at the Hadley Wood railway bridge; and an installation at the Cromer Road/Lawton Road entrance to the pedestrian tunnel under the main railway line.

These three installations would achieve linkage with an existing New Barnet eruv.

An eruv allows observant Orthodox Jews to carry and push objects – such as housekeys, medication or prams – between private and public domains on the Sabbath.

According to biblical law, carrying anything in a public space is considered a form of work, which is forbidden on the Sabbath. An eruv solves this by symbolically turning a neighbourhood into one large, unified “private domain”.

A comment from a supporter of the application sets out the case: an eruv would enable observant Jewish families to attend synagogue, join community events and maintain normal social connections, especially family visits and celebrations.

Eruv boundaries have been installed across London and the UK during the last 15 years including in nearby areas such as Stanmore, Bushey, and Camden apparently without objections and at no public cost.

Posted on by — 1 Comment

Proposed new multi-use sports hall at Queen Elizabeth’s School will be available for hire by Barnet community sports groups

Plans are being prepared to seek approval from Barnet Council for the construction of a new sports hall and ten classrooms at Queen Elizabeth’s School.

Fund raising will start next year if permission is obtained for what the school says is part of a continuing programme to upgrade facilities within its existing site off Queens Road.

QE Boys – as its is still known locally – is a state-funded grammar school for boys with an annual intake of 192 pupils, a figure which will remain unchanged.

The new sports hall will be available to hire for community use – as is QE’s swimming pool and new recital hall – during evenings, weekends and school holidays.

A former music block next to the swimming pool – see above – will be demolished to make way for the new sports hall which will look out onto the school rugby field at the rear of the main QE building.

The new four-storey building will have changing rooms on the ground floor, a high ceiling multi-use sports hall with ten classrooms on the top floor.

The layout will accommodate basketball, five-a-side football, badminton and table tennis.

Other sports improvements will include additional fives courts and cricket nets.

To meet growing curriculum demand QE will refurbish and provide additional science laboratories.

Richard Henley, of planning consultants HGH, told the Barnet Society, the improvements to sporting and other facilities were all being made within the site of the existing school buildings.

“It is a tight campus which explains why have to intensify the use of existing buildings and those areas which can be redeveloped.”

New sports hall which will also be available for hire for community use is to be built at Queen Elizabeth's School, Queens Road,, if Barnet Council grants permission

QE, which was named the 2026 State Secondary School of the Year by the Sunday Times, says that if planning approval is obtained by early next year, fund raising will begin immediately.

Applications will be made for government financial support and sports grants and an appeal launched among ex-pupils. The aim would be to start construction in 2028 and complete the work in 2929.

When a presentation of the plans was held at the school, residents in nearby roads – Regina Close, Elizabeth Close and Queens Road – expressed concern about the additional traffic and parking that the sports hall would generate out of school hours.

They claimed the school already did nowhere near enough to control traffic on school days when numerous coaches and cars deliver pupils from a wide catchment area across north and west London.

“This expansion of the school’s facilities is not fair on nearby residents. The new sports hall will double the evening, weekend and school holiday traffic yet Queen Elizabeth’s does little if anything to ask parents and visitors to respect those living in the neighbourhood,” said one of the school’s neighbours.

For more details and a feedback form see: https://www.qebarnet.co.uk/sports-hall-planning/