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“When Will They Ever Learn?” – blue plaque rebuke for Barnet Council’s highways team over fallout from ban on parking 

A blue plaque has been installed outside a house in Calvert Road to draw attention to an ongoing dispute between residents and Barnet Council over the painting of double yellow line parking restrictions at the junction with Sebright Road.

Their complaint is that the council refused to listen to their concerns and has failed to respond to their argument that the restrictions are excessive and have created a dangerous corner by speeding up traffic.

Dr Chris Nightingale commissioned the plaque – highlighting the refrain “When Will They Ever Learn?” from a 1950s Pete Seeger’s protest song – to remind Barnet Councillors that they should engage with residents and take their concerns seriously.

He says residents of Sebright and Calvert feel ignored and abandoned. Traffic speeds around their narrow streets of mainly small cottages and terraced homes have increased as a result of a double-yellow line restriction which they believe is longer than at other comparable road junctions.

So far there has been no response to a letter they sent to the council’s chief executive, Cath Shaw, reminding her of Barnet’s core values such as the undertaking by councillors to “actively listen, respond, collaborate and share ideas” with residents.

The legend around the edge of the plaque could not be clearer:

“Plaque commemorates the failure of Barnet Council to listen – thereby creating a dangerous corner and loss of parking.”

The dispute with the council over the parking restrictions began in June last year and finally the council went ahead with painting the yellow lines – an operation which did not go smoothly for the council’s contractors.

This prompted a rebuke from the council:

“Unfortunately, several vehicle owners did not follow the request to keep the junction clear to facilitate the line marking installation and it was necessary to arrange for the presence of a vehicle lifter.

“Council contractors were verbally abused. We expect contractors to be free to undertake work in a safe environment.

“Contractors asked for the council’s community safety team to attend when contractors returned.”

Blue plaque in Sebright Road, Barnet, rebukes Barnet Council for frailing to listen over residents objections to doube yellow line parking restrictions

Mrs Louise Cain (above, second from right) organised a petition to protest at the proposed parking restriction but it was rejected because it had not reached the minimum number of 500 signatures.

Although a letter sent by the group to Cath Shaw had not been acknowledged, she said a reply from the council’s highways team did not address their complaints about the lack of consultation and the fair treatment of residents’ concerns.

They were told to approach their local councillors to seek support if they wished to make a request regarding road safety design or parking as the highways team had already attended to review their concerns.

“Unfortunately, the reply we have received is very confused. We think the double yellow lines are too long and that other junctions in the vicinity have far less severe restrictions,” said Mrs Cain.

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Work authorised on ponds at golf course in Friern Barnet to increase water storage and reduce risk of flooding in north London

Two ponds at North Middlesex Golf Club in Friern Barnet Lane are to be cleared of silt and enlarged to improve flood management after heavy rainfall.

Water storage capacity along Blacketts Brook, which flows through the golf course and includes the two ponds, is to be increased at a cost of £340,000.

As part of the scheme, which is being funded by the Environment Agency, the two balancing ponds will be widened and de-silted.

A third flood storage basin further downstream, but within the golf course, will also be improved.

Enlargement will enable the ponds to retain more water and ease flooding in north London.

From the golf course, Blacketts Brook, flows through Friary Park and enters a culvert under both Friern Barnet Lane and the main railway line before joining Pymmes Brook.

Pymmes Brook, which flows through East Barnet village and Oak Hill Park, is itself subject to flooding.

This threat increases after Pymmes Brook is joined by tributaries such as Blacketts Brook and where, further south, flooding causes even greater problems in Upper Edmonton and Tottenham.

Two ponds along Blacketts Brook at Friern Barnet golf course to be enlarged to alleviate flooding after heavy rainfall

The two ponds in the golf course form part of a site of importance for nature conservation as they are thought to provide habitat for Palmate newts, which are rare in London.

Friary Park – where the continuation of Blacketts Brook is a popular feature – is also a site of importance for nature conservation.

In another move to improve flood resilience within the Borough of Barnet, the Environment Agency is to carry out an inspection of the Stoney Wood Lake reservoir near Mill Hill Golf Course at a cost of £82,000.

This is considered a high-risk large, raised reservoir. It has a capacity of at least 25,000 cubic metres of water above natural ground level.

The reservoir, formed by a dam constructed of steel sheet piling, impounds natural surface water.

There will now be a survey of 380 metres of sheet piling to assess the structure and identify any corrosion or damage.

Dan Tomlinson, MP for Chipping Barnet, welcomed the investment in the flood alleviation schemes.

“Climate crisis means we are facing greater rainfall and higher flood risk.

“We must do this work now: expanding capacity, ensuring resilience, making our infrastructure fit for the future, because the cost of inaction, waiting until there is a flood, is far greater.”

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Concert at Monken Hadley parish church to support financial appeal for new community hall to replace original Church House

A six-year fund-raising campaign for a new community hall at Monken Hadley is not far short of its £1.3 million target with the hope it might be possible finally to start to demolish the existing unsafe Church House by the end of the year.

The latest event to help towards pushing the appeal over the line is An Evening of Song at Monken Hadley parish church on Monday 20 April at 7.30pm.

Event organiser Katie Morris and chair of fund-raising Elaine Padmore — see above, from left to right – are hoping that tickets sales and further donations will help get the appeal to within touching distance of being able to authorise a start to the work.

So far £980,000 has been raised through events, donations and grants towards providing a new community hub for Monken Hadley residents and local organisations.

The Evening of Song concert will feature countertenor Will Prior and pianist Matthew Clemmet.

Will Prior, who studied music at Magdalen College, Oxford, is currently finishing a master’s in vocal performance at the Royal College of Music.

As a concert soloist, he has recently performed locally with the UK Japan Choir in Bach’s St John Passion and Handel’s Messiah, as well as in Bach’s Mass in B Minor with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.

Matthew Clemmet is an Oxford music graduate who is currently pursuing his postgraduate studies at the Royal College of Music.

He specialises in song, opera, and chamber music and won the pianist prize in the RCM Lieder Competition and second prize in the Joan Chissell Schumann Competition.

Renovation of Church House was ruled out because of continuing subsidence, due to the lack of adequate foundations, which has rendered the building unsafe and had to be closed to the public.

The appeal to construct a new community building was launched six years with a highly successful Son et Lumiere and the fund has been built up with help of a contribution from the community infrastructure levy collected by the London Borough of Barnet.

The new community hall will include a main assembly room for events, a large kitchen, toilets, showers and changing facilities for the cricket club.

There will be full wheelchair access, and the garden will be renovated to create a safe enclosed space for events.

An Evening of Song concert at Monken Hadley parish church to raise money for the appeal for a new community hall

A caption to an early photograph in the church archives says that Church House, which dates to the 18th century, was once the stables to Beacon House.

During the French revolution two French priests fled from France and were given refuge by the Rector, the Reverend John Burrows.

The building was then improved and used as a house, known as Hadley Cottage, home to a Miss Burrows, daughter of the Rector, and then Miss Bourier.

In 1910 it was converted for use as a parish hall and later a school room. 

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Historic prayers and verses add a moving to tribute to the men who lost their lives in the 1471 Battle of Barnet

A service of commemoration and laying of wreaths marked the 555th anniversary of the Battle of Barnet – a service researched and devised by the recently appointed rector of Monken Hadley parish church, the Reverend Francesco Aresco.

He read from texts which would have been known by the men who fought in the battle, most of whom left no name and who were buried in unknown graves in the vicinity of Hadley Highstone.

Francesco said the service was a moment to stand at the Highstone and remember their dying before God:

“These men who woke that morning, laced their boots, felt the fog on their faces, and did not come home.”

Whatever divided the Lancastrians and Yorkists on the battlefield, the ground around them received those who died without distinction and “has held them these five hundred and fifty-five years” since the day of the battle, 14 April 1471.

Dr Susan Skedd (above, right) director of the annual Barnet Medieval Festival, led the wreath laying ceremony – seen with Dame Theresa Villiers, the former MP for Chipping Barnet.

Her wreath – made from recycled flowers by Ursula Stone of the Flower Bank community project in New Barnet – included red and white roses and carnations “perfectly arranged” to reflect the colours of the Lancastrians and Yorkists.

Other wreaths were laid by Martin Russell, Deputy Lieutenant of Greater London; Monken Hadley church; East Barnet Royal British Legion branch and club; and by Barry Swain of the Barnet Tourist Board.

Francesco, who was appointed rector of Monken Hadley parish church in February last year, said that he had carried out his own research into the Battle of Barnet and hoped that the service reflected the momentous events that day.

His order of service – see illustration above – began with a prayer which the church of 1471 would have used, in the Latin the men at the battlefield would have known:

“Gloria Patri et Filio

et Spiritui Sancto”

Many of the men who assembled for the battle did not leave. “They were men of a world ordered by oath and obligation, by the faith they owed their lord and the faith they owed their God.”

Martin Russell then read verses which were composed in England some five hundred years before the Battle of Barnet by a poet whose name is lost.

“They were made for exactly this: for standing at the edge of a world that is no more and asking where the dead have gone”:

“The halls have fallen. The rulers lie dead.

Where is the horse gone? Where the young warrior?”

Wreath laying and service of commemoration to remember the men who died in the Battle of Barnet of 1471, Special service for 555th anniversary

Ursula Stone’s Flower Bank project has been providing a wreath for the Highstone commemoration since the services were introduced in 2021.

“We are always full of admiration for the wreaths which Ursula designs for us and this year the red and white roses and carnations are so appropriate,” said Susan Skedd.

Ursula’s flower arranging classes using surplus flowers from shops and events have been widely praised and her initiative was recognised in 2023 with a Barnet Council award for outstanding service to the community.

The wreath laying ceremony was an opportunity help publicise this year’s Barnet Medieval Festival which is to be held at the Lewis of London Ice Cream Farm, in Galley Lane, Barnet, over the weekend of June 6 and 7.

New attractions this year will include mounted knights in combat and a falconry display.

To highlight this year’s 555th anniversary celebrations, Barnet Tourist Board is hoping to announce a fresh attempt to determine the site of the Battle of Barnet.

Researchers Brian Carroll and Barry Swain have been drawing up plans to enlist a team of metal detectors to conduct a fresh search.

They were looking into new theories about the route taken by Yorkist army as it left London and headed for Barnet to meet the Lancastrians.

Cromer Road Primary School in New Barnet is one of the sites which the Yorkists might have passed and then returned to London after their victory.

“Close to the school is a small wood – which was once of playing field – where there could be a sweep by a team of metal detectors,” said Brian Carroll.

“We think this part of New Barnet is very promising as we know that someone who lived in Clifford Road said their grandfather discovered bit and pieces of a musket in the garden.”   

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Government and developers set their sights on the Green Belt

View of Green Belt south of Potters Bar showing green fields, trees and hedges with M25 in background

This swathe of Green Belt (above) will be mostly built over if current plans are approved. And within Barnet, dozens of so-called ‘Grey Belt’ sites are being targetted for new homes (few of which are likely to be affordable). The Labour Council promises to create a Regional Park, which could prevent that. This should be an issue in our local election in May – but do voters know or care?

Between Potters Bar and Borehamwood, several enormous data centres have already been approved on land in the foreground of the photo above. Beyond the M25 will be a major expansion of Sky studios. For land off to the left of the photo, a planning application for 900 new homes has been refused by Hertsmere Council, but the developer has appealed against the decision.

Crews Hill & Chase Park new town

Between Barnet and Enfield, the government proposes a new town of 21,000 homes on Green Belt land. The plans are supported by Enfield Council and the Mayor of London but opposed by the Enfield Society and Enfield RoadWatch.

The Barnet Society has objected to any loss of the green buffer that exists between Barnet and Enfield. It is vital to preserve the separate identities of settlements that would otherwise merge into amorphous suburbia, and a vital reservoir of biodiversity.

Just ahead of the local elections in May, groups and communities across the UK will be taking part in a UK-wide Day of Action for Nature, Parks and Green Spaces on Saturday 18 April. Its purpose is to demonstrate, visibly and collectively, that people everywhere care deeply about the natural world and want to see it protected and restored. Join the national day of action here.

Barnet’s Green Belt

The countryside on three sides of Chipping (or High) Barnet was saved in 1945 from housing development, largely by the efforts of the Barnet Society. In 1955 it was formally designated part of the London Metropolitan Green Belt. The map above shows how well it has survived – at least until now.

For decades developers have tried to build in it. So far, our Council has effectively prevented most new development. Exceptions have generally been restricted to replacement of obsolescent farm buildings.

Lately, however, we’ve seen an increase in speculative purchases of, and planning applications for, Green Belt land. Also notable has been unsightly and apparently deliberate neglect of existing buildings and landscape. The prospect of profiting from escalating land values and house prices beats the cost of maintaining or restoring property.

Expectations have been fuelled by the housing crisis, which has driven up mortgages and rents. And building costs have soared due to Brexit, Covid-19, wars in Ukraine and the Middle East and the higher safety standards introduced since the Grenfell Tower tragedy. Building on city brownfield sites has become less financially viable. No wonder the Green Belt, where building is cheaper, has become so appealing to developers and politicians.

And Labour politicians have opened the door to its development.

Grey Belt sites

In 2024, Sir Keir Starmer promised to release low-quality or neglected Green Belt land for housebuilding. In 2025, the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) was revised to allow housing development on Grey Belt sites subject to ‘Golden Rules’. And public consultation recently closed on further relaxations of the NPPF.

The consequence has been a flood of planning applications for allegedly Grey sites. In December 2025 CPRE, the countryside charity, reported new research revealing that the Grey Belt policy is enabling large-scale development on England’s unspoilt rural landscapes – not, as ministers promised, on unused car parks and derelict petrol stations.

Since December 2024, when the policy was introduced, 13 developments of 10 or more homes have been approved by government Planning Inspectors on Grey land in the Green Belt. The approvals have been granted over the heads of local councils. Of the 1,250 homes these schemes will deliver, 88% will be built on previously undeveloped countryside.

In Barnet, it’s becoming routine for prospective developers of Green Belt land to describe their sites as Grey. Although some sites are quite small, they’re dotted around and have a disproportionately harmful impact on the countryside. Most aren’t served by public transport and won’t be developed for affordable (let alone social) housing. A selection is illustrated below.

Barnet Regional Park

Barnet Labour Party’s local election leaflet contains this pledge:

“We will… create a ‘Regional Park’ in the green belt.”

It would be centred on the astonishingly intact and peaceful fields and woods between Arkley and Mill Hill (below).

The concept is already embedded in Barnet’s Local Plan (adopted by the Council last year) where Policy GSS13 states,

“The Council supports the creation of a new Regional Park within designated Green Belt or Metropolitan Open Land in the Brent Valley and Barnet Plateau Green Grid Area…”

Inspired in part by the success of the Lea Valley Regional Park, interventions would include “the enhancement of footpath, cycling and bridleway networks; improved green corridors and nature conservation areas [and] a network of new strategic recreational destinations.”

The map below (from the Council’s 2019 Growth Strategy) shows its intended configuration.

Most importantly – since the Regional Park contains several of the Grey sites illustrated above – designation should provide stronger protection from inappropriate development. It would bring better public awareness and funding to ensure high design standards and long-term management of the area.

An imaginative suggestion from Roger Chapman of Barnet Green Spaces Network is for a regional food and biodiversity park to encourage a wide range of food growing practices. Linked with primary, secondary and post-16 education institutions and forest schools, it would provide an inspiring setting for environmental education and pathways to vocational qualifications in horticulture, animal husbandry and other skills essential for future food security.

As Roger says, “The park would build upon Barnet’s extensive agricultural history and heritage, enabling old stories to be retold and new ones to be created.” That’s an idea worth voting for.

The need for proper planning

Debate about the Green Belt is hampered by the lack of any regional strategy. There has been no planning body for the South-East for decades. Responsibility for the Green Belt is split between dozens of Local Planning Authorities.

The Mayor of London launched a London-wide review of the Green Belt to identify Grey Belt land for housing to tackle London’s housing crisis, but it is limited to the Greater London area. It was expected to be completed by the end of 2025 but is still awaited.

As a consequence every planning application in the Green (or Grey) Belt, however minor, becomes a bitter battle between developers, planners and residents.

The creation of the Green Belt was made possible by the government’s adoption of Patrick Abercrombie’s Greater London Plan, which created a ring of new towns around London, outside the Green Belt, to absorb the demand for new housing and promote alternative centres of growth. If we had a vision as sensible and comprehensive as that for our society – and for the natural world with which we co-exist – surely most of us would accept development in the most sustainable (or least harmful) locations in exchange for guaranteed long-term protection of our most beautiful and biodiverse environments.

Crews Hill & Chase Park new town and Barnet Regional Park could be examples of such an approach. As yet details of both projects are far too hazy for a final public decision. But each could transform substantial sectors of their borough. Whether to proceed with project planning, feasibility studies and technical investigations ought to be a matter of great public interest. This coming election is an opportunity to test the popularity of both projects.

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Visiting East Barnet and a chance to admire an English Heritage blue plaque to an eminent philosopher was quite an achievement 

Stopping outside a house in a quiet residential street near Oakleigh Park, East Barnet, was mission accomplished for London Ambulance administrative officer David Sleep who is a lover of history and a great supporter of English Heritage blue plaques honouring the lives of famous people.

A mid-terrace house in Burlington Rise proudly displays a blue plaque in honour of the philosopher Sir Karl Popper and it was the last on David’s list to see in Greater London.

David has now visited a total of 1,028 blue plaques since being introduced to their significance three years ago on a walk in Clapham and Battersea organised by Dr Susan Skedd (above right) who is a blue plaque historian for English Heritage.

Susan, who is a member of the Barnet Society, and who is Director of Barnet Medieval Festival and who organises history walks in and around High Barnet, said she was delighted to join David for the moment he was able to tick off the last of the blue plaques on his list.

“I met David again in March on a walk in Pimlico and when he told me he had seen nearly every English Heritage blue plaque in Greater London.  I promised to join him in Burlington Rise.”

On each visit, David always takes a selfie of himself with the plaque in the background, and his hobby is of great value to English Heritage because it helps staff monitor the condition of the plaques.

“For the last three years I have been going out every weekend to see another plaque on my list – on Good Friday I saw the blue plaque in Parkside, Mill Hill, commemorating the motor racing driver Graham Hill and now on Easter Monday here I am in East Barnet for the Karl Popper plaque.”

David gets great pleasure from learning about the people commemorated by the plaques, about the homes where they lived, and what was happening to them at that time in their lives.

He is a member of English Heritage and a volunteer at Eltham Palace which is close to his home in southeast London.

Sir Karl Popper, who was born in Vienna, is considered to have been one of the 20th century’s most influential philosophers of science.

In 1928 he earned a doctorate in psychology and started work on his first book, which he needed to complete in order to get an academic position in a country safe for people of Jewish descent.

Finally, in 1937, he managed to secure a post as lecturer in philosophy at the University of New Zealand in Christchurch where he wrote his influential work, The Open Society and Its Enemies.

After the Second World War, he moved to the UK in 1946 and became a reader in logic and scientific method at the London School of Economics.

With his wife Josefine, they moved to Burlington Rise, Oakleigh Park, East Barnet, which was their home for four years until 1950 when they moved to Penn in Buckinghamshire.

The Popper plaque in Burlington Rise was installed in 2008 following an upsurge in research into the former residences of famous people out in the London suburbs.

“So many of the English Heritage plaques are all around inner London and the outer boroughs are catching up,” said Susan.

“We unveil a dozen new plaques every year and the first of this year’s new plaques is due to be revealed in April.”

She said the importance of the plaque to Sir Karl was that it captured the time he moved to the United Kingdom when he had established his name as a philosopher and had recently published his highly influential book The Open Society and Its Enemies.

Mission accomplished for history lover who visits English Heritage blue plaque in East Barnet to eminent philosopher Sir Karl Popper

A key conclusion of the book, which Susan came armed with for David’s visit, deserved to be quoted:

“Our fear of admitting responsibility for our ethical decisions is entirely ours and cannot be shifted to anybody else, neither to God, nor to nature, nor to society, nor to history. We cannot shirk this responsibility, whichever authority we may accept, it is we who accept it.”

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Final days at Builders Arms, New Barnet, as customers sign a petition to get asset of community value order to safeguard pub’s future  

A two-year struggle to keep going amid the disruption caused by ending up in the middle of a construction site has finally defeated the landlady of the aptly named Builders Arms in New Barnet.

She has reluctantly decided to hand her tenancy back to the brewers Greene King raising local concern about the future of a pub praised by the Campaign for Real Ale.

A petition has been launched by customers and friends to preserve what they say is a “much loved local institution”.

The aim of the petition organisers, Danielle Holiday and Nikki Hill, is to secure the registration of the Builders Arms as an asset of community value with Barnet Council while exploring other possible business models for the pub.

East Barnet’s councillors – Phil Cohen, Edith David and Simon Radford – have all signed the petition and are promising their support in the bid to safeguard the pub’s future by gaining ACV status.

Landlady Silva told the Barnet Society that once construction work started in 2024 on the massive housing development on the site of the former New Barnet gas works customers found it increasingly difficult to reach the pub.

Albert Road is the is the main access to the site where Fairview Homes are building eleven high-rise blocks of flats to provide 420 new homes – and a street view shows how the pub is dwarfed the scale of the redevelopment.

Initially Albert Road was blocked regularly by lorries delivering materials and construction equipment and, because of the hindrance and possible danger to customers, the Builders Arms had to cease opening at lunch times.

“Since then, access to the pub hasn’t improved and it has been a real struggle financially. It has just proved too much.”

Silva, who took on the Builders Arms eight years ago, said that she could not hang on for another year or two until the completion of the new development when all the flats might be fully occupied.

“You simply cannot run a pub when it is in the middle of a construction site. It is so off putting for customers. We can’t survive, so our tenancy ends on Sunday 12 April.

“At present there is no through road and no parking but let’s hope that Greene King can re-open one day.”

Once news broke two weeks ago that the pub was to close there has been an emotional response on the Builders Arm’s Facebook page with an appeal to regular customers to celebrate the “happy times, the music, and the unforgettable nights” they had all enjoyed.

With the pub having to be cleared of furniture, signs and fixtures, customers were invited to raise a glass and perhaps “even take home a little piece of the Builders Arms, something that might be a treasure for you.”

CAMRA has backed the Builders Arms as a real ale pub since 1970, and it has built up considerable loyalty over the

decades.

Connie East (see above) said that serving behind the bar was a real privilege because the Builders Arms had always been part of her family.

“I was brought here first as a baby 24 years ago as my parents were regulars. It has always been a real family pub.”

Dannielle Holiday, who helped organise the petition, has an even stronger family connection.

Her grandfather was a customer, so were her parents, and her own grown-up children have followed the tradition.

“The Builders Arms is a living testament to the rich local history of New Barnet,” said Danielle.

“Hundreds of local residents are signing up and joining our effort to preserve a much-cherished local pub.”

Petition launch to get asset of community value order on Builders Arms, New Barnet, becuase of pub's closure due to construction disruption during massive housing development.

When the Barnet Society first reported on the plight of the Builders Arms in 2024 the assistant manager Nina Hristova – see above – looked on in despair as work was progressing on a block of flats immediately opposite the pub.

At the time East Barnet councillor Simon Radford and Chipping Barnet MP Dan Tomlinson intervened after the pub’s staff appealed for help in curbing the mayhem and keeping the highway clear of work.

Councillor Radford said he and councillors Cohen and David had built up considerable expertise in using the asset of community value process to safeguard threatened pubs – and exercise which had proved highly successful when campaigning for the re-opening of Prince of Wales, the only pub in East Barnet village.

“As councillors we would like to pay tribute to Silva, George, Nina and the rest of the team who have run the Builders Arms for so many years, making it truly a community asset despite such outsized challenges to the business,” said councillor Radford.

“We owe them a debt of gratitude for what they have achieved with the pub, and we would also like to thank Daniella and Nikki for leading from the front in trying to save the pub.”

Councillor David said she hoped the community would show what the pub meant to them by signing the petition.

“We can all demonstrate our links with the Builders Arms through family stories and how the pub has been there for us on special occasions. The fight to save the Builders Arms goes on.”

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Barnet, Borough of Towers – surely a local election issue?

The tsunami of tall buildings that started 20 years ago in West Hendon and Brent Cross is now breaking on the northern suburbs of Barnet. Above are samples: High Barnet Place and Great North Leisure Park, both refused by the Council but called in by the Mayor of London; and Edgware town centre, approved by the Council. Their transformation of our borough, visually and socially, should surely be a local election issue on 7 May.

The Mayor has referred the decisions on High Barnet Place and Great North Leisure Park to his Deputy, Jules Pipe, who’s on record as supporting high-density schemes at Arnos Grove and Stanmore. We’re concerned about the conflict of interest, and with Barnet Residents Association have written to him to say so. Read our full letter to him below.

Mayor Kahn is keen to improve his house-building record and recently announced reductions in the proportion of affordable housing to 20% of the total; the previous minimum was 35% (currently offered at High Barnet). He’s also lifted a requirement in his London Plan for all flats to be dual-aspect – a regrettable lowering of their quality threshold.

The Labour Council’s rejection of the High Barnet and Great North Leisure Park applications indicated its awareness of the growing strength of public opposition to overdevelopment. We understand that it has asked the Mayor to respect the Council’s resounding decisions (by 8 votes to 1 and 8 to 0 respectively) to refuse both applications.

Housing deserves to be a major issue in May’s local elections – but design quality and appropriateness to its neighbourhood are just as important as quantity.

Some excellent new housing has been built recently in Barnet. Brook Valley Gardens, 931 High Road and Edgewood Mews (L-R below) show what can be done by building at high density but retaining a human scale.

But High Barnet Place won’t do that. What it would deliver, if approved by the Deputy Mayor, is a row of slabs that will brutally dominate our gentle, historic town and its green surroundings.

Now that the local election campaign has begun, the public hearing can’t be held until after the vote on Thursday 7 May (in practice, probably June at the earliest). The Barnet Society & Barnet Residents Association intend to submit a joint written statement beforehand and to speak at the hearing with a single voice, as we did at the Barnet Strategic Planning Committee in December. Individuals who have previously made written representations about the application either to Barnet Council or directly to the Greater London Assembly (GLA) can also request to speak.

You can show your concern about the crisis in affordable housing and harm to our neighbourhood and heritage assets by joining in the National Housing Demonstration on Saturday 18th April 1pm In Central London. Sign up here https://www.housingdemo.org/ for the Assembly point.

You can also help mitigate the impact of the Great Northern development by signing this petition to save trees on the site boundary.

Joint letter by the Barnet Society & Barnet Residents Association, 28 March 2026

For the attention of Jules Pipe, Deputy Mayor of London

Dear Mr Pipe,   

We write on behalf of the Barnet Society and the Barnet Residents Association regarding your decision to call in this planning application for Stage 2 review.

We recognise the reasons for the Mayor’s recusal. However, delegation to a Deputy does not resolve the acknowledged conflict of interest. The application relates to TfL land, and TfL forms part of the GLA group. Given your strategic responsibility for planning and your publicly expressed support for the programme of developing station car parks, there is a perception risk that the decision-making process lacks the necessary distance and objectivity. This concern is heightened by your prior public statements on LinkedIn and elsewhere indicating that the High Barnet proposal “will deliver” key benefits. You have expressed similar sentiments in relation to the Arnos Grove and Stanmore schemes. Even if unintended, such language gives rise to a perception of pre-judgment. Confidence in the integrity of the review process depends not only on independence and fairness but on the clear appearance of independence and fairness.

Barnet’s Strategic Planning Committee refused the application primarily because of its fundamental conflict with the adopted Local Plan regarding height and townscape impact. That policy position was established through an evidence-based assessment and endorsed by the Planning Inspectorate in examination. Reliance on the Hillingdon case cited by the applicant and officers was misleading as Hillingdon never undertook an assessment of their site. If strategic intervention were now to override the Local Plan without compelling and transparently evidenced justification to demonstrate why Barnet and the Planning Inspectorate may have got it wrong, the credibility of plan-led decision-making across London would inevitably be weakened.

We also remain concerned that certain material planning considerations were ignored or presented in a misleading manner prior to refusal, including:

  • failure to properly test the visual impact of the eleven-storey block on the skyline and on the setting of the listed St John the Baptist Church, including the omission or manipulation of key viewpoints;
  • no recognition that the elevated topography of the High Barnet station site materially increases the perceived scale and dominance of the buildings;
  • misleading claims regarding improved drop-off and pick-up arrangements, which would reduce existing informal capacity and risk congestion on the A1000;
  • There are also evidently inadequate features of the scheme that were not properly addressed in the documentation provided by the applicant or in the officer’s report to committee;
  • creation of homes of unacceptably poor safety and quality in terms of layout, detailed design and amenity;
  • minimal improvements to modal inter-connectivity, accessibility and safety that would be negated by loss of the car park.

We emphasise that we do not oppose redevelopment of the station car park in principle. Our concern is with the scale, form and long-term consequences of this particular scheme.

You will appreciate the wider significance of this case. As Mayor of Hackney you previously expressed strong opposition when London Mayoral intervention overrode local planning judgment on the Bishopsgate scheme that you considered “far too high” and inappropriate to its context. The present situation raises closely analogous concerns regarding the balance between strategic objectives and the integrity of local democratic decision-making.

Given the strength of local opposition, the adopted policy context, and the acknowledged governance sensitivities, we respectfully urge that the review process gives full and transparent weight to these issues before any determination is reached.

Yours sincerely,

Robin Bishop, Planning & Environment Lead, The Barnet Society

Gordon Massey, Planning Officer, Barnet Residents Association

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Music festival organisers announce more details of a packed programme of summer concerts in and around High Barnet

Young musicians will be to the fore during a summer season of concerts to be held at several High Barnet venues including the parish church of St the Baptist.

Barnet viola player Inis Oirr Asano (above), who lives in Underhill, will be appearing with the Elmore Quarter during the High Barnet Chamber Music Festival in June.

Young students will be performing during the summer festival by Jack’s Lake at Hadley Wood which starts with a prelude concert at the parish church on Saturday 11 April.

The programme will include Vivaldi Four Seasons (Ilona Domnich, soprano; Charles Mutter, violinist; and Neil Varley, accordionist).

Summer concerts beside Jack’s Lake start in May and are in aid of the Monken Hadley Common Trust (see details below).

High Barnet Chamber Music Festival opens on Saturday 6 June with a free family concert at 3pm at St Mark’s Church, Barnet Vale, with flautist Hannah Gillingham and harpist Lise Vandersmissen.

Mad Song, a contemporary ensemble (see above) returns to the parish church with a programme themed around Fire and Water at 7.30pm on Saturday 13 June.

Music by Anna Clyne sits alongside works by other contemporary composers including Brett Dean and Richard Causton.

The Elmore Quartet, which has just won the Royal Overseas League string ensemble prize – with viola player Inis Oirr Asano – will be at the parish church at 7.30pm on Saturday 20 June with music by Ravel, Britten, Shostakovich, and Geyer.

The festival closes with a performance by The Portrait Players at the Friends’ Recital Hall, at Queen Elizabeth’s School, at 3pm on Sunday 28 June with music by Strozzi, Caccini, Leonarda, an Elton.

More details: https://www.hbcmf.co.uk/

Young mjusicians to the fore during a packed programme of summer concerts around High Barnet organised by music festivals.

The prelude concert promoting this summer’s music festival at Jack’s Lake – at the parish church on Saturday 11 April (doors open 6pm) – will include Vivaldi Four Seasons (Ilona Domnich, soprano; Charles Mutter, violinist; and Neil Varley, accordionist).

The summer concerts at Jack’s Lake are May 16 or 17; June 13 or 14; July 11 or 12; August 8 or 9.

The programme will include new arrangements for violin/viola, piano, accordion and voice, Habanera from Carmen, Piazzolla (Libertango and Oblivion), Hans Zimmer (Gladiator), as well as Grieg, Bellini, Gounod and Vivaldi (two Seasons, excerpts from Gloria and Tamerlano).

Jack’s Lake Summer Music Festival: https://ilonadomnich.com/projects/hadley-woods-festival-music-on-jacks-lake/

‘Prelude to Music by Jack’s Lake’ concert at St. John the Baptist Parish Church.

Saturday 11 April, 7pm Tickets £5 -£20 https://www.ticketsource.co.uk

North London’s concert band – Da Capo Concert Band – will be holding its summer concert at the Barnet parish church on Saturday 27 June.

Da Capo Concert Band: https://www.dacapoconcertband.co.uk

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Open day at centre for homeless in Barnet – a chance to support a fashion show of clothes which they have designed and produced

Homeless Action in Barnet – a leading charity assisting rough sleepers across the borough – is organising an open day at its headquarters in Woodhouse Road, North Finchley, where a highlight will be a fashion show of outfits created and modelled by some of those who are being supported.

HAB, as it is known, provides over 9,000 hot meals at year at its day centre and organises a night shelter each evening at one or other of the 30 or so churches and synagogues which make space available. 

All the clothes for the fashion show have been designed and made from recycled material and second-hand clothing and the aim of this initiative, backed by volunteers, is to help build confidence among people facing homelessness and insecurity.

Inspiration for the fashion show – billed as “Off The Street” on Sunday 17 May from 12 noon to 3pm – came from homeless clients at the centre, including a dress designer and an architect, who has drawn up plans for creating a catwalk through the day centre and out into the garden.

Already clothes for the show are being lined up in a storeroom – and admired for their creativity by night shelter co-ordinator Marcin Nocek and support officer Kate Jack (see above).

“Fitting out rough sleepers with a new set of clothes and shoes is one of the ways we help homeless people regain their self-confidence,” said Marcin.

“We try to offer them something suitable from our storeroom of donated clothing and sometimes it can be fun trying something on. 

“The idea of holding a fashion show started as a joke, but one of the clients is a dress designer, another a seamstress and before we knew it, they were hard at work.

“After hours and hours at a sewing machine, they have already produced about 40 plus outfits, and they will all be revealed on the catwalk at the open day in May.”

Homeless architect Julian Meguenni (above) was delighted to have the chance to help stage the fashion show and do what he could do help other homeless clients at the centre show off the clothes which have been created.

Support workers and volunteers have all been amazed by the enthusiasm which has been generated by the prospect of organising and holding a fashion show.

“We know all too well that people who have been excluded and forgotten, and who have become homeless, need to rebuild their self-confidence.”

Support officer Kate Jack (above) says kitting people out with replacement clothes is one of their priorities and the charity relies on donations of clothing and shoes.

“We are continually short of clothing and delighted to accept donations.

“We are always in need of jeans, track suit bottoms, T-shirts, sweatshirts, winter coats, and clean underwear such as boxer shorts.

“Footwear is another item in constant demand, including a trainers, shoes and socks.”

HAB was established in 1997, having started out in North Finchley as a soup kitchen for the homeless and quickly expanded after Barnet Council leased the charity a community building in Woodhouse Road.

A constant stream of people – up to 250 a week – seek help at the day centre which offers support and comfort from 9am to 12.30pm on Monday to Friday.

The centre has its own shower block, a cafeteria offering breakfast or lunch, and a laundrette for washing clothes.

Support officer Kareema Osbourne (above) has been at the centre for two years.

“It is very fulfilling having the chance to help people turn around their lives”

In the last 12 months, HAB has held well over 4,000 support sessions for homeless people, building up trust and helping them address the underlying barriers they face.

A night shelter is provided for up to 15 people, seven days a week, during the winter months, from November to the end of April.

Last year over 5,000 rough sleepers spent the night in safety at a one of the participating churches or synagogues where an army of 360 volunteers provide food and support.

HAB also has two hostels for homeless people – offering over 50 places – and clients can stay there until they can arrange permanent accommodation. Last year 196 were rehoused and 49 so far this year.

Ben Tovey, HAB’s chief executive, said that demand for support from rough sleepers was higher than ever this year.

“Housing shortages, unaffordable rents and the overall economic situation aren’t helping but another reason why we are getting more showing up is because of the government policy to close asylum hotels.

“So, this is becoming a pressure point for charities helping the homeless.

“It is particularly hard for the under 35s as the rents being charged are beyond their housing allowances and benefits, and are based on a shared housing rate, which again is a big factor in pushing up the demand for support.”

Homeless in Action in Barnet to hold open day at is North Finchley day centre and highlight is fashion show of clothes made by those seeking support

The fashion show, “Off The Street” on Sunday 17 May, in aid HAB, will be a community event with local artisan stalls, a musical performance, a raffle and a chance for guests to mingle with clients and volunteers.

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Yellow line parking restrictions are excessive say residents who believe they have been treated with contempt by Barnet Council

Residents of two narrow streets of mainly small cottages and terraced homes claim they have been ignored and abandoned by Barnet Council which has imposed double yellow lines at the junction of Sebright and Calvert Roads without proper consultation.

They say ten-metre-long restrictions either side of the junction have reduced parking spaces and had the perverse effect of speeding up traffic round the corner, placing pedestrians and children at greater risk.

“The restrictions are disproportionate, unsupported by evidence and a waste of public funds.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

At the heart of their grievance is their anger at finding that changes to procedures for local consultation have made it virtually impossible for small groups of residents to challenge council decisions.

In a letter to Cath Shaw, the council’s chief executive, they accuse the council of failing to honour one of its core values, an undertaking given by councillors regarding their responsibilities to the public:

“We actively listen, respond, collaborate and share ideas, to achieve the best outcomes with residents, businesses and colleagues.”

The letter, highlighting the need for TLC for Barnet – for transparency, for listening and for consultation – sets out how they believe the council has been systematically reducing the opportunities for residents to influence decisions.

Face to face residents’ forums with councillors and council officers were abandoned in 2022 and the minimum number of signatures required to present a petition at a council or committee meeting has been raised from 25 to 500.

Their complaint mirrors anger in Underhill where residents’ groups have complained that despite overwhelming opposition council officers have gone ahead with an extension to the Barnet Hospital controlled parking zone and introduced parking charges outside the Mays Lane parade of shops.

Mrs Louise Cain (above, second from right), one of the organisers of the Sebright and Calvert Roads protest, said that once the council decided to impose yellow lines on each side of the road junction they immediately set about raising a petition.

“We easily got to 72 signatures, understanding that the minimum requirement was over 25, but then the council said our petition had been excluded because the minimum is now 500 signatures.”

Dr Chris Nightingale (above, far right) said the new minimum of 500 signatures effectively withdrew a democratic right from small groups of residents who had already lost the ability to challenge councillors and officers face-to-face at residents’ forums.

“Our community – bounded by Sebright, Puller, Alston and Calvert Roads – only has around 400 households at the most so we have lost our voice as a small community.

“Petitions with fewer than 500 signatures only require a written response and we have lost the democratic right as residents to present a case directly to councillors at a committee or council meeting.”

Dr Julia Gibbs (above, second from right) feared that the rights of residents had been eroded still further by the barriers they faced when seeking greater transparency when making Freedom of Information requests.

“A recent FOI request we made was refused on the grounds it would be too expensive for the council as it would require 15 officers to spend over 90 minutes each to produce the information.

“This was challenged and the council took over 50 working days, longer than the statutory reply time of 20 days, to send a reply.

“But even then, the council would not provide the requested information or give specific advice on how to obtain it.”

Events leading up to the painting of the yellow lines had proved to the protesters that the council had not been serious about conducting detailed consultation.

As far as they knew, there had been no complaints from ambulance or fire crews about difficulty in gaining access and apparently the only request for yellow lines had come from a refuse lorry driver.

It appeared one resident had spoken to a council officer and another official who was challenged said the yellow lines were a parking and not a highways matter.

The group thought that yellow lines of the length painted at the junction would have been expected if there was heavy traffic.

Puller and Sebright Roads were a one-way system – with Calvert Road a short cul-de-sac – and the restrictions were excessive.

“The result is a monument to officers’ failure to listen and then not revealing how their final decision was made.

“The restrictions are disproportionate, unsupported by evidence and a waste of public funds.

“We are contemplating commissioning a blue plaque to this effect.”

The protestors hope their demand that the council should restore quarterly residents’ forums will become an issue at the forthcoming Barnet Council election on Thursday 7 May.

A priority for the new council elected in May should be to restore trust between residents and councillors and to improve decision-making by identifying problems early and locally.

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Rainbow Centre, Underhill’s community hub, celebrates its re-opening in refurbished premises provided by Barnet Council

After several years of uncertainty about its long-term future, Barnet Council has finally found new premises for the Rainbow Centre, a vital community hub for residents of Underhill and especially the Dollis Valley estate.

A weekly foodbank, free lunches and activities for children in school holidays, and highly popular mixed martial arts classes for youngsters and adults are just some of the centre’s activities.

At the official opening, the Mayor of Barnet, Councillor Danny Rich, was full of praise for the centre’s initiatives and congratulated those involved, including from left to right, centre manager Sarah Snell, and food bank volunteers Christine Burbridge and Karen Gosland.

Councillor Rich said he was delighted the Rainbow Centre’s move from Dollis Valley to the former Priory Grove Scout hut, off Westcombe Drive, next to the Ark Pioneer Academy, had gone so well.

“As an authority of 63 councillors we realise, we only achieve anything when we work with our residents, which is why as your landlords, we want to extend a big ‘thank you’ for all you are achieving for the community.”

Because of delays to the completion of the regeneration of the Dollis Valley estate, the Rainbow Centre was kept waiting to be rehoused and there was added grief for the volunteers when a proposed move to the former cricket pavilion in Barnet Lane fell through.

The move to the Scout hut went ahead late last year and the Rainbow Centre is building up its activities with the first free lunch club for school children being held in the week before Easter.

Rinbow Centre, community hub for Underhill, moves into new premises after years of uncertainty following action by Barnet Council

The centre is operated and managed by charity, Barnet Community Projects, and Mike Benaim, chair of its trustees (above, third from left) said the four-year wait for new premises had turned into something of a saga but they were “very happy” with their new home.

The centre’s Thursday food bank is currently supporting around 80 people who get three days’ worth of free food, including fresh fruit and vegetables and three meals.

Sarah Snell, centre manager (above, third from right) said Rainbow’s policy was to be there for whoever needed help.

No referral is needed to get assistance from the foodbank, just a name and postcode.

“We don’t want to turn anyone away, so if someone is prepared to seek help at a food bank, we are there for them. Making that first visit is often the hardest thing for someone to do,” said Sarah.

One of the Rainbow Centre’s great success stories is its mixed martial arts classes run three times a week by Ibush Januzi, founder of North London MMA Kabashi (above, seventh from right).

Classes for children attract up to 70 youngsters a week and adult classes up to 60. On Tuesdays there is a wrestling class and women’s self-defence on Saturdays.

“The response since we started has been amazing,” said Ibush.

“I am always keen to offer free classes to people who might have been in trouble, perhaps with drugs, or are homeless.

“These free sessions are very rewarding for those involved. The discipline of martial arts helps people who have been in trouble believe in themselves. They can see what they can achieve and realise they are not losers.”

Councillor Zahra Beg (above, sixth from right) added her thanks to the council for finally agreeing to the move.

Since she was elected for Underhill in 2022, finding a new home for the Rainbow Centre had been a major pre-occupation and she was delighted the move had finally been accomplished.

“We bullied the council into finding new premises and then we found the Scout hut needed lots of repairing, but it has all been worthwhile.

“The centre now has a new home for 25 years with the freedom to expand its services and bring in more people from in and around Underhill.”

Councillor Tim Roberts (above, fourth from left), who is standing down in May after serving Underhill for 12 years, said the official opening of a new home for Rainbow was a great way to finish.

“The Rainbow Centre really has been part of the Dollis Valley estate for such a long time.

“It has been a regular meeting place for so many of us and we are all delighted it is up and running once again here in Underhill.”  

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Food waste being collected on bin days from homes across Borough of Barnet to be used for producing electricity and farm fertiliser

With the reintroduction of domestic food waste collections from homes across the Borough of Barnet, families will be making their contribution towards generating electricity and producing liquid farmland fertiliser at a renewable energy plant midway between North Mymms and London Colney.

Barnet householders have been supplied with two new containers – a brown kitchen caddy for collecting food waste indoors and a larger brown outdoors food waste bin.

Food waste bins will be emptied at the kerbside into new collection vehicles hired by the council.

Collections will take place on a householder’s regular bin day.

Lorries will unload into a bunker at Severn Trent Green Power’s facility at Coursers Farm, just to the north of junction 22 on the M25 motorway.

Severn Trent Green Power opened the plant around ten years ago.

It serves towns and councils from a wide radius in Hertfordshire, including Hertsmere, and processes up to 75,000 tons of food waste a year, including some commercial waste.

  Once tipped at the plant all plastic from caddy liners, bags and wrappings is removed mechanically so that the food waste can be pumped into digester tanks where biogas is produced ready for the generation of electricity in site’s engines.

Severn Trent Green Power’s North London plant produces three megawatts of power for the National Grid at Coursers Farm.

Liquid fertiliser for farms, which is the residue of the process, is distributed for spreading in fields on local farms.

Barnet Council has reinstated food waste collections – as from a government deadline of Monday 30 March – as a result of new regulations requiring local authorities to collect food waste separately from other household waste.

A food waste collection service had operated in Barnet from 2013 until it was cancelled by the council in November 2018 – against the advice of the Mayor of London – in order to save an annual bill of £300,000.

Government capital grants – including £2.7 million for Barnet – have now been paid to local councils to meet the cost of new containers and collection vehicles.

New kitchen caddies and kerbside bins for Barnet householders have cost £1.3 million and food waste collection vehicles are being hired for five years from Riverside Truck Rental at a cost of £2.8 million.

Publicity for the reintroduction of the service includes advice on what to place in the food waste caddy – leftover food, peelings and waste from fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, dairy products, bread, cakes, tea bags, coffee grounds etc.

Special bins are being provided for household food waste from flats above town centre flats – as seen in Barnet High Process.

In the first part of the process at the Coursers Farm plant all plastic bags and coverings are removed. The plastic waste which is left is sent to separate waste-for-energy plants.

Food waste collections reintroduced by Barnet Council and it will be turned into electricity and farm fertiliser at Severn Trent Green Power plant just north of M25

Loads have to be rejected if they are contaminated with other waste such as bottles and cans.

Once the processed food waste has been reduced to a liquid – a food waste soup as it is known in the trade – it is pumped into one of four digestion tanks where it is heated to between 37 and 42 degrees, breaks down, and releases biogas for electricity generation.

From being tipped by a lorry, it takes around 85 days for the waste to be converted into gas and liquid fertiliser for spreading on fields.

To reduce odours escaping into the neighbourhood, air from the plant goes through a biofilter using a water filter and damp wood chips.

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A vintage Routemaster climbs Barnet Hill to terminate at the parish church – a moment to be celebrated by bus enthusiasts 

A special 263 Sunday service to Barnet Church – in support of Comic Relief – provided bus passengers a chance to step back in time and hop on board an iconic Routemaster.

Vintage buses plied the route from East Finchley to Barnet when North London Transport Events organised one of its popular charity services held three times a year.

Instead of paying a fare, passengers were asked instead to think of making a donation collected by the bus conductor.

Routemasters, which were built between 1954 and 1968 by AEC Park Royal Vehicles, were finally withdrawn from regular service in December 2005.

Watching a vintage 263 Routemaster climb Barnet Hill, turn at the church and then head back to East Finchley was an unusual sight (currently the 263 terminates at Barnet Hospital) — and was captured on camera by Stephen Bigley.

He said when Routemasters take to the road in support of fund-raising events, the organisers are always rewarded by seeing how local people are delighted to have a chance to travel on one of these classic buses

The ease with which passengers on a Routemaster can hop on and off was a moment to celebrated by bus enthusiast Helen Lewis who describes herself at Londonroutemistress (see above).

“Riding a Routemaster is such a contrast to today’s electric buses with their aircon and phone charging ports and a bell at every seat,” said Helen.

“There is no way of alerting the driver in advance that you wanted to get off if you were upstairs on the top deck, but let’s not forget how easy it was in those days to hop on and off.”

Helen has set herself a personal mission to travel every bus route run by London Transport. She researches a new route every week and then sets off.

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Packed programme of summer concerts announced by music festival organisers for Barnet orchestras and bands 

Summer concerts at Jack's Lake, Hadley Common, again a highlight for a packed programme of performances by Barnet orchestras and bands

Barnet’s music lovers are in for a feast of summer events with organisers announcing programmes for concerts right through to August including an annual highlight of four evening performances in the woods beside Jack’s Lake at Monken Hadley Common.

Since they were launched six years ago, there has been ever growing support for these open-air musical evenings which are held in a woodland glade and are organised by New Barnet opera singer Ilona Domnich.

As a prelude to the summer programme, there is a fund-raising concert for the Monken Hadley Common Trust at the Barnet parish church of St John the Baptist on Saturday 11 April (doors open 6pm)

The programme will include Vivaldi Four Seasons (Ilona Domnich, soprano; Charles Mutter, violinist; and Neil Varley, accordionist).

The summer concerts at Jack’s Lake are May 16 or 17; June 13 or 14; July 11 or 12; August 8 or 9.

High Barnet Chamber Music Festival is about to announce dates and venues for this summer’s four concerts, which will be held from June 6 to 28, and will include a family concert backed by Arts Council England.

This will be the chamber festival’s sixth season which has been expanded to include master classes and performances in primary and secondary schools.

North London’s concert band – Da Capo Concert Band – will be holding its summer concert at the Barnet parish church on Saturday 27 June.

For more information:

Jack’s Lake Summer Music Festival: https://ilonadomnich.com/projects/hadley-woods-festival-music-on-jacks-lake/

‘Prelude to Music by Jack’s Lake’ concert at St. John the Baptist Parish Church.

Saturday 11 April 11, 7pm Tickets £5 -£20 https://www.ticketsource.co.uk

High Barnet Chamber Music Festival: https://www.hbcmf.co.uk/

Da Capo Concert Band: https://www.dacapoconcertband.co.uk

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Protective shutters installed by Star Pubs to allow for essential work before Black Horse re-opens in time for summer  

Star Pubs say Black Horse public house will re-open by early summer in time for FIFA world cup televised matches -- and protective shutters needed during essential work

Star Pubs say they hope that the Black Horse – now protected by metal grilles across doors and windows – will reopen by at least mid-June in time for the start of televised football matches in the FIFA World Cup.

Several potential tenants are being interviewed by Star’s management team.

Improvements and other essential work are to be carried out to the interior in preparation for the re-opening of a pub which is an historic Barnet landmark.

But the closure of the Black Horse since last September is another indication of the precarious trading prospects for the licensed trade.

In a move to safeguard the long-term future of the Black Horse, Barnet Council has accepted a request for it to be protected by an order declaring the building an asset of community value.

Securing protection for the Black Horse – allowing the community the right to enter a bid if the pub is sold for redevelopment – follows the declaration of similar ACVs for three other nearby pubs, the Lord Nelson, Sebright Arms and Ye Olde Monken Holt, as well as the Prince of Wales in East Barnet.  

An application to safeguard the Black Horse was made in the name of the Barnet parish church of St John the Baptist and was backed by a petition launched by Olly Gough, who is to stand as a Labour candidate for High Barnet in the Barnet Council elections in May.

He said strong support for the petition proved that the Black Horse was much loved by the community and was especially popular with its customers, which was a reminder to Star Pubs that it had every chance of remaining a viable business.

High Barnet Councillor Emma Whysall, who supported the application when it was considered by Barnet Council, said she realised the depth of local concern about the future of the Black Horse should it cease trading once again in the future.

Councillor Whysall, who had been in contact with Star Pubs’ management, welcomed the company’s promise of swift action to ensure that the Black Horse is re-opened in time for the start of the World Cup in mid-June.

She said people should not be alarmed by the installation of grilles across the doors and windows. They were needed for added security and protection and were essential to secure the building while work was carried out.

Pubs have been granted extended opening hours for the month-long contest because of the late kick-offs – until 1am for national ties and until 2am should any of the home nations reach the knock-out stages.   

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Save Chipping Barnet Woodland campaigners delighted by planning refusal for new house in a protected wood close to Hadley Green

An application to build a six-bedroom house in a protected wood between Sunset View and Hadley Green has been rejected by Barnet Council on the grounds it would cause unacceptable harm to a woodland habitat.

Nearby residents mounted a highly publicised campaign to save what they argued was a significant wildlife corridor between the Green and Old Fold Manor golf course.

Over 2,000 people signed a petition against the application and there were multiple objections to the planning department.

Expressing delight at the result, Marianne Nix, one of the lead objectors, said their campaign to save the woodland would now refocus on efforts to ensure it is included in the Barnet Parks and Open Space strategy.  

In rejecting the application by Christchurchgrove Ltd, the council says building a house on a one-acre site in the woodland would damage the character and appearance of the Monken Hadley Conservation Area.

When the developers held a public consultation last year to unveil their plans for the proposed house – see above – Stuart Lees, of Alan Cox Architects, told residents steps would be taken to safeguard mature trees on the site, most of which are already covered by tree protection orders.

There would be other measures to enhance the biodiversity of the woodland and as the new house would be surrounded by trees, it would be hardly visible, which had been one of the aims in the design.

Planning permission was refused because the council considered it would result in the unjustified loss and deterioration of protected woodland and to a significant number of trees within a woodland tree protection order.

This would cause “unacceptable harm to the woodland habitat and to the character and appearance of the Monken Hadley Conservation Area.”

Site clearance and loss of vegetation would “irrevocably and harmfully” alter the woodland character, and the siting and size of the new house would appear to be “out of character and appearance” of the conservation area and general locality.

Christchurchgrove Ltd had failed to demonstrate that construction, access and essential services could be delivered in accordance with recognised industry guidance, including standards relating to underground service installation near trees.

“The development would further create substantial post development pressures for the removal and degradation of trees, deadwood, and ground flora, leading to the incremental erosion of the woodland’s ecological and landscape value.”

Application for house in wood close to Hadley Green has been rejected by Barnet Council because it would unacceptable harm to a woodland habitat.
Screenshot

If the new house had been approved the objectors feared that badgers, bats, mistle thrush and other protected species would be in danger of losing their habitat.

Marianne Nix, who lives next to the woodland, installed a trail camera in her garden when she moved to High Barnet three years ago.

As well as recording hedgehogs scuttling about, there have been shots of badgers – including the picture above, captured on her video camera last New Year’s Eve when fireworks were exploding near the woodland.

So far two of the veteran trees on the site have been verified by the Ancient Tree Register – which supplied the screen shot of Sunset View and the woodland.

Robin Bishop, Planning & Environment Lead for the Barnet Society, commented, “Although we’d worked with the developer and secured some important improvements, scrutiny of the submitted documents left us with many concerns. Ours was one of 279 objections lodged against the application, an impressive number for such an inconspicuous site.

“It’s timely that the Council’s refusal came a day after the Mayor of London published London’s Local Nature Recovery Strategy. Although the spinney isn’t on the LNRS Local Habitat Map, it adjoins Old Fold Manor Golf Course, which is. The LNRS and Barnet Couuncil’s refusal are milestones in growing public awareness of the inportance of nature in cities.”

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Barnet Council steps in with an exemption from council tax for residents who have a terminal diagnosis

Terminally ill householders in the London borough of Barnet will be removed from council tax if they qualify under a new relief scheme which takes effect in April.

Barnet, which has a higher proportion of the elderly than in much of the capital, will become one of the first London boroughs to ease financial pressures on residents with a terminal diagnosis.

Councillor Simon Radford, the council’s cabinet member for finance – see above – is anxious to promote the assistance which the council is offering when residents and their families face “the most difficult moments in their lives”.

If residents are already receiving council tax support – through discretionary relief or housing payment policies – they will not have to pay council tax if a clinician has confirmed a terminal diagnosis.

Charities have welcomed the move by Barnet – and other councils such as Manchester and Barnsley – which they say will help people cope with the emotional strain of end-of-life care by removing or reducing council tax from families who might be dealing with loss of income and increased care costs.

Barnet, which has the second largest population of any London borough, has over 22,000 residents aged over 80, including nearly 5,000 aged over 90.

High Barnet ward illustrates the significance of the age profile: over 2,000 residents are over 65 and 673 – roughly six per cent – are over 80.

Councillor Radford said the aim of the council and health authorities was to keep people in their own homes for as long as possible with care and support, so that they could maintain their independence.

There was more demand for adult social care in Barnet than in other London boroughs which underlined the need for the council to enhance its support for the terminally ill.

Marie Curie, the UK’s leading end-of-life charity hopes that more London boroughs – especially those in the north London care belt with numerous care homes – follow Barnet’s example in ensuring residents get clear and compassionate support.

Housing costs and council tax bills added to the financial pressures on those who are terminally ill and wished to continue living in their own homes.

Under the new criteria, Barnet residents may qualify for a council tax reduction if they receive council tax support and provide an SR1 medical form, completed by a clinician, confirming life expectancy is thought to be of 12 months or less.

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Bags of litter piled up after clean-up organised by Barnet Residents Association – and the town’s MP is urging more community action

Litters pickers from Barnet Residents Association fanned out across the town in one of the association’s regular clean ups – the kind of initiative which the Chipping Barnet MP Dan Tomlinson hopes will be encouraged by his new community action network.

Association co-chair Ken Rowland and committee member Emma Morgan – see above – cleared up litter in Bruce Road which backs on to the Waitrose car park and often gets overlooked in street cleaning.

However, they left Bruce Road feeling rather disappointed because they were not equipped to tackle a heap of builder’s rubbish which had been left by a recent fly-tipper.

Committee member Anna Watkins was on hand at the association’s stall in The Spires shopping centre ready to hand volunteers litter pickers and rubbish bags which had been supplied by Barnet Council.

The clean up was organised in partnership with the Chipping Barnet Town Team and was considered a great success – a heap of around 40 rubbish bags was left nearby at Chipping Barnet Library in Stapylton Road ready for collection by the council’s refuse service.

Among the volunteers were staff members from McDonald’s fast-food restaurant who also stage their own litter pick sessions.

Franchisee Hubs Backshi (above, second from left) said McDonald’s team members regularly did a litter sweep around the restaurant in the Barnet High Street and were keen to help whenever street clean-ups were organised.

Barnet Residents Association reports another successful litter picking clean up as Chipping Barnet MP Dan Tomlinson backs more community action

Litter picking was one of the targets discussed at a meeting organised by the Chipping Barnet MP Dan Tomlinson which went on to establish a community action network.

Over 200 people attended a discussion and workshop where an agenda was established for action next year.

Long-term projects include supporting East Barnet Festival and Community Energy Barnet.

Mr Tomlinson said he hoped the network could run a monthly community cation day.

“The focus of the network is making tangible differences to the local area through local action, whether that’s litter picking or organising a community festival,” said Mr Tomlinson.   

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Two deputations from Underhill challenge Barnet Councillors over their failure to consult residents and take local views into account

After hearing some vociferous complaints from Underhill residents, Barnet Council has agreed to review two controversial issues – the imposition of the Underhill South controlled parking zone and a decision to abandon the existing split between private and social housing in the regeneration of the Dollis Valley estate.

Two separate deputations explained their grievances and were assured by council leaders that officials would prepare reports into their objections.

A petition calling for a rethink on the extension of the Barnet Hospital CPZ to take in 16 roads around Chesterfield Road and Mays Lane was presented jointly by Gina Theodorou and Jon Woolfson – see above at the town hall, Hendon.

They claimed that the experimental CPZ was imposed by the council’s highways department despite opposition from 61 per cent of residents.

There was no justification for introducing parking charges other than to help the council recoup its parking deficit.

In response the council agreed on the recommendation of Councillor Alan Schneiderman, cabinet member for the environment, that officials would look at criticism of the way the Underhill South CPZ had been introduced.

There would be a full review of the scheme when the six-month consultation period ends in mid-June.

A second petition was presented by two members of a group of private houseowners in the Brook Valley Gardens development, off Mays Lane – see above – which is regenerating the former Dollis Valley estate.

They objected to the council’s agreement with developers Vistry to complete the two final stages of the regeneration with 221 social rent homes instead of continuing with a mix between privately owned and social housing.

By failing to honour the commitment that Brook Valley Gardens would be mixed tenure neighbourhood – and by turning it into 60 per cent social housing – the council had jeopardised the future of houseowners who had invested life savings into new properties.

Bulldozing through without consultation a deal with Vistry, the second largest housebuilder in the UK, and by failing to construct 128 private homes as originally promised, the council had changed the nature of Brook Valley Gardens.

A petition had been signed by 120 private householders who feared that a result of increasing the proportion of social housing from 40 to 60 per cent the council had threatened “a well-integrated community, increasing the risk of anti-social behaviour” all for the sake of the council getting access to Greater London Authority funding to help “bail-out” the developers.

In acknowledging their anger, Councillor Ross Houston, the cabinet member for homes and regeneration explained that the council’s objective was to demolish empty blocks of flats and maisonettes – see above – and secure the completion of the Dollis Valley regeneration through the construction of new well-designed homes.

On Councillor Houston’s recommendation, the council agreed it would ask officials to report back on the concerns which had been raised.

The deal proposed with Vistry would be reviewed at the next cabinet meeting which would consider whether any changes could be made in the current plans for the competition of phases four and five of the regeneration.

Deputations from Underhill complain to Barnet Council about imposition of Underhill South CPZ and changes in proportion of private housing in Dollis Valley regeneration

Opposition to the Underhill South CPZ has been mounting since it took effect in mid December with a concerted campaign by members of the Quinta Village Green Residents Association and the Underhill Residents Group.

In her submission Gina Theodorou of the QVGRA said experience since its introduction had proved there was no justification for a CPZ as most of the parking bays were empty most of the time. Residents were leaving cars in their drives rather than apply for a permit.

Jon Wolfson of Underhill Residents raised the plight of retailers in the Mays Lane parade of shops who were losing a substantial amount of business because of the introduction of parking charges on their service road.

A petition had raised over 2,200 signatures in protest at the imposition of cashless parking charges at a tariff of £3.38 an hour from 8am to 6.30pm whereas in nearby roads, which are also within the Barnet Hospital D CPZ, restrictions apply only between 2pm and 3pm.

There was support for the Underhill petition from Councillor Richard Cornelius who agreed with the deputation that parking regulations imposed around Barnet Hospital were “a complete mess”.

“I hope this CPZ is reconsidered because the overwhelming opposition shows it cannot be right and as someone who parks outside the Mays Lane parade of shops I don’t see why parking charges are necessary”.       

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New studio is under construction for Barnet Guild of Artists in a field that was once part of Whalebones farm and estate

Work has started on foundations for a new studio which is being built for the Barnet Guild of Artists as part of the housing development which is underway in the Whalebones fields and woodland off Wood Street, Barnet.

A new building for community use was included in the go-ahead for an estate of 112 homes which is under construction by Hill Residential.

The new artists’ studio will be in Wellhouse Lane, directly opposite Barnet Hospital car park and bus terminus.

It replaces a studio bequeathed for the guild’s use by the late Gwyneth Cowing, former owner of Whalebones House, who was granddaughter of the founder of the Barnet Press and who died in 1987.

Hill Residential completed purchase of the Whalebones woods and fields after planning approval was finally granted in late 2024 following a protracted campaign by objectors who included the Barnet Society and the former Chipping Barnet MP Theresa Villiers.

They argued that the new housing estate would destroy a significant wildlife habitat and result in the loss of the last remaining farmland between Arkley and High Barnet.

Most of the new homes are to be built in the largest of the fields opposite the Arkley public house, between the Elmbank estate and the woods around the now privately owned Whalebones House.

The land falls away to Wellhouse Lane and in the lower part of the development there will be three six-storey blocks providing 70 flats.

In the upper part of the site, facing Wood Street, there will be 42 new houses.

Martyn Jelley, senior site manager, told a residents’ consultation meeting that the whole scheme is due to be completed in by the end of 2028. The first new homes could be ready to move in by the end of 2027.

He said Hill Residential had taken great care to save as much of the woodland as possible and there was only one additional tree to be felled and a decision on that was being left until the spring for the result of a survey to see if the tree is being used as a roost for bats.

Work has started on new studio for Barnet Guild of Artists on farmland at Whalebone as part of residential development to provide 112 new homes

Nearby residents were shown visualisations of houses on the new estate at a consultation meeting.

A start on the construction of the new artists’ studio in Wellhouse Lane was welcomed by Helen Leake, secretary and treasury of the guild of artists.

While waiting for the new building to be completed, guild members would continue to use the timber-framed studio which was built by Miss Cowing, and which will eventually be demolished to make way for new houses.

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Barnet’s rich history and literary connections brought to life in a new play which explores Charles Dickens’ associations with the town

Imagining how the great Victorian novelist Charles Dickens might have spent an evening in the bar at the Red Lion public house in Barnet is the highlight of a new production at The Bull Theatre.

Dickens was said to have gained inspiration for his writing from his visits to North London so the challenge for Barnet playwrights Sarah Munford and Claire Fisher was to visualise what happened when the famous author stayed overnight in the town.

Rehearsals are well under way for Between the Lines: Dickens Comes to Barnet which the Blue Door Theatre Company is to present at The Bull Theatre, High Street. Barnet, for three nights in late April.

Dickens is forced to spend the night at the Red Lion because the road back to London is snowed up and that creates the occasion for some fascinating interaction with an array of the town’s colourful characters – some of whom have a tale to tell.

Peggy, the Red Lion’s landlady played by Naomi Richards (above), has a back history worthy of a Dickens novel and her revelations about her previous connections with the author, played by Chris Browning, are a salutary reminder of his own chequered past.

Before taking on the Red Lion, Peggy was a prostitute, one of many who was said to have been taken off the streets of London with Dickens’ help, and for her guest, by now an old man walking with a stick, his night in Barnet becomes a trip down memory lane. 

The life and times of Dickens’ fellow travellers play out against a background of some of Barnet’s low life including the Barnet Belles, a group of prostitutes who are based across the road at the Bull public house.

Sarah Munford (right) said she hoped her play would encourage the audience to form their own view about Dickens and whether perhaps he had been misogynistic towards women.

“Perhaps questions should be asked about the way Dickens treated his wife, how he tried to get her committed to an asylum after giving birth to ten children, and about his long-term affair with Nelly Ternan.”

Claire Fisher (left) who collaborated with Sarah, said she had enjoyed writing the crowd scenes and she has her own role in the play as nurse Sally Swaddle, the local midwife.

The history of Barnet offers an array of script lines – including a meeting of the guardians at Barnet Workhouse, which was on the site of Barnet House in Wellhouse Lane.

A tense scene develops when a blacksmith’s widow from Finchley and her son face some tough questions about their future.

Another reminder of an earlier visit to Barnet when Dickens was said to have gained inspiration from the steps outside the former Victoria Bakery – steps which become the location in Oliver Twist where Oliver met the Artful Dodger.

That flashback is in the hands of Abel Able (Ross Wilson) who takes on the role of an Artful Dodger lookalike who again captures Dickens’ attention.

Once again props for the production are in the capable hands of sculptor and artist Cos Gerolemou, who has worked behind the scenes on so many of the company’s productions.

He came up with the idea of a sucking pig which has pride of place on the mantlepiece above the fire in the bar of the Red Lion.

For artistic director Siobhan Dunne (above left) – concentrating with Sarah Munford at an evening rehearsal – an annual challenge for the Blue Door Theatre Company is present an original play with a theme based around the history of Barnet and its literary connections.

Her success directing the company speaks for itself: last year’s production, Mary Livingstone, I Presume, based on events surrounding the year Dr David Livingstone lived on Hadley Green, was a sell-out.

Equally popular were original productions on the 1471 Battle of Barnet and the history of once celebrated Barnet Fair.

Barnet's Blue Door Theatre Company explores Charles Dickens' literary associations with Barnet in new production at The Bull Theatre

Between the Lines: Dickens Comes to Barnet features original live songs by composer Nick Godwin of The Silencerz.

There will be four productions, Thursday 23 April and Friday 24 April at 7.30pm; Saturday 25 April at 2pm and 7.30pm

Tickets £15 + booking fee via www.thebulltheare.com

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Barnet Vale residents a step nearer the day when Tudor Park’s derelict cricket pavilion might be open again for community use

A determined community effort in Barnet Vale to rescue and renovate an abandoned former cricket pavilion at Tudor Park has achieved a major objective – and to celebrate there are new artist’s impressions of what the renovated building might look like.

After lengthy negotiations, Barnet Council has finally agreed the terms of a 50-year lease with the Friends of Tudor Park and Pavilion, paving the way for the launch of a fund-raising appeal.

A binding agreement with the council would give the friends three years to present a detailed planning application to the council for rebuilding and improving a dilapidated structure which is currently closed to the public and is in desperate need of repair.

Once the paperwork is complete and the lease has been signed, the friends can start fund raising and making appeals to the National Lottery Community Fund, local charities and other groups for financial support towards a possible target of £800,000 to £1million.

Barnet Council has already agreed a £200,000 grant from community infrastructure funds.

Simon Cohen, chair of the friends’ committee who in 2020 initiated the campaign to save the 106-year-old pavilion for community use, outlined the terms of the lease at an exhibition of the latest images.

There would be no rent to pay for the first five years; £500 a year for the following five years; then increasing at £500 a year to year 20, followed by further increases in line with inflation.

A business plan prepared by the committee proposed that the pavilion would be open for community use and a variety of activities seven days a week from 9am to 9pm. A wide range of local groups have already expressed interest in making use of the building.

Committee vice chair Simon Kaufman outlined the latest proposals and images.

Consultations with the community showed the largest support was for the refurbished pavilion to include a café, overlooking the existing Tudor Park children’s playground, with accessible public toilets, indoor and outdoor seating areas and wheelchair access.

The main hall in the pavilion would be multi-functional with additional activity spaces, more toilets, lockers and storage for space for equipment.

There would be space in the central area to seat 50 people which could be expanded to take 80 people and even as many as 120 people with sliding internal walls.

Dogged community campaign in Barnet Vale to save abandoned cricket pavilion in Tudor Park a step closer with Barnet Council agreeing a 50-year lease

Instead of the metal bars which currently close off access to the pavilion the refurbished building might feature external decorative steel panels – as seen above – which could feature motifs reflecting local history and events.

The original portico of the pavilion would be preserved but along with major structural repairs, much of the interior and exterior would need to be rebuilt with installation of new windows and doors.

All those attending the presentation were urged to keep giving their opinions and making suggestions as to how they would like to see the pavilion renovated and repurposed for the use of the community.

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US tech firm reveals more about its plans to build one of Europe’s largest data centres in green belt land just to the south of Potters Bar

Potters Bar residents have had their first chance to learn more about a proposed data centre which is to be built on an 85-acre suite alongside the M25 motorway.

Itwill be so big it will almost fill the fields between the South Mimms service station at Junction 23 and Dame Alice Owen’s School – see diagram above.

Outline planning permission was approved by Hertsmere Borough Council a year ago for a 2 million square foot development which local objectors claim will be equal to the size of Wembley stadium and will obliterate green belt countryside.

Equinix, a US tech firm which is one of the world’s largest data centre operators, is proposing to invest £3.9 billion in the new centre which will be known as the Hertfordshire Campus, and which will be one of the largest in Europe.

The campus will require 250 megawatts of power – enough to run the equivalent of about 200,000 homes – and to meet the demand, National Grid is to supply the new campus with its own connection to the electricity grid ready for the data centre to come on stream in 2031.

A two-day exhibition of Equinix’s plans was held at Dame Alice Owen’s School where a group of local objectors gathered outside to express opposition to the loss of “incredibly precious countryside” for a development which they say will blight the area.

Ros Naylor (above, second from right), who is one of the lead protesters, said Potters Bar residents had enjoyed walking, riding and cycling along 11 rights of way across the fields between the outskirts of the town and the M25.

“The visual impact alone is going to obliterate local green belt land and instead we are going to have a monster development the size of Wembley stadium.”

She was joined for the protest by (from left to right) Fleur Albrecht, Councillor Simon Rhodes, and Margaret Ohren.

Councillor Rhodes, who serves on Hertfordshire County Council, pointed to the fields which would be lost when the data centre is built.

He had been shocked to discover that the emergency entrance would be via Bridgefoot Lane, directly opposite the entrance to Dame Alice Owen’s School.

“We are only just finding out what Equinix is proposing. We have checked with residents in around 1,500 houses nearby and none of them knew about it. Since January we have as a group registered 950 objections.”

Equinix is proposing to build a campus which would comprise four separate data centre buildings – three would be of 72-megawatt processing capacity and one of 48-megawatt capacity.

Building the campus at South Mimms would represent a £3.9 billion investment in the area, creating 2,500 construction jobs and 200 permanent skilled roles. The campus would generate £18 million a year in business rates.

Potters Bar residents get chance to learn more about massive data centre to be built alongside M25 motorway on fields between Junction 23 service station and Dame Alice Owen's School

In presenting an artist’s impression of how the campus would look, Equinix said it intended to retain and improve all the pedestrian, cyclist and bridle ways across the site.

During March there would be an archaeological fields inspection of the site followed an ecological survey in May.

Outline approval for the scheme was granted to a consortium known as DC01UK.

Equinix signed up to proceed with the project and the company’s aim is to submit a detailed planning application in August/September in the hope of starting construction in mid-2027 and the centre going on stream in 2031.

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Redevelopment of Dollis Valley estate to be restarted after two year delay following go ahead for construction of 221 new homes

Completion of the Brook Valley Gardens estate off Mays Lane – which is a regeneration of the Dollis Valley estate – has moved a step closer.

Progress has been stalled since 2023, but a revised deal has been agreed with the developers and approved by Barnet Council.

Demolition of the remaining 1960s high-rise blocks and maisonettes will take place shortly. This will allow work to start on another 221 new homes.

The redevelopment had to be halted when the developers told the council that it was no longer economically viable to build the final 221 new homes on the basis of a split between private and social housing.

To get the regeneration of Dollis Valley back on track, the council’s cabinet has decided that the new homes that are yet to be built will now all be socially rented and under the management of Barnet Homes.

However, the failure to continue – as was originally proposed – with the construction of another 128 houses for private sale, will mean that instead of Brook Valley Gardens being a mixed-tenure neighbourhood the estate will become 60 per cent social housing.

This change has angered many of householders in privately owned homes on the estate who are organising a petition to present to a meeting of the Dollis Valley Partnership board at its annual meeting in March.

They say that Barnet Council has failed to hold any consultations about a fundamental alteration to the terms under which they purchased their houses.

“Barnet Council is bulldozing this through and have been keeping residents in the dark over Brook Valley Gardens becoming 60 per cent social housing.”

Private householders are concerned about the future saleability of their properties because mortgage lenders now take into account the percentage of social v private housing on an estate.

Because the original plan was for 50 per cent private housing, high street banks were happy to lend money on Brook Valley Gardens properties but with 60 per cent social housing future owners might be unable to obtain mortgages without resorting to specialised lenders and this could “materially affect property values for existing homeowners.”  

Regeneration of Dollis Valley estate to be restarted with construction of 221 social rent homes to complete Brook Valley Gardens estate following Barnet Council approval

The remaining Mill Bridge and Garrowsfield blocks of flats and maisonettes in the Dollis Valley estate were surveyed in 2024 and were found to have widespread damp and mould.

They were deemed unsuitable for prolonged occupancy beyond December 2025 and the council decided to rehouse the tenants. Demolition is now to due start in the coming months.

The delay in finishing the estate arose because the joint developers Vistry Group (formerly Countryside Properties) and London and Quadrant declared that the original plans were no longer cost-effective.

Vistry proposed an alternative accelerated programme, and the council cabinet has now agreed to purchase 221 social and affordable rent homes from Vistry at a fixed price, subject to securing grant funding from the Greater London Authority.

On completion, Barnet Homes will manage the properties on behalf of the council. Eleven will be wheelchair accessible.

Vistry is proposing to deliver an accelerated programme of construction of replacement homes so that tenants rehoused from Mill Bridge and Garrowsfield can be prioritised to return on completion if they wish to.

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High Barnet Station – Mayor’s team set to decide own planning application                      

Since Barnet Council decided in December that it was minded to refuse Barratt London’s planning application, the Mayor of London has called it in for review. A public hearing seems likely directly after the local elections on 7 May 2026. The Barnet Society & Barnet Residents Association are greatly concerned that the Mayor’s decision won’t be impartial, and has sent the letter below to our MP, Barnet Councillors and its Greater London Assembly Member.

Readers are urged to make their feelings about the planning application known to Dan Tomlinson MP at dan.tomlinson.mp@parliament.uk and Assembly Member Anne Clarke at anne.clarke@london.gov.uk

We expect candidates seeking election to Barnet Council in May in wards in and around High Barnet will be asked by residents whether they are for or against the blocks of flats being proposed on the tube station car park. For some voters this will be a critical issue.

We are hoping for a clear indication of where candidates of all parties stand. The positions to be taken by our MP and GLA member are of particular interest ahead of polling day.

Dear Dan Tomlinson, Assembly Member Anne Clarke & selected Barnet Councillors

We write on behalf of the Barnet Society & Barnet Residents Association to ask if we can count on your support at the Mayor of London’s representation hearing on this planning application. As you will know, the Mayor called in the application following Barnet Council’s decision on 8 December 2025 that it was minded to refuse it.

The date for the hearing seems likely to be directly after the local elections on 7 May 2026.

Our principal concern at this point is the clear conflict of interest since the Mayor controls Transport for London, which not only owns the site and runs the tube and bus services connecting it to our neighbourhood, but has commissioned the project and stands to profit from its construction. That is setting, writing and marking your own homework.

Although the Mayor has delegated the decision to his Deputy, Jules Pipe, conflict of interest cannot be avoided since Jules Pipe has made statements in support of this and other TfL developments. He has also expressed regret at their refusal when they could not be called in. That is not an unbiased position from which to determine the future character of Chipping Barnet.

If approved, the application will have a most harmful impact on the town and its nearby green spaces, and set a benchmark for future development in the area. Visualisations in the application were cynically manipulated to downplay its deplorable visual impact.

We’d welcome well-designed homes at an appropriate scale of development. But this proposal grossly exceeds that.

Instead, it would

  • breach many policies in Barnet’s recently-adopted Local Plan, including its tall buildings assessment for this site endorsed by the Planning Inspectorate, and make incorrect use of the Hillingdon case to justify a tall building in this location;
  • create homes of unacceptably poor safety and quality in terms of layout, detailed design and amenity;
  • provide minimal improvements to accessibility and safety that would be negated by loss of the car park;
  • exacerbate existing congestion of the set-down and pick-up area, likely causing vehicles to back up onto the busy A1000;
  • irreparably harm the identity of the neighbourhood, nearby and from afar;
  • be unsustainable by many environmental standards, contrary to the developer’s claims; and
  • offer no compensating benefits of significance by way of transport connectivity or new/improved facilities to the existing community.

Our many pages of comments on the application detailed multiple breaches of Borough, London & National policy and guidance (some of them basic matters not revealed in earlier public consultations).

In sum, the site is unsuitable for 1,000 new residents. The resulting excessive height, density and design weaknesses – and the operational difficulties that would beset residents and travellers and the public, commercial and emergency services trying to serve them – risk repeating the mistakes of postwar housing estates. That would be to the lasting cost of our community and the identity and character of Chipping Barnet.

Regards

Robin Bishop

Planning & Environment Lead, the Barnet Society

Gordon Massey

Planning Consultant, Barnet Residents Association

The planning application can be viewed on Barnet Council’s planning portal (reference no. 25/2671/FUL). The Mayor of London’s case reference is 2025/0802/S2.

On our website you can read the Barnet Society’s objections to the scheme as well as coverage of the Council’s Planning Committee decision.

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Request for pre-planning negotiations over possible development of a large housing estate in green belt land off Rowley Lane, Arkley

An application has been made to Barnet Council by a housing developer seeking permission to start discussions on building up to 300 homes on 17 acres of green belt land off Rowley Lane, Arkley.

Part of the site was a former pig farm – see above – and the proposed development would take place in woods and scrubland between Rowley Lane and the A1 Barnet by-pass to the north of the Stirling Corner roundabout.

Bugler Homes of Rickmansworth is hoping to take advantage of new government guidance which came into effect a year ago and which allows for the release of some green belt land for housing.

Where there is green belt land which was “previously developed” and which does not “strongly contribute” to limiting urban sprawl, it can now be deemed grey belt land and can be developed for housing and other needs.

Arkley’s community group – Arkley Association – has been informed that Bugler Homes is at “an early stage of exploring opportunities to bring forward a grey belt application”.

The site has been purchased unconditionally by the company which says an assessment of the site indicates that it that would meet the criteria for grey belt approval.

Its “initial vision” is to build approximately 230 homes, with 50 per cent affordable housing; an 80-bed care home; publicly accessible green spaces and allotments; and improved public right of way footpaths.

“We want to work with the community to ensure the proposals reflect Arkley’s character and identity, help address local needs, and contribute positively to village life.”

Bugler has asked for a meeting with the association to discuss its proposal – a plan which has shocked and surprised many Arkley residents.

They fear that if approval is given it could connect to another large site closer to Stirling Corner which has been vacant since the demolition of a former police academy.

“Before we know it approval will have been given for housing on the whole of the triangle of land between Barnet by-pass, Barnet Road and Rowley Lane,” said one resident.

“That would desecrate the green belt, damage the village surroundings of Arkley and would lead to even more urban sprawl between Borehamwood and Barnet.”

Most of the houses in and around Arkley village are individual detached properties and except for Rockways off Barnet Road there are no significant housing developments.

If approval was given for up to 300 homes off Rowley Lane it would be Arkley’s first housing estate.

The 17-acre site which includes the former Rowley Bank Farm is to the rear of houses in Amethyst Close – see above – at the junction of Rowley Lane and Rowley Green Road.

Bugler Homes has asked to meet representatives of the Arkley Association which says it will now hold an extra-ordinary annual meeting to decide what action to take. Other interested groups will be invited to take part.

Government guidance on green belt land which might now be redesignated as grey belt says that this applies particularly to “previously developed” land such as the site of dis-used petrol stations or abandoned car parks.

Arkley Association informed of pre-planning application to build up to 300 homes on a 17-acre site off Rowley Lane. Bugler Homes to have discussions with Barnet Council.

The Arkley site includes abandoned buildings from the former pig farm – which have more recently been used for storage – and extensive hard standing.

When considering Bugler Homes’ plan, Barnet Council will be required under the government’s national planning policy framework, to assess the contribution which the site makes to the green belt and whether a grey belt approval would result in the remaining green belt in the area being “fundamentally undermined”.

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For almost 60 years Barnet’s Puddenecks Club has been hosting events including a meal and entertainment for the town’s elderly residents

Entertaining groups of Barnet’s senior citizens to a monthly supper evening is one of the many activities organised by one of the town’s oldest charities, the Puddenecks Club.

The Puddenecks are volunteers whose mission is to hold events which help elderly residents overcome the loneliness of being home alone.

Guest evenings in the winter months are followed by barbeques in the summer and there is a chance to keep fit at a weekly exercise class.

Like so many other community groups the club is keen to recruit additional volunteers and helpers and especially car drivers who can assist with transporting elderly guests and with fundraising.

Committee member Victor Valloti – seen above with guest Lesley Keating – said the club realised that the popularity of a monthly evening meal demonstrated of the importance of not forgetting the elderly.

Volunteers collect each of those attending an event directly from their homes and then drive them back again at the end of the evening.

“So many of the elderly, especially widows and those living alone don’t like going out on their own in the evening and our aim is to take the edge off that loneliness,” said club secretary Roger Moore.

Club members and volunteers are maintaining a contribution to the community which started in 1958 when a group of Sunday lunchtime drinkers got together in the now demolished Swan and Two Necks public house in High Road, Whetstone.

They decided to meet once a month for a steak and kidney pudding and then hold a meeting to decide how best to help older people in Barnet – hence their name, Puddenecks.

“We pride ourselves on making sure that any elderly resident we invite out is picked up at their home and then returned safely,” said Mr Moore (right) seen above signing up a new volunteer driver Larry Williams at the club’s February night out which was an evening meal with a Spanish theme at the Old Fold Manor Golf Club.

“It is quite an exercise collecting 75 or so senior citizens from their homes and then getting them back again but we know how much our efforts are appreciated.

“Many of those we collect from their homes are widows or other elderly ladies living on their own and they are just so fearful of going out on dark winter evenings, so we feel what we do is a real contribution to the community.

“We follow our monthly evenings out in the winter months with a couple of summer barbecues at Totteridge Millhillians Cricket Club.” 

Another of the precautions taken by the club to ensure the safety of their elderly guests is to invite along two volunteers from the Barnet division of the St John Ambulance Brigade.

“We realise that at one of our events we might need some medical support one day and we are so grateful for the support of their brigade’s volunteers.”

For the guests the great attraction of a meal out with the Puddenecks is the chance to chat with friends said Jenny Windsor (above, second from left) with Tony Cardosi, Angela Casali, Sandra Gallardo and Terry Gleeson.

“It is so important for us all to get out of the house and have a real chinwag with our friends. What the Puddenecks do for Barnet’s elderly cannot be praised enough,” said Jenny.

One of Barnet's oldest charities the Puddenecks Club is appealing for more volunteers to help with its evening meals and entertaintment for elderly residents

Mr Moore arrived at the club’s February evening after collecting Gillian Collison from her home. She could not wait to join her friends.

He said the club was launching an appeal for new members – and especially car drivers – because they felt there was low public awareness within Barnet for what the Puddenecks did.

Anyone who is interested in joining is asked to make contact by emailing roger.moore@puddenecksclub.org.uk or visit their website for more details www.puddenecksclub.org.uk

Each year the club raises upwards of around £40,000 to finance its activities.

A golf day at the Old Fold Golf Club in September followed by a dinner and auction is one the main fund-raising events.

There is also an annual charity dinner with a guest speaker, and these are backed up with donations and raffles, including an annual Christmas raffle at Ye Olde Monken Holt public house in Barnet High Street.

Mr Moore said the value of the club’s support for the elderly was underlined during the covid emergency when the Puddenecks delivered 100 portions of fish and chips to 100 residents twice a month.

“For those who can’t get to our guest evenings we continue to deliver 20 or so portions of fish and chips every two or three months.

“We also have an exercise class for an hour every week in the Wesley Hall – and that attracts 40 or so people who are instructed by a professional tutor.”

Probably the most eagerly anticipated event is the Puddenecks’ Christmas dinner where volunteers at the Totteridge Millhillians Cricket Club cook two meals, for a sitting at 12 noon and then another at 5pm.

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Unauthorised tree felling in protected woodland at Arkley has angered residents who fear a covert attempt to secure residential development

Arkley residents who have been campaigning for several years to safeguard woodland in Rowley Lane were shocked to see protected trees being felled across a one-acre plot – and their anger increased still further when Barnet Council apparently failed to take immediate action to stop the clearance.

They say it took the council’s tree protection team over 24 hours to intervene and by then most of the trees had already been cut down. Only a few that had been badly hacked about were still standing.

The plot where the clearance has taken place is part of a ten-acre woodland which is protected by a special nature conservation order designed to protect it from any land use change which might damage a protected habitat or species.

The residents fear that if developers get their way the woodland will be turned into sites for new houses.

Once this Green Belt land has been cleared of trees, the concern in the surrounding community, is that Barnet Council might be more likely to grant planning permission, despite approval having been refused in the past.  

When an adjoining one-acre plot was cleared in 2023 without permission the residents succeeded in obtaining a tree preservation order covering the whole site.

The wording of the nature conservation order was also strengthened to reflect the character of the land as “wooded with open glades of grass or scrub”.

The woodland, which is at the rear of Rowley Lodge, was sold off by a previous owner of the house and was subdivided into ten separate one-acre plots which were sold for a combined total of £1.3 million.

What has so angered the residents is that they say nothing happened on the day they complained to the council (18.2.2026) and when they notified the council again the following morning (19.2.2026) the protection team did not arrive until the afternoon.

“Within that 24-hour period the trees had been cut down. It is devastating. We now have Arkley’s very own Sycamore Gap; a woodland left with a gaping hole. It is a tragedy,” said one distraught resident.

Workmen who were challenged by the residents said the one-acre which was being cleared was being subdivided into three plots for houses.

“We have been assured planning permission will not be granted because it is Green Belt but the boarded off entrance to the woodland already has an agents’ sign indicating that plots are for sale.

When the ten acres were first sold off, five of the individual acres were purchased by householders whose properties backed on to the land and who were determined that it should be preserved as a woodland.

Two of the five acres in the hands of individual plot holders have now been cleared without permission and residents fear that there might be an attempt to prepare the other three acres for residential development.

Residents have appealed to Barnet councillor Emma Whysall to intervene of their behalf.  

(Photos supplied by residents)

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“Love them or lose them” is the blunt message from the organisers of Barnet’s summer round of shows, fetes and festivals

Organisers of a busy programme of summer shows and festivals in and around High Barnet hope there will be maximum support this year because today’s tough times are forcing the postponement and even cancellation of some popular events.

Out in front once again is Barnet Classic Car Club’s annual show which is to be held on Sunday 17 May on the top floor of The Spires car park — see above last year’s display of Jaguar cars.

Four concerts – including a family concert – will be held between June 6-28 by the High Barnet Chamber Music Festival which is backed this year by Arts Council England.

Another highlight of the summer calendar will be the two-day Barnet Medieval Festival over the weekend of June 6-7, back for a second year at its new site in Galley Lane.

Fields around Fold Farm (Lewis of London Ice Cream) provided an ideal location last summer with record crowds for the re-enactments of the Battles of Barnet and St Albans and masses of space for a campsite, medieval traders and enthusiasts.

Publicity material is already out for the annual Arkley Village Fayre on Saturday 23 May and its highly popular all comers dog show – see above, last year’s winners.

Other events planned include Queen Elizabeth’s School’s founders’ day fete on Saturday 20 June; Jazz and More on Hadley Green on Sunday 5 July (12pm to 6pm); and Hadley Wood Association’s fireworks night on Sunday 1 November.

Financial challenges, a shortage of helpers, complex safety regulations and higher Barnet Council charges are all adding to the pressures facing the volunteer committees which work so hard behind the scenes.

Their plea to the residents of Barnet and further afield is to put dates in the diary and to help ensure the continued success of what promises to be an entertaining and engaging programme of events.

“Love them or lose them” is the blunt message.

Summer programme of shows, festivals and fetes in and around High Barnet and an extra strong plea this year for strong public support

Even the town’s biggest annual celebration, Barnet Christmas Fayre, is facing an unprecedented financial challenge.

For the first time it seems the organisers might have to raise the funds to meet the cost of road and bus-route diversions which are needed to keep the High Street clear of traffic.

If Barnet Council is unable to absorb the estimated cost of around £4,000, the fayre committee might have to launch an appeal and look for additional sponsors.

One popular event which has had to be cancelled this year is the Barnet Summer Soulstice soul music festival which has been held for the last 18 years at the Old Elizabethans playing fields in May Lane.

But the Spring into Soul Ball – also in aid of Cherry Lodge Cancer Care – is being held on Saturday 21 March at the Double Tree Hilton Hotel in Borehamwood.

Another of this year’s casualties is the East Barnet Festival which is planning on returning in 2027. Organisers have issued a plea for support for next year’s event which they say will help “keep the spirit of East Barnet alive”.

After missing out last year, Potters Bar Carnival is due to return on Sunday 14 June with live performances from show bands and dance troupes. Community support is vital to the carnival’s success.

East Finchley Festival is booked in for Sunday 21 June but again the organisers have issued a plea for support because of the mounting costs and challenges facing self-funded events.