Category: General News

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Mayor Khan’s proposed London Plan puts pressure on Barnet

view of derelict Green Belt land near Stirling Corner

Barely five years after Mayor Khan’s current London Plan came into force, he’s consulting on a new one. The good news is that it will be a lot slimmer than the present version. The bad news for Barnet is that he’s upping his target for new homes in our borough, and he’s identified places in the Green Belt where some of them could be built.

The draft new Plan was published in July and is open for comments until 15 October. Its housing target for Barnet is to build 32,730 new homes between 2028 & 2037 – a 38% increase on the present London Plan. That still won’t be enough to deliver the Labour government’s pledge of 1.5 million new homes over the lifetime of this parliament. The Mayor and other Labour politicians are increasingly keen to pull any levers that might boost housing supply.

Since brownfield sites within Barnet are limited and more expensive to build on, the Mayor wants the Council to build 7,000 homes in its Green Belt (see map below). He states a preference for using those parts of it deemed ‘Grey Belt’, which could include derelict land in Arkley such as the site illustrated above. But he acknowledges that some greenfield areas will have to be sacrificed.

On his election as MP for Chipping Barnet, Dan Thomlinson said, ‘Our green spaces and the beautiful Green Belt here in this constituency is something that I will always fight for and protect’. We hope he still keeps that promise.

The Plan would require at least 50% of new homes in the Green Belt to be ‘affordable’, or 35% in the case of schemes for 10-35 homes. (Developments of fewer than 10 homes are exempt.) These are ambitious targets, significantly higher than normally offered by developers. If they can be achieved, the Barnet Society might consider that a reasonable trade-off for the loss of some poor-quality Green Belt.

The Plan would subject any residential development in the Green Belt to conditions. Notably, the vast majority of the new homes would have to be located either within 400m of an eligible bus route or 1.2km – 15 minutes’ walk – from one of seven ‘well-connected’ rail and tube stations in Barnet. But that puts most of the constituency of Chipping Barnet in the frame, i.e. from Arkley to Hadley, and from New Barnet to Whetstone.

In addition to these seven ‘broad locations for growth’ (BLGs), the draft Plan also identifies ‘future industrial-led Green Belt candidates’ around the A1 at Borehamwood. This could include the extensive tract of land north-east of Stirling Corner (pictured at the top of this post).

Other industrial-led sites are by the M25 in Enfield, possibly associated with a 21,000-home new town at Crews Hill. That proposal is supported by the government and the Mayor of London, though – since the May local elections – no longer by Enfield Council.

The Plan also sets out strategic criteria for the construction of additional data centres across London to meet the growing demand. These are typically enormous boxes that consume large quanties of electricity and water (for cooling).

The draft London Plan makes no mention of the proposal in Barnet’s Local Plan to create a new Regional Park on the Green Belt and Metropolitan Open Space stretching between Arkley, Scratchwood and Mill Hill. Unless kept to the absolute minimum necessary for sustainable management of the Park, residential or commercial development within this zone would defeat its whole point.

You can read more about these threats and opportunities in my previous web post on the Green Belt.

Barnet Council has declared its objection to the Mayor’s proposals for housing and the Green Belt, which contradict the Local Plan that it adopted only last year. Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Homes and Regeneration, Cllr Ross Houston, said:

“Barnet Council will carefully assess the detail of the draft London Plan before submitting its formal response to the consultation and we will continue to work with residents, communities and partners to ensure any future growth delivers the homes, opportunities and neighbourhoods that people need and want to see.”

Cllr Houston, the Barnet Society would be delighted to work with you, especially on the existential threat to our Green Belt.

Above: Cllr Ross Houston speaking at a Barnet Society public meeting on housing in Barnet in 2023

You can view the draft Plan here. Tell Mayor Khan your views by doing one of the following:

– complete the online survey,
– email londonplan@london.gov.uk(External link

– write to Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, Draft London Plan, London Plan Team, Planning & Regeneration, City Hall, Kamal Chunchie Way, London, E16 1ZE.

The deadline for comments is 5pm on Thursday, 15 October 2026.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Or volunteer@barnetcab.org.uk

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Music has been arranged by Nick Godwin.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“This has been a long journey.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Top image Simon Kaufman Architects

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Planning Inspector dismisses appeal to build mansion in Christchurch Lane spinney

An Inspector has dismissed an appeal by developer Christchurchgrove Ltd against Barnet Council’s refusal of its planning application to build a 5-bedroom house in a wood in Chipping Barnet. The decision concludes a successful campaign by local residents, with help from the Barnet Society, to save a cherished natural habitat in the Monken Hadley Conservation Area. It also sends a message to developers about the Council’s commitment to protecting green spaces in Barnet.

Although only one acre in area, the spinney beside Christchurch Lane forms a link in a green chain connecting Old Fold Manor golf course and Hadley Green, both in the Green Belt. Both are also designated Areas of Particular Importance for Biodiversity in the Mayor of London’s Nature Recovery Plan. Many trees in the wood are subject to Tree Preservation Orders (TPOs) and it is a haven of wild life, for example the Muntjac deer and her fawn in the photograph above (courtesy of neighbour Marianne Nix).

Concerns arose two years ago, when it emerged that the Council had authorised the sale of the part of the spinney that it owns for £430,000, subject to the buyer obtaining planning consent. But its own planning and biodiversity officers took issue with aspects of the preliminary ecological appraisal commissioned by the developer and breaches of Barnet’s Local Plan.

In parallel local residents monitored wildlife in the wood, photographing and recording a fascinating range of birds, bats and animals coming and going within 200 metres of Barnet High Street (as reported in our web post on 31 January). A petition to Save Chipping Barnet Woodland was started in September 2025, and within a few months had been supported by over 2,250 signatures. 

A planning application was eventually submitted in January this year. It comprised a new mansion, designed in the Arts & Crafts style of existing houses in Sunset View, with a private garden and an enclosed swimming pool. In response to Society suggestions, the house boundaries were softened to integrate the garden more closely with the existing vegetation, and a plan was offered to manage the whole of the spinney. Despite constructive pre-application discussions between the developer and the Society, however, the final proposals did not go far enough to safeguard the existing environment and we objected to them – as did 278 other members of the public. Not a single comment was submitted in support.

Barnet planners recommended refusal of the application. Not only did the application breach several policies in its Local Plan (adopted only last year), it would have contradicted the Green Manifesto which had formed part of Labour’s platform in the 2022 local elections. Perhaps with an eye on the impending May local elections, the Council rejected the application on 10 March.

Almost immediately, the developer appealed against the Council’s decision.

The Planning Inspectorate’s verdict, published on 10 July, is unambiguous:

‘…the development of the site would have a harmful impact on the character and appearance of the area…and would fail to preserve the character or appearance of the Monken Hadley Conservation Area [MHCA]’, as well as being contrary to policies in The London Plan and the Barnet Local Plan.’

The Inspector echoed the opinion of local residents:

‘The sense of depth and scale that the woodland currently possesses is of considerable value…It provides a characterful wooded setting to the adjacent development and ties these roads into the wider landscape character of the MHCA…’

S/he also noted that,

‘This impact would be exacerbated by the proposed design…the proposed dwelling would appear to sit within an overgrown garden without a clear visual and spatial connection to the road or the sense of grandeur that many dwellings in the area possess.’

Regarding the hedge proposed around the site perimeter, the Inspector commented,

‘It is however highly doubtful that it would be possible to plant and successfully establish a continuous hedge in this location given the number of trees that would be retained around the edges of the site and their scale.’

Furthermore,

‘…the value of the woodland and the presence of a veteran tree, have not been accurately assessed, resulting in an unreliable biodiversity net gain calculation.’

The Society and campaigners have welcomed the Inspector’s decision. Retired GP Richard Norris commented,

‘Very definite rejection from Planning Inspector Tucker, very detailed, gives me faith in our institutions.’

Marianne Nix, who was instrumental in setting up the Save Chipping Barnet Woodland website and petition said,

‘I am delighted and hugely relieved that the Planning Inspectorate has dismissed the Appeal. The local community has worked together tirelessly to raise funds to publicise and to fight the potential destruction of this precious pocket of green on our doorsteps. Together we have gained the support of thousands of Barnet residents as well as petition signatures from all parts of the UK and even overseas. The World is waking up to the fact that we need to protect even the smallest pockets of nature and biodiversity that we in Barnet are lucky enough to enjoy.’

She thanked everyone who had objected to the planning application. But she went on to warn,

‘Although the veteran trees and wildlife are safe for now, I have a feeling there will be another application, this time with two or three houses.’

So we can’t relax. The Barnet Society was founded specifically to protect London’s Green Belt and the wider environment, and these are under greater threat than ever. We need funds to continue doing so. If you haven’t done so already, please join us or donate – just go to the top of this page.

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The Barnet Society mourns the passing of its remarkable President

Aubrey Rose CBE, proud President of the Barnet Society, died on 26th June 2026 aged 99. He was a great supporter of the Society, always ready with encouragement and advice. He helped secure The Bull as a community resource, and his experience of town planning was a help to the Society’s planning and environmental work. Jenny Remfry, our Vice President, writes the following appreciation:

The Barnet Society committee sometimes met at Aubrey’s house, Monken Holt on Hadley Green. In 1995, as part of the celebrations of the Barnet Society’s 50th anniversary, we held a garden party there.

He was elected President in 2005, succeeding Sir Sydney Chapman MP, who had been unseated by Theresa Villiers in the 2005 General Election, and Gwyneth Cowing, the Society’s Co-founder and first President. 

Aubrey was modest in appearance and gentle in manner, but jovial and very sociable. He was a wise man to whom one could take one’s problems. He would listen intently, think deeply, then answer in a kindly way.     

Aubrey was born in 1926. His parents had come as immigrants from Poland to London’s East End in the early 20th century, and their experience gave Aubrey a sympathy for immigrants, particularly those from Commonwealth countries. In the 1940s, after a couple of years in the army, Aubrey became a lawyer the hard way, starting as an articled clerk while studying for the exams to become a solicitor. In 1951, at the age of 25, he set up his own practice – half a room furnished with a desk, one chair and a filing cabinet – in Fleet Street.

His first client was a young woman and her aunt who were opening a dress shop. The young woman was Sheila, whom he married in 1954 and with whom he lived happily until her death in 2007. He built up his business, taking on assistants and partners and was the Senior Partner from 1971 to 1995.

Aubrey tells the story of his life as a solicitor with great humour in his book ‘Brief Encounters of a Legal Kind’ published in 1997. Many of his early clients came from Poland, Ireland and the Caribbean. But that was just the start of a remarkable career.

In the 1950s, one of his clients was a confidence trickster – the father of John le Carré. In the 1960s, he advised on the development of Carnaby Street in the heart of ‘Swinging London’.

In the 1970s he was the legal advisor to the Hosein brothers accused of kidnapping Mrs Muriel McKay.

In the 1980s he advised the enquiry into the Brixton riots that led to the Scarman Report.

In the 1990s he was involved in the legal conundrum of whether the London Electricity Board had the right to build an electricity substation under Leicester Square. (In the end, they did.)  Also in the 1990s, Aubrey was involved in the setting up of the National Lottery.

It was in the 1970s that Aubrey moved with his family to Monken Holt. My first contact with him was in 1979.  His elder son, David, had died of cancer, leaving a large collection of interesting abstract paintings. Aubrey was desolated and determined that his son would not be forgotten. He came to the Old Bull and arranged with Pam Edwards to use the gallery to exhibit David’s works. After that, Aubrey became a great supporter of the Old Bull and chaired a committee to raise money for the proposed theatre that was opened in 1988.

Although a practising Jew in the Liberal tradition and serving on the Board of Deputies of British Jews for over 50 years, Aubrey was ecumenical in his outlook. He often came to the Parish Church on Christmas Day, and was a member of the Council of Christians and Jews. He was the first Jewish Commissioner on the Commission for Racial Equality and its Deputy Chairman in 1995. He was the only Jewish trustee of Barnet’s Hyde Trust.

He also supported Cherry Lodge, a Nurses’ Association, the Jewish Association of Spiritual Healers, and was a Freeman of the City of London. In 1997 he was honoured with the CBE for his work in the community.

Aubrey published several books and was proud to be a member of the Society of Authors, and to receive an honorary doctorate from London Metropolitan University in 2000. The book he wrote in 1997 about his son David – ‘Journey into Immortality’ was well received. This was followed by an autobiography – ‘Rainbow Never Ends’ in 2006 – and ‘Letters to my Wife’ as a tribute to Sheila. More recently, he has written books for children, such as ‘Sea Olympics’ published in 2012.  

Aubrey loved giving talks, many of them on life in the old East End. More recently, he made contributions to the Barnet U3A. He is fondly remembered by the members he introduced to the fundamentals of Bridge, and intrigued others by giving talks on faith healing and the spirit world. 

Aubrey’s funeral was held on 30th June at the Western Cemetery, Bulls Cross, attended by his family, colleagues and many friends. In her eulogy, Aubrey’s daughter Esther spoke of his gentleness. During his lifetime he gave help, advice and encouragement to hundreds of people, many of whom became lifelong friends. He was, she said, extremely perceptive and observant, with views on all sorts of things, but he expressed them with grace, kindness and restraint. He always saw the best.   

Barnet has lost a remarkable man.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Barnet Council and MP Dan Tomlinson are ready to take action on reports of shopkeepers selling illegal or counterfeit products

In a further attempt to curb the growth of dodgy shops along high streets in his constituency, the Chipping Barnet MP Dan Tomlinson is encouraging residents to report their suspicions directly to him.

He has established an online portal where constituents can pass on suspicions about the sale of illegal or counterfeit products or where premises are suspected of being engaged in fraud or linked to organised crime.

His initiative follows figures released by Barnet Council’s trading standards staff which showed that seizures increased again during the last financial year with the removal from high streets across the borough of illegal goods worth over £500,000.

Residents are asked to report to the council any retailers that they think are engaged in illicit trading – see below for contact details.

Chipping Barnet MP Dan Tomlinson and Barnet Council encouraging residents to report concerns about illegal activity by shopkeepers and sale of illicit or counterfeit products

Mr Tomlinson’s offer of another confidential route for reporting suspicions within his constituency builds on his ministerial role as Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury which includes responsibility for a nationwide crackdown by HM Revenue and Customs on illegal activity and tax evasion among high street traders.

Earlier this month Mr Tomlinson observed unannounced visits by HMRC to six souvenir shops in central London selling royal family and London-themed gifts which resulted in the collection of full till data for tax investigations, three arrests and seizure of goods worth £5,433.

HMRC is increasing unannounced interventions across the UK to target criminals usings shops as a front for tax evasion, money laundering and fraud.

Mr Tomlinson is keen to follow up any leads he receives from people in his Chipping Barnet constituency about shops which might be selling harmful, illegal, or counterfeit products.

“We can all picture a local dodgy shop. You’ll have seen the signs. Shops selling products that seem illegal or off,” said Mr Tomlinson.

“Multiple identical businesses clustered together on the same street: four mini marts within metres of each other; three vape shops in a row; two of the same phone repair places.

“Or premises that seem to close and re-open under a new name every few months.

“They aren’t coincidences – they’re red flags, and they need looking into.”

Such premises undermined legitimate businesses and where there were grounds for further action, he would raise this directly with Barnet Council, trading standards and the government.

“The more detail you can give on this issue, the better.”

Statistics issued by Barnet Council show that in the last financial year its trading standards team seized more than 16,000 tobacco-related products and nearly 8,000 vapes, together with illicit toys, cosmetics and jewellery.

Two criminal prosecutions were secured, resulting in fines of £12,398; a further 12 cases are awaiting criminal prosecution; 18 fines were issued to letting agents and landlords; three closures orders were obtained, shutting down businesses involved in unlawful trading; and started alcohol licence reviews against a further four premises.

Contact details for reporting suspicions about shops selling illicit products:

Dan Tomlinson MP: www.dantomlinson.org.uk/dodgy-shops

Barnet Council trading standards: http://www.barnet.gov.uk/tradingstandards

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Praise for “amazing generosity” of classic and vintage car owners and supporters in raising money for Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice  

Ten classic and vintage cars lined up outside Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice in Byng Road for the handover of a cheque for the proceeds of the 13th annual show held in May by Barnet Classic Car Club.

Match funding from sponsors increased the money raised at the show and other club events to a total of £9,397.70.

Club committee member Chris Frost handed over the cheque to Faye Armitage, Noah’s Ark’s community engagement officer, who praised their support for the children’s hospice which she said was always more generous than the year before.

“The classic car owners and enthusiasts do an amazing job fundraising on our behalf.”

The club’s contribution of just over £5,500 included match funding of £1,500 from the Royal Bank of Canada whose staff were among volunteers who assisted at the show staged on the top floor of The Spires car park.

Chris Frost – seen above handing the cheque to Faye Armitage – said Classic Car Club and Barnet Rotary Club members were full of admiration for the contribution made by Noah’s Ark – “a children’s hospice is a vital resource for our community”.

Cars processed to the presentation from the playing fields car park in Byng Road.

The presentation followed closely on national children’s hospice awareness week.

Barnet Classic Car Club hands over cheque for proceeds from 13th annual show to Noah's Ark Children's Hospice and praised for their generosity

Noah’s Ark gets 76 per cent of its income from voluntary donations and fundraising – support which is especially vital at a time when the children’s hospice sector is facing an estimated £310 million funding gap.

Currently 91 per cent of children’s hospices in England – including Noah’s Ark – are operating at a deficit.

Noah’s Ark, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, has announced a new three-year strategy aimed at reaching more families and securing a sustainable future.

Across its catchment area – the London boroughs of Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Haringey and Islington and Hertsmere – an estimated 5,700 children may now be eligible for support provided by the hospice.

Essential services to babies, children and young people who meet the acceptance criteria currently cost over £7 million a year.      

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Deputy Mayor of London has high praise for a new High Barnet estate of houses and flats being built on former farmland at Whalebones

Construction of new houses and flats is well underway on what was the last remaining field on the border betweenHigh High Barnet and Arkley – a development described by a Deputy Mayor of London as a “fantastic example” of delivering new homes while preserving a green space and respecting the heritage of the location.

Work on the new Whalebones Park housing estate began last year after those campaigning to preserve the Whalebones woods and farmland finally admitted defeat.

Barnet Council voted narrowly in favour of the scheme and the Mayor of London gave the final go-ahead for the construction of 115 new homes, a mix of houses for private sale and affordable homes in blocks ranging from two to five storeys in height.

The first of the new homes are expected to be completed by the summer next year.

Deputy Mayor of London praises controversial redevelopment on farmland at Whalebones for its contribution to providing the high quality and affordable homes needed by Londoners

Tom Copley, deputy mayor of London for housing and development, was welcomed on an official visit to the site by Greg Hill, deputy chief executive of the developers, The Hill Group, and Joe Mashall, chief investment and development officer for affordable housing charity Sovereign Network Group.

(Hill Group photo, See above, Tom Copley, with spade, and on his left London Assembly Member Councillor Ann Clarke and Greg Hill; and on his right, High Barnet Councillor Emma Whysall and Joe Marshall).

The purpose of the visit was to review progress on a development aimed at addressing London’s housing need while “preserving and enhancing” the character of an important heritage site.

Mr Copley praised the commitment of the Hill Group and SNG in preserving green space around the development and enhancing biodiversity.

“Whalebones Park is a fantastic example of how we can deliver the high-quality, genuinely affordable homes Londoners need while creating places where communities can thrive,” said Mr Copley.

“Developments like this are vital to building a better, fairer London.”

Mr Marshall said a total of 54 affordable homes – one, two and three-bedroom apartments – would be delivered through a partnership between The Hill Group and SNG and they would give local people greater access to affordable rent and shared ownership in an area where demand remained high.

“Combined with the new green spaces, community facilities and long-term investment in the landscape, this development will make a lasting positive impact for both new and existing residents.”  

Andy Hill, founder and group chief executive of The Hill Group, has always insisted the Whalebones Park development will respect the heritage of the Grade II listed Whalebones House, formerly the home of Cowing family, proprietors of the Barnet Press.

Around half of the 12 acre-site will be retained as publicly accessible open space, “ensuring the natural beauty and heritage of Whalebones Park is protected for future generations”.

“Residents and the wider community will benefit from attractive meadows, healing gardens, ponds, natural play areas, a woodland walk and accessible routes.”

A biodiversity net gain of 10 per cent would be achieved through the planting of 200 new trees and 750 metres of new hedgerow, alongside a long-term management plan to protect habitats and green infrastructure.

The new homes will feature air-source heat pumps, solar panels and sustainable urban drainage systems to ensure the neighbourhood is “low carbon, energy efficient and environmentally sensitive”.

The development will retain a site for an agricultural smallholding to replace the original Whalebones farm; a new community building including a new studio for Barnet Guild of Artists; and one site parking.  

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Blacked out parking signs thought to be indication of anger and frustration at Barnet Council’s pay-by-phone parking charges in Mays Lane

Anger among Underhill residents over Barnet Council’s imposition of parking charges outside a parade of shops in Mays Lane is said to be a likely reason why parking signs have been obliterated with black paint.

After six months of protests and petitions the council’s cabinet has finally agreed to re-think the scheme – and there is every indication the parking restrictions and charges will be dramatically scaled back.

Instead of all-day charging the council is examining a proposal to limit this to one hour – between 2pm and 3pm – when a pay-by-phone parking charge would apply.

If the council agrees, parking would again be free in the service road in front of the six shops, except for the one hour when charges would apply.

Parking restrictions at the Mays Lane parade would then be in line with the adjoining CPZ where there is a 2pm to 3pm restriction when parking is only permitted by residents with parking permits.

A one-hour ban in the early afternoon is intended to prevent all-day free parking – and the same principle would apply outside the Mays Lane shops preventing cars being left all day.

Almost immediately when the parking charges were introduced at the start of the year, Mays Lane traders complained bitterly about a dramatic loss in business as regular customers, who made brief stops outside the shops, were intimidated by the restrictions and pay-by-phone charging.

Charges apply from Monday to Saturday, from 8am to 6.30pm, for a maximum stay of one hour – a requirement which the traders claim is out of all proportion and is intended solely to boost the council’s income from parking charges.

At a meeting of the council’s cabinet (15.6.2026), Councillor Alan Schneiderman who leads on the environment and climate change, indicated that the council was “minded” to lift all-day charging and opt instead for a one-hour restriction to discourage all day parking.

Council officials have been asked to examine the practicalities of bringing this into effect and a decision will be made within 20 days (by mid-July).

A petition calling on the council to think again was presented by Gina Theodorou on behalf of the Quinta Green Residents Association and Underhill Residents Group.

She said the six shops on the parade depended on customers being able to make brief stops in the service road, but they were now faced with having to pay the highest parking charges in the borough when many of their customers resisted using the pay-by-phone system.

Blacked out parking charge signs in Mays Lane a sign of local anger over imposition by Barnet Council of pay-by-phone parking outside parade of shops.

The impact of the charges had been dramatic:

Coopers of Barnet had received countless complaints and the restrictions felt like the “final straw” after 40 years’ business in Mays Lane.

Mays Pets – the last remaining independent pet shop in the borough – had lost 50 per cent of its takings and had been forced to lay off staff.

Much as she did not condone vandalism, Ms Theodorou thought the painting over of the parking signs reflected “the depth of local anger” when other parades of shops had free periods and when the restrictions failed to align with the nearby CPZ.

“Please instruct officials to carry out an immediate review and engage with the traders – once the shops are gone, they cannot be replaced.”

Ms Theodorou was supported by the newly elected Underhill Councillor Josh Tapper who proposed a continuing restriction with charging between 2pm and 3pm but otherwise free parking which would incentivise local people to use the shops while discouraging all-day parking.

Councillor Schneiderman explained that the rationale for introducing parking charges outside the Mays Lane shop was that the service road was midway between two CPZs and if it was left uncontrolled, there was a danger people would park there free all day.

However, he accepted that the idea of limiting charging to an hour – and bringing it into line with the CPZ – “did make sense”.

Councillors were keen to listen, and he hoped the solution which had been suggested would prove acceptable.

Ms Theodorou agreed that local business would be prepared to look at the compromise which had been proposed.

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Volunteer guardians of Chipping Barnet’s open spaces, countryside and community initiatives praised by MP Dan Tomlinson

Volunteers who look after the countryside and manage outdoor activities met their MP Dan Tomlinson at a reception at the House of Commons where he congratulated them for all they did to preserve the greenery which he said was such an attractive feature of the Chipping Barnet constituency.

What linked his guests was that they were all nature lovers determined to help others enjoy the natural world – whether it was growing fruit and vegetables, caring for the natural environment or protecting the green belt.

Seven allotment sites in the constituency had representatives at the reception as well volunteers from Barnet Environment Centre in Byng Road and the campaign to keep Dollis Brook clear of litter.

Another guest was award-winning Wendy Alcock, founder of Incredible Edible Barnet, a community group which encourages home cultivation in gardens and on un-used land.

“What people love about Barnet are our green spaces and all of you are the corner stone in protecting them,” said Mr Tomlinson.

A team of supporters from GROW, the school farm at The Totteridge Academy, were delighted to hear the MP’s praise for a project which produces fruit and vegetables for the school kitchen as well for sale to the community.

Team Grow – above, from left to right, Sam (trustee), Dan Tomlinson, Tara (communications lead), Marta (senior grower) and Lynn, volunteer – were keen to use their meeting with their MP to help promote a series of events at the farm in Barnet Lane: Open Day on June 27; Pick Your Own Flowers on 25 July, 8 August and 5 September; and Pumpkin Time on 24 October.

Mr Tomlinson reminded his guests that after his recent launch of a community action network for his constituency he was hoping to help promote initiatives where local people could get together to assist with non-partisan campaigns and projects.

His search for a project met an immediate response from leading members of Friends of Tudor Park and Pavilion who have launched a bid to rescue and renovate the abandoned former cricket pavilion in Barnet Vale.

He told their deputation – above, from left to right, Simon Kaufman, Alexander Cohen, Dan Tomlinson, Hannah Lawrence and Simon Cohen – that he was very supportive of their campaign to save the pavilion.

“I will be looking to see what more I can do as their MP to help get the project off the ground.”

Currently the abandoned pavilion is considered unsafe and is cordoned off but what concerns the activists is that the building is deteriorating quite rapidly – a crack in the western elevation has expanded to two inches in width within a year.

“A structural engineer has told us that this crack needs to be repointed to stabilise the building otherwise it could become a risk to public safety,” said Mr Kaufman.

“We are frustrated by the length of time it is taking Barnet Council to finalise the paperwork for the Friends to sign an agreement to lease the building, so any help from our MP would be much appreciated.”

MP Dan Tomlinson praises nature lovers who care for green spaces in his Chipping Barnet constituency and who encourage home cultivation of fruit and vegetables

Robin Bishop, who leads for the Barnet Society on planning and the environment, (above right with Barnet Society member Kim Ambridge) used the reception as a chance to impress on Mr Tomlinson the need for action over the long-standing proposal to create a regional park to the west of Barnet.

A large swathe of green belt and metropolitan open land stretching west from Arkley and south to Mill Hill was earmarked as a possible regional park in the Barnet strategy plan for 2019-2030.

Given all the pressure for new housing – and the likelihood that substantial parts of Barnet’s green belt could be designated ‘grey belt’ for residential development – Mr Bishop said a regional park designation could safeguard farmland and open spaces and open them up to the public.

“A regional park designation would become a significant planning consideration, to which any planning inspector would have to give it due weight. It is proposed in Barnet’s Local Plan, but so far nothing has been done about it,” said Mr Bishop.

“Safeguarding this open land from development is the only way we can preserve a green gap between Barnet and Borehamwood.”    

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Up went the hands in favour of Barnet Society members contributing to any appeal to fund a legal challenge to High Barnet station flats

Barnet Society members have voted decisively to support and contribute to any campaign to mount a legal challenge against the Deputy Mayor of London’s decision to overrule Barnet Council and authorise the go ahead for blocks of flats on the car park at High Barnet tube station.

The deadline for an application for a judicial review is Tuesday 7 July.

Although Barnet Council has yet to announce if it has any intention of challenging the mayor’s decision in the High Court, Barnet Residents Association says it is seeking advice on whether there might be grounds for pursuing a judicial review.

When asked for their response at the annual general meeting of the Barnet Society, members voted unanimously in favour of the society contributing towards the cost of an application for judicial review.

There was also a unanimous vote by those who were present to contribute personally to a legal fund – and half the members who were there indicated they would contribute £100 each if necessary.

Robin Bishop (above), the society’s lead on planning issues, told the meeting that possible grounds for judicial review might be that the deputy mayor had pre-judged the application and ignored Barnet’s local plan which limited the height of any blocks to seven storeys – when the proposed scheme included one tower block of 11 storeys.

A High Court challenge would be costly: initial legal advice would amount to around several thousand pounds, and a full legal challenge could cost around £40,000, which might double if costs had to be paid to Transport for London.

Committee member Nick Saul (above, left) advised the meeting that the deputy mayor’s decision could be challenged on the grounds it was a test case when it came to applications to build on Transport for London land.

Calling in the High Barnet station scheme for the mayor’s approval was not a first in itself, but was the first to be considered and decided upon at a hearing at City Hall.

Similar applications for developments at Stanmore and Canons Park stations were called in, but both were withdrawn before a hearing took place.

An alternative suggestion made at the meeting was that local groups might launch a petition to persuade Barnet Council to declare the station car park as an asset of community value – a step which would prevent the land being developed by TfL’s investment subsidiary Places for London and developers Barratt.

Mr Bishop promised to keep the society abreast of any moves within the community to launch a judicial review and consider other options such as seeking ACV status for the car park to block the scheme – a safeguard that would remain in place for around 5 years.

The possibility of getting involved in legal action only served to underline the significance of a separate decision at the annual meeting to prepare the necessary documents for an application to convert the society into a company limited by guarantee.

Barnet Society members ready to support and contribute any fund to mount legal challenge to Deputy Mayor of London's decision to give go ahead for blocks of flats over High Barnet tube station car park.

Committee member Mahender Khari (above) explained the importance to voluntary community groups of taking advantage of the legal protection which this structure offered to committee members.

Increasingly non-profit groups such as charities and clubs were becoming a company limited by guarantee because it created an up-to-date and more stable financial structure and assisted when seeking grants or other funding.

Mr Khari thanked the annual meeting for their support and said the committee would now proceed with the preparation of the paperwork which would be needed to register with Companies House.

Once the documentation had been completed it would be sent out to members before being voted on at an extra-ordinary general meeting.

John Hay, the society’s chair – who is also trustee treasurer for the Friends of Tudor Park and Pavilion – told the meeting that there had been some progress at last on the bid to rescue and renovate the abandoned former cricket pavilion.

A head of agreement had been settled with Barnet Council and the friends’ committee was waiting to sign an agreement to lease the pavilion.

Once that step had been completed there would be a chance to examine the state of the building – at heightened risk because of a widening crack on the west elevation – and that could lead on to a signing of the lease itself.

Mr Hay acknowledged the frustration over the time this was taking but the council had now agreed that no rent would be charged on the pavilion for the first five years, followed by a pepper corn rent, and that £191,000 was available in a fund set aside by the council for repairs.

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Park Quarter flats reshaping New Barnet as final deadline approaches over proposed high-rise blocks of flats at High Barnet station

Construction of a massive complex of nearly 500 new flats at New Barnet is reaching the half-way stage – just as the go-ahead for the start of a proposed high-rise development at High Barnet tube station might be only weeks away.

Eleven blocks of up to eight storeys in height are being constructed by Fairview New Homes on the site of the former New Barnet gas works off Albert Road.

With almost 100 flats having now been sold, the new Park Quarter estate is rapidly taking shape.

Approval for the New Barnet scheme was a long and drawn-out affair and almost as tortuous and contentious as the highly-controversial plan to build five blocks of flats – including one of 11 storeys – over the tube station car park and container yard.

Any legal challenge to the decision by the Deputy Mayor of London, Jules Pipe, to approve the High Barnet scheme must be made by mid-July.

Advice on whether to seek a judicial review is being taken into consideration by Barnet Council and separately by Barnet Residents Association.

So far, the council’s only response, from the deputy leader Councillor Ross Houston, is “no comment at this stage”.

However, privately, some councillors with knowledge of the High Barnet scheme, says they do not think that realistically there are any legal grounds on which the Deputy Mayor of London’s decision can be challenged.

Although the council’s strategic planning committee voted by a clear majority against the tube station blocks of flats due to concern over their “scale, height and density”, planning officers had originally recommended approval as the site was allocated for residential-led redevelopment and would provide 328 new homes of which 100 would be affordable.

If the July deadline passes with no application to the High Court, developers Barratt and Transport for London’s investment subsidiary, Places for London, hope to start construction at High Barnet in February next year.

At Park Quarter in New Banet access to the site is about to be opened up with a new a new footpath into the development from the Victoria Recreation Ground – see Fairview image above – which should be completed by the end of June.

“Opening up the development onto Victoria Recreation Ground, creating a stronger physical and visual connection with the surrounding neighbourhood, will help the scheme become an ever more integrated part of the local community,” said Mark Jackson, Fairview director of planning.

An official topping out ceremony at the highest point of the development had achieved what Mr Jackson believed was a “significant construction milestone” for a scheme which appealed to people with strong connections to the local community.

Park Quarter had already attracted 93 buyers, including 69 first-time purchasers of whom 15 were from the local area.

Phase one of the 486-home Park Quarter development, which began in summer 2023, was sold out within ten months and work on phase two was well underway with 36 homes ready for occupation from March.

A further 106 homes are due to be finished by the end of the year and the entire development completed by the autumn of 2028.

Included in the development are one-, two- and three-bedroom homes and apartments and two- and three-bedroom duplexes; 162 of the flats will be affordable, at social rent or shared ownership, under the management of SNG Housing.

In line with the planning approval, Fairview have removed a footbridge which used to connect to a tunnel under the main railway line – a regular access route for pedestrians between Victoria Recreation Ground and Cromer Road.

Park Quarter development of nearly 500 flats at New Barnet reaches half way stage as deadline nears for legal challenge to high rise blocks of flats at High Barnet tube station.

In its place is a new footpath leading to the railway tunnel – an improvement welcomed by East Barnet councillor Simon Radford who is now in discussion with Network Rail to carry out repair work to sort out leaking surface water from the railway track above. 

Under obligations placed on Fairview’s planning approval, the scheme has required contributions of £1.5 million, including support for local bus services and for a controlled parking zone review and scheme.

In addition the development is subject to a community infrastructure levy of over £5.7 million, of which £4.3 million is paid to Barnet Council for local improvements.

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After another record year for Barnet Medieval Festival, Wars of the Roses re-enactors are hoping to lay on an even better display next summer

An expanded site for Barnet Medieval Festival with a much larger battlefield for re-enactments and displays won high praise from a record attendance of well over 600 Wars of the Roses enthusiasts.

Re-enactments of the Second Battle of St Albans and the Battle of Barnet filled the arena with ample space all around for crowds of spectators and living history exhibits.

Such was the enthusiasm for what is fast becoming one of the premier engagements in the calendar of Wars of the Roses celebrations that re-enactors and medieval traders left Barnet at the end of the two-day event declaring they were confident the long-term prospects for the festival could not be better.

Given its location in accessible Green Belt fields off Galley Lane at the Lewis of London Ice Cream Farm, the festival’s setting – lined with woods and uninterrupted views – is regarded as having a close resemblance to the countryside north of Barnet where the Yorkists fought the Lancastrians in 1471.

Innovations this year included many more events for children.

A period costume competition was won by Princess Sophia whose dress caught the eye of Queen Elizabeth who judged the competition with Edward IV.

Linda Godden, event co-ordinator from the House of Bayard, expressed her delight at the way the festival – now in its seventh year – has continued to expand and grow in popularity.

“Even with the bad weather on Saturday, the re-enactors sensed the strength of loyalty among the festival supporters and local community.

“It is such encouraging atmosphere, which is why we all want to keep coming back for the Barnet festival.”

A third eight-acre field has now been set aside for re-enactments – increasing the total site to 20 acres – and the extra space has made all the difference by allowing room for larger displays with mounted knights in full armour joining the battles.

“The site is fantastic with the extra land, and hopefully we can grow the festival with even more re-enactors and medieval traders.

“What we desperately need are more local volunteers to help the festival organisers,” said Ms Godden.

Among the new attractions was a display of birds of prey – with barn own Buzbee delighting the crowd with his aerial dexterity at the command of his handler Kevin Lochner of Hawking About.

Buzbee was hand-reared and cannot hunt in the wild so eats defrosted mice.

Events for children included a mock battle which was conducted with the help of parents, under the capable control of Ico Willis of The Past Presents.

A period costume and fancy-dress competition was judged by King Edward IV (Will Carr) and Queen Elizabeth (Eleanor Eden).  

With better weather for the second day of the festival, the highlight of the morning was the re-enactment of the Second Battle of St Albans.

Expert commentary on the Lancastrians’ victory was provided by Rupert Hammerton-Fraser (above) and Allan Harley, both members of the Beaufort Company, one of the 40 different households represented at the festival.

Re-enactors have high praise for expanded site for Barnet Medieval Festival with enlarged arena for re-enactments of Battles of St Albans and Barnet

They were back in action for the re-enactment of the Battle of Barnet which rounded off the weekend in spectacular fashion with spectators still arriving late in the afternoon, crowding around the battlefield arena.

Daniel Lewis, proprietor of the Lewis of London Ice Cream farm, said he and his family had been bowled over by the growing popularity of the festival.

“I’m already getting excited thinking about next year’s festival. It’s been so rewarding to see that all the additional space has been put to such good use with extra displays and encampments and events for children.

“We doubled the size of the site this year and I am hoping there can be even more entertainment for the public next year.”