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Premier Inn approved: will it help town centre?

The site of the new Premier Inn

Plans for a 100-bed Premier Inn on the site of Barnet Market were approved by a clear majority at a meeting of Barnet Council’s planning committee despite the continued, forthright opposition of residents in the adjoining Chipping Close.

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Accolade for High Street campaigner

Gail Laser interviewed by Dom Littlewood for his 2016 BBC programme, Dom On the Spot, that featured Barnet’s parking

Gail Laser, founder of Love Barnet, has won national recognition for the decade she has spent working tirelessly to improve trading conditions in Barnet High Street.

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TfL Bus Changes: Turn these plans round at the next stop!

384 bus negotiating Strafford Road, High Barnet. TfL would switch it to Salisbury Road.

After carefully weighing members’ and readers’ – often differing – points of view on the changes proposed by Transport for London (TfL) to the 292, 384 & 606 bus routes and a bus stop on Barnet Hill, the Barnet Society has concluded that for the moment we support the present arrangements. With radical developments on the horizon in New Barnet & High Barnet, however, they should be kept under review.

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Plea to save historic plaque

The plaque in the Marie Foster building looking rather sad

Barnet’s pioneering role in the development of care for young people suffering from multiple sclerosis has one lasting memento – a plaque commemorating the opening of the Marie Foster Centre by the Duchess of Gloucester in November 1973.

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London Buses: Typical – two consultations come along at once

What do these changes mean for the residents of Barnet?

The Barnet Society have been asked to comment on the proposal by Transport for London (TfL) to change the 292, 384 & 606 bus routes and a bus stop on Barnet Hill. We have also been asked about reductions on bus routes in Inner & Central London.

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Putting the Battle of Barnet on the map for historical tours

Alison Weir with the chairman of Barnet Museum, Mike Jordan (right), and Dennis Bird, talks organiser for the Battle of Barnet Project

A heartfelt plea for the creation of a visitors’ centre or historic trail to mark the site of the 1471 Battle of Barnet was made by the celebrated author and historian Alison Weir after she gave a lecture on Richard III: Man or Myth, at Barnet Parish Church.

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When Barnet pioneered multiple sclerosis care

Marie Foster Centre, Wood Street – now occupied by “resident guardians”, short-stay tenants who have rented rooms while the building awaits demolition

Most High Barnet residents are familiar with the Marie Foster Centre – awaiting demolition for redevelopment – but few probably realise that when opened in 1973, the 30-bed hospital in Wood Street was the first purpose-built home in the country for young people suffering from multiple sclerosis.

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Battle of Barnet re-enactment – a weekend to remember

A medieval canon fired the first round at the opening of Barnet Medieval Festival by Martin Russell, Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Barnet

Such was the enthusiastic response to a real-life re-enactment of the Battle of Barnet that military re-enactors, organisers and visitors were unanimous in their hope that the first-ever Barnet Medieval Festival can become an annual event.

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