News from The Barnet Society

A mass protest against plans for five high-rise blocks of flats on the car park at High Barnet tube station attracted over 250 residents who were greeted with toots of support from the horns of passing motorists.

Barnet’s Crown Post Office, which is about to become a franchise operation, will move across the High Street at some point in November to new premises in a former toy shop.

A little over a year after being elected Labour MP for Chipping Barnet, Dan Tomlinson has been promoted to become a junior minister at the Treasury. In a reshuffle announced by the Prime Minister on the day MPs returned to Westminster, Mr Tomlinson was appointed Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury.

Community groups are presenting a united front in objecting to Transport for London’s planning application to build five high-rise blocks of flats on a car park and strip of land alongside the London Underground station for High Barnet.

Members of Barnet Guild of Artists are preparing for their 74th annual show in October – in what might become their final year in their unique and much-loved art studio.

A bumper crop of apples and plums is being collected for foodbanks across the London Borough of Barnet by volunteer fruit pickers from Barnet Community Harvesters who save and redistribute surplus produce. Despite record summer temperatures and a prolonged drought, many trees have been fruiting far better than expected.

This development would permanently alter the identity of Chipping Barnet. If approved by the Planning Committee, it would set an extremely damaging precedent for the town centre and neighbouring areas. We have until Friday 19 September to comment on it.

A familiar face in Barnet High Street, Pragna Raghwani, who is store director at Specsavers, has raised well over £1,000 for the international medical health charity Sightsavers.

Overwhelming local opposition is emerging to Transport for London’s latest application to build five high-rise blocks of flats on a car park and land alongside High Barnet tube station.

Some of High Barnet’s much-loved mature trees have faced a sustained summer assault at the hands of the chain saws of tree surgeons.

A three-week closure of Wood Street, High Barnet – resulting in widespread rush hour traffic disruption and a lengthy diversion for three bus routes – is an illustration of why there is likely to be strong support for Barnet Council’s plan to force utility companies to speed up their work.

Dory’s, High Barnet’s celebrated family run cafe which provided refreshments and a warm welcome for generations of satisfied customers, has closed for business after the retirement of its proprietors Guiliano Cardosi and Angela Casali.

Places for London (PfL), the partnership of Transport for London and Barratt London that wants to build on High Barnet Station car park, has submitted a planning application to the Council. Members of the public have until 2 September to comment on it.

High Barnet’s acclaimed drama group is busy rehearsing for their autumn production -- an imaginative presentation of The Tragedie of Macbeth, William Shakespeare’s play about the destructive consequences of unchecked ambition and political power.

After missing out on the award for several years, Barnet’s oldest hostelry Ye Olde Mitre Inne has been voted pub of the year for 2025 by the Enfield and Barnet branch of the Campaign for Real Ale.

Displays and training demonstrations by reservists and cadets filled the parade ground at the Army Reserve Centre in St Albans Road, Barnet, in celebration of Armed Forces Day.

Since the start of the year police officers in the neighbourhood team for High Barnet and Barnet Vale have spent most of their time in plain clothes targeting persistent offenders including shoplifters and drug dealers and have made a total of 55 arrests.

A concerted police operation targeting shoplifting in Barnet High Street and around the Everyman cinema has resulted in 47 arrests in the last five months – far more than the total number of arrests made during the previous three years.

Barnet Museum’s trustees have had to withdraw their bid to save High Barnet’s historic Tudor Hall for community use because of a lack of financial resources to repair and then maintain the building.

A container garden which won an award at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show has been recreated at the Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice in Byng Road, Barnet. The aim of the layout is to provide a calming sophisticated space – an ideal amenity for the hospice garden.