News from The Barnet Society

Brewer and pub retailer Greene King have given an assurance that a proposed refurbishment of the Mitre Inn in Barnet High Street will be carried out with the "utmost respect" for an historic 17th century coaching inn.

"Dogs and cats welcome" is the invitation that awaits customers at Nika, an innovative pet cafe which has opened on Barnet High Street.

Passengers who use the 84 bus service between New Barnet station and St Albans have launched a petition because of the threatened withdrawal of the route from the Metroline schedule.

Hertsmere Borough Council has withdrawn plans for housing and other development across vast tracts of Green Belt land to the north and west of Barnet following an outcry from residents about the loss of countryside.

An iconic building in Barnet High Street -- the much admired art deco frontage of what was once a Montague Burton menswear shop -- is about to get a new lease of life when the upper floor is converted into a soft-play area for toddlers and small children.

The Barnet Society has consulted its members about the current planning application to convert a former office block into a school for pupils with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD). 83% of respondents opposed the application, and only 6% supported it. We have therefore decided to object to it. The Society does so with some reluctance.

After two multi-million-pound property deals in High Barnet last year, the one to watch in 2022 is the sale of Barnet Police Station which is one of the surplus properties due to be sold off by the Metropolitan Police.

Volunteer working parties are supporting the Barnet Society's latest tree planting initiative -- to create a 300 to 400-metre-long hawthorn hedge that should blossom each May and enhance still further the appeal of Barnet Hill.

Hadley FC, the oldest football club playing in Barnet, are about to launch a £200,000 appeal for the installation of an all-weather Astro turf pitch at their ground in Brickfield Lane, Arkley.

Charges are to be introduced for parking at the Old Courthouse Recreation Ground -- an expense for parents of small children who drive to the infants' playground next to the Old Courthouse Café Members of Barnet Lawn Bowls Club, whose two greens are next to the playground, will be issued with passes for free parking, as

Winter tree planting is well underway -- and volunteers will be busy in the next few weeks on Barnet Hill and at other sites across the Borough of Barnet. Robin Bishop, who leads for the Barnet Society on environmental issues, is arranging for 120 hawthorn saplings to be planted on Barnet Hill.

A renewed attempt to get planning approval for an additional storey to be added to two blocks of flats in Alston Road, Barnet, has again been rejected on the grounds that the enlarged buildings would be out of keeping with the neighbourhood.

Instead of a traditional corner shop, Chesterfield Parade in Bells Hill, now hosts a specialist shop selling what the proprietor believes is the widest range of vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free produce and products available in High Barnet. Metin Sus opened his business Natural Wholefoods in mid-December.

Cyclists heading out of London have always enjoyed the challenge of riding up Barnet Hill -- and a survey carried out exactly 100 years ago showed there was even greater enthusiasm for tackling the climb back in the 1920s.

Anyone walking along the footpath at the junction of Alston Road and Carnarvon Road should make the effort to search out a fascinating trail of 21 illustrations by a celebrated pavement artist who was brought up in Barnet and whose miniature paintings on blobs of chewing gum have gained international recognition.

Recent years have seen a wave of roof extensions across Barnet, usually providing extra space for existing homes. Richard Court in Alston Road (above) exemplifies a new variant of Permitted Development introduced by the government last year.

Plans to build four chalet-style houses on the site of a former stables and paddock have been been rejected by a planning inspector because of the impact they would have on the woodland and fields south of Arkley, across the Dollis Valley towards Totteridge.

Staff at the Rainbow Centre on the Dollis Valley estate are busy preparing food parcels, seasonal hampers and presents for needy families in what might be the food bank's last Christmas in their current premises in Dollis Valley Drive.

Festive lighting around the bandstand at The Spires shopping centre is not just a celebration of Christmas and the New Year but also a more personal reminder for friends and supporters of the Barnet charity Cherry Lodge Cancer Care.

An appeal has been launched for the renovation of Monken Hadley's historic church house which will involve reconstructing and modernising the interior so that it can be used for a wider range of community events.