News from The Barnet Society

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.

A long-established footpath under the main railway line at New Barnet faces an uncertain future after being deemed unsafe during redevelopment of the former gas works site off Victoria Road.

Graffiti vandal “Morty” who has sprayed a tag on countless doors, walls and hoardings might be about to be unmasked after a two-month spree of damage to premises in and around Barnet.

High Barnet’s much appreciated free book shop has re-opened in The Spires shopping centre after being without a home since the spring – and has launched a fresh appeal for donations of books and bookshelves.

A mass protest is being organised by residents of Mays Lane and surrounding roads in opposition to the introduction of a new and additional controlled parking zone which is being proposed by Barnet Council. A campaign to force the council to abandon the idea was launched at a public meeting attended by around 170 residents.

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.

Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice, which provides palliative care for over 350 children from its base in Byng Road, Barnet, depends on a continuous programme of fund raising together with community financial support from across north London and parts of south Hertfordshire.

Spirited opposition by a residents’ association has failed to prevent the go ahead for the development of a site for pitches for two travellers’ caravans and other buildings on a field in Green Belt land off Mays Lane, Barnet.

Barnet Council’s planning department has come down firmly against Barnet Football Club’s application to build a new 7,000-seat stadium on Barnet Playing Fields at Underhill.

Police failures which have led to the Borough of Barnet becoming a London hot spot for gangs stealing cars provoked a heated debate at a summit on car theft held by the Chipping Barnet MP Dan Tomlinson.

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.

A celebration of the joy of growing and eating beans organised by members of Barnet’s innovative Incredible Edible campaign group was a journey from start to finish – from seed to plate.

Barnet’s long-established international folk dance club is being relaunched to take advantage of the growing popularity of the traditional folk music and dancing of the Balkans with the hope of attracting a wider membership.

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.

An art workshop arranged as part of the London Festival of Architecture combined the idea of dreams and visions seen through notable window frames of historic buildings in and around High Barnet.