News from The Barnet Society

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

In a final push to rally opposition to an experimental controlled parking zone in 16 roads north of Mays Lane residents are being urged to have their say before a consultation by Barnet Council ends on June 14.

Residents around Mays Lane are anxious to attract support for a community bid to take over the derelict former Quinta Youth Club which has been put up for sale by Barnet Council for £300,000. Local groups have until October to submit offers and proposals to the council. Several eligible community interest organisations have already expressed interest.

Approval has finally been given by the office of the Mayor of London for the redevelopment of land around High Barnet tube station with five blocks of flats despite warnings this would cause irreparable damage to an historic skyline.

After the loss of several pubs around High Barnet in recent weeks, work has finally started on major repairs to the Black Horse in Wood Street, and it is due to re-open in mid-June after being closed since last September.

An historic whalebones arch beside Wood Street, High Barnet, has had to be encased in scaffolding after the owners of Whalebones House feared it might collapse and cause an injury to passersby.

Barnet Council’s attempt to halt the go ahead for a travellers’ caravan site on a field in Green Belt land off Mays Lane has failed in the High Court to the disappointment of a local residents’ group.

A renewed attempt is being made to get up to date information on the future ownership of The Spires Shopping Centre in High Barnet following a second intervention by the High Court appointing administrators for companies involved with its leases.

A road closure most parents might welcome would be when the street outside their homes is transformed into a safe play space for small children free of traffic.

A planning dispute over an unsuccessful bid to build a large new house within the Monken Hadley conservation area has resulted in Barnet Council declaring a woodland tree preservation order on the whole site.

A blue plaque has been installed outside a house in Calvert Road to draw attention to an ongoing dispute between residents and Barnet Council over the painting of double yellow line parking restrictions at the junction with Sebright Road.

A job club is being established at the Hope Corner Community Centre in Mays Lane, Barnet, offering three sessions a week aimed at giving advice on employment and training and a chance to learn new skills.

Two ponds at North Middlesex Golf Club in Friern Barnet Lane are to be cleared of silt and enlarged to improve flood management after heavy rainfall. Water storage capacity along Blacketts Brook, which flows through the golf course and includes the two ponds, is to be increased at a cost of £340,000.

A controversial plan to build up to 230 houses and an 80-bed care home on a former pig farm at Arkley was featured by ITV News London in a report ahead of May’s council elections about the political arguments surrounding the development of green belt land.

This swathe of Green Belt will be mostly built over if current plans are approved. And within Barnet, dozens of so-called ‘Grey Belt’ sites are being targetted for new homes (few of which are likely to be affordable). The Labour Council promises to create a Regional Park, which could prevent that. This should be an issue in our local election in May – but do voters know or care?