News from The Barnet Society

A property development company specialising in office-to-residential conversions has bought the Spires shopping centre and its five-acre site between Barnet High Street and Stapylton Road for £28 million.

Barnet High Street is once again resplendent with heraldic banners from the Wars of the Roses -- just one of the many ways in which the local community will be celebrating this year's 550th anniversary of the Battle of Barnet.

Critical questions about the future of the town centre will have to be addressed by Barnet Council if plans go ahead to replace much of the Spires with blocks of flats.

Winning a national award is another accolade for Barnet calligrapher Gwyneth Hibbett whose skills are on display on five historic information boards which have been installed in the High Street by Barnet Museum.

Fraud officers from Barnet Council have conducted a sweep of cars parked in Barnet High Street and surrounding roads as part of a stepped-up campaign to detect fraudulent use of disabled blue badges.

Deciding to close Barnet High Street for the annual Christmas fair was an inspired initiative that has paid handsome dividends in sustaining a great community spirit says the Mayor of Barnet, Councillor Caroline Stock.

Applications to install another three super-size phone boxes with illuminated advertising panels in Barnet High Street have been turned down by Barnet Council on the grounds they would be detrimental to the character of the town centre and a potential danger to pedestrians and road users.

A Barnet Museum information sign that told the history of the coaching taverns that once lined Barnet High Street was removed within days after Barnet Council’s highways department declared it was a hazard for pedestrians.

Another three telephone boxes with illuminated advertisements are being proposed for Barnet High Street – much to the anger of residents who fear they will add to street clutter just when the pavements are being widened to make it easier for shoppers.

A packed programme of productions has been lined up for the coming months at the Bull Theatre, High Street, Barnet, to help raise £8,000 that is still outstanding for the cost of new seating.

Construction work has started on the pavement build outs in Barnet High Street – an improvement which community groups have campaigned for and which could be backed up by other measures proposed in Barnet Council’s draft growth strategy plan for the borough.

Barnet’s annual classic car show has a new venue this year – the vast open top deck of the NCP car park at the Spires shopping centre.

A large bin for the safe disposal of all bladed weapons and instruments has been installed in Union Street, High Barnet, in support of the drive to curb the rise in knife crime. “Collecting knives, saving lives” is the slogan of Word 4 Weapons, which says it is the UK’s leading weapons surrender charity.

A plan to convert a three-storey commercial warehouse in Moxon Street, High Barnet, into a complex of 107 self-contained studio flats has attracted a flood of hostile criticism from neighbours and nearby residents. Barnet Council’s website for planning applications registered a total of 34 objections by the closing date (27.6.2019).

Customers queuing out into the street, a free donut with every purchase and champagne for the staff – a great finale for the last day of trading at Victoria Bakery, a High Barnet institution for the last 50 years.

Victoria Bakery, a High Barnet institution for well over half a century, is closing down after the retirement of its owner James Freeman, a fifth-generation baker. Bread was first recorded as being baked at 83 High Street, Barnet, in 1884, and the Freeman family have been baking in north London since the 1820s.

After 18 years of hard graft building up custom for her Barnet High Street gift shop, former actress Louise Rolfe has won a top accolade for highly rated independent retailers.

Yet another change of owner of a Barnet High Street shop with a distinctly checkered history, has evoked memories of the day the premises were destroyed in what become known as the “Great Fire of Barnet” of August 1908.

A business plan for opening a combined space for a children’s play area and community activities in Barnet High Street has won this year’s Entrepreneurial Barnet Competition. Joanne Merchant, a High Barnet mother of two, scooped up the top prize of £3,500 in financial backing plus business mentoring advice.

Injecting fresh life into High Barnet’s distressed High Street is a challenge for retailers, but two women entrepreneurs believe that their offer of a frequently-changing range of craft goods and products is proving popular.