News from The Barnet Society

Barnet town centre is to lose one of its four remaining banks – and customers feared another might be going as well – as the big banks announced another massive round of branch closures.

Long-established businesses fear they might have to close unless Barnet Council can be persuaded to drop parking charges which were introduced in mid-December outside the Mays Lane parade of shops.

Barnet Council is facing another challenge to its policy of encouraging developers to keep or offer space for workrooms and offices in new housing developments close to High Barnet town centre.

Robin Marson, who dedicated much of his life to supporting the work of organisations, societies and charities which over the years have strengthened Barnet’s strong sense of community, has died at the age of 89.

Above is a visualisation of the new 6-bedroom house proposed by its designers, Alan Cox Architects, in secluded woodland barely 200 metres from Barnet High Street. The site is described by the applicants as ‘unkempt’, and by locals petitioning against development as a ‘wildlife haven’. The site is within the Monken Hadley Conservation Area and close to the Green Belt. Some trees have individual Tree Preservation Orders; however all the trees are protected by the conservation area status. The application is a test of Barnet Council’s commitment to protecting the environment. You can comment on the proposals until Thursday 5 February.

A short list of four or five possible locations for a new stadium for Barnet Football Club is now being considered in depth by supporters of the Bring Barnet Back campaign after lengthy discussions with Barnet councillors and planners.

After yet another move Barnet’s popular free book shop is up and running once again in The Spires Shopping Centre. Lead volunteer Jackie O’Brien – above right with volunteer Mark Shepherd – says it is brilliant being able offer free books once again after having had to close the shop over Christmas and the New Year.

Four entries from Barnet Classic Car Club had a prime spot in London’s New Year’s Day parade – gaining praise in the live television coverage on Sky News for adding some royal glamour to the event. A look-alike King and Queen in the front of Derrick Haggerty’s 1955 Ford Popular were a surprise attraction.

Barnet Council has intervened to see if a tenant can be found for vacant community space on the ground floor of a block of flats which were built in Salisbury Road after the demolition of the former Fern Room, once the home of Barnet Old People’s Welfare Committee.

Householders might be forgiven for thinking they are living in a time warp in the coming weeks when Barnet Council starts to deliver homes with two containers ready for the re-introduction of a weekly food waste collection and recycling service which begins again in March.

An orchestra, two choirs and a brass ensemble filled the chancel of Barnet parish church for the Christmas carol service held by Queen Elizabeth’s Girls’ School. Father Sam Rossiter, team vicar of St John the Baptist, thanked the school’s musicians and choristers for a “magnificent evening” of music.

After a nearly three-hour Strategic Planning Committee meeting this evening, Barratt London’s planning application for 283 flats on High Barnet Station car park was refused on grounds of excessive height and harm to local context (see jtp Architects & Masterplanners visualisation above). It’s a magnificent vindication for the 802 Barnet residents who objected to it.

Local developer Christchurch Grove Ltd expects to submit a planning application soon to build a house within existing woodland on the east side of Christchurch Lane (see plan above by Helene Landscape and Garden Design). It raises an increasingly urgent question in Barnet: how much, if any, green space should be sacrificed for new homes?

Switching on the lights of the Christmas tree beside the parish church set the scene for festive events to be held during the annual Barnet Christmas Fayre on Sunday December 7. Father Christmas and characters from The Bull Theatre’s Christmas pantomime Alice in Wonderland and the Stolen Christmas List joined in the ceremony.

Thanks to the assistance of Citizens Advice Barnet, the Chipping Barnet Foodbank is reporting real progress in its long-term aim of reducing people’s dependency on supplies of groceries and essential household items.

Barnet Council has completed a major programme of road safety measures around Mays Lane and surrounding roads. A controversial width restriction has been removed, new zebra crossings installed, a 20-mph speed limit zone extended, more yellow lines painted on the roads and dropped kerbs provided.

UPDATE 2 DECEMBER 2025 Back in September, the Barnet Society submitted a 64-page critique of the planning application for 283 flats on High Barnet Station car park. This Friday 28 November is your last chance to have your say. The application may be decided by the Planning Committee on Monday 8 December.

Any hopes on the part of former customers that The Black Horse public house might re-open in time for Christmas and the New Year have been all but ruled out by Star Pubs.

Stall holders, traders and community groups are all booked in for this year’s Barnet Christmas Fayre on Sunday 7 December, the traditional and popular curtain raiser to the town’s Christmas festivities.

Barnet Council has contributed to the upgrading of the rugby pitches at the Byng Road playing fields by paying for the installation of six new floodlights.