News from The Barnet Society

This peaceful spinney in Christchurch Lane is a haven of wildlife less than 200 metres from Barnet High Street – but it’s threatened by new building. How can that be? Barnet Council declared a Climate and Biodiversity Emergency in 2022. Its recently-adopted Local Plan contains policies and supplementary planning documents specifically to protect green spaces of all kinds. Mayor Khan has similar planning policies and is currently consulting on London’s first Nature Recovery Plan (LNRS) to reverse biodiversity loss. Surely the spinney’s future is safe? Worryingly, the answer is no.

Artistic director Siobhan Dunne takes the applause at the final performance of Macbeth at The Bull Theatre...and already she is planning the next production by the Blue Door Company, High Barnet’s highly acclaimed drama group.

After several ongoing local disputes about the height and density of new blocks of flats residents’ associations have welcomed plans to build 80 family homes on the remainder of the gas works site in Albert Road, New Barnet.

Stephen Kinnock, Minister of State for Care, called in at the brightly lit sensory playroom at the Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice in Byng Road, Barnet, when he met staff and parents. During his visit he confirmed the financial settlement for the next three years for children and young people’s hospices under government funding from NHS England.

A community grocery store where needy residents and families can purchase a shopping basket of items for a minimum payment has opened in North Finchley as part of a growing initiative to provide affordable food.

Delihouse might be the smallest shop in The Spires – and only opened in the summer – but proprietor Jonathan Beecham is already expanding a delicatessen business which started with a Saturday stall at Barnet Market.

Kevin Callaghan, proprietor of the Hole in the Wall Cafe – said to be Barnet’s oldest cafe – is temporarily transferring his business to the premises of the former Dory’s Cafe, another local institution, which ceased trading in the summer.  The Hole in the Wall, established in 1935 and hidden behind hoardings on the Great North

After a busy first year organising social events, volunteers at the High Barnet Islamic Centre are planning their next initiative to reach out to the local community – a monthly soup kitchen for homeless people and needy families.

Youngsters queued up to sit in the cab of a fire engine and try on a firefighter’s helmet when Barnet Fire Station held its family open day – and it was also an opportunity for parents to learn about other challenges facing the emergency services.

An abundant crop provided an ideal opportunity for the chance to turn surplus fruit into apple juice at an autumn open day in New Barnet organised by the campaign group Incredible Edible.

Honey of exceptional quality collected this summer has been a bonus for members of the Barnet and District Beekeepers' Association during what has been a year of uncertainty for a well-established society.

… or High Barnet Place, as the development proposed next to High Barnet Station is officially called (see above). But Barnet Heights would be a more accurate description of 283 flats over the whole of the present car park in blocks of 5 to 11 storeys high. Whichever, it’s the most serious threat to Chipping Barnet's character and functioning in decades. And Friday 19 September is the deadline for public comments on the planning application.

An award-winning engineer in the development of offshore wind technologies, visiting professor Emily Spearman – who grew up in High Barnet – returned to Queen Elizabeth’s Girls’ School to present prizes at the annual celebration of excellence.

A bumper summer crop of pumpkins, tomatoes, cucumbers and other produce is another illustration of the continuing success of GROW, the school and community farm which has been created on a six-acre field next to The Totteridge Academy in Barnet Lane.

Barnet’s Crown Post Office, which is about to become a franchise operation, will move across the High Street at some point in November to new premises in a former toy shop.

A massive crane has been brought in by contractors to help install scaffolding and internal braces to stabilise the walls of a large Georgian house on Hadley Green which was gutted in a disastrous fire over the May bank holiday.

Members of Barnet Guild of Artists are preparing for their 74th annual show in October – in what might become their final year in their unique and much-loved art studio.

A bumper crop of apples and plums is being collected for foodbanks across the London Borough of Barnet by volunteer fruit pickers from Barnet Community Harvesters who save and redistribute surplus produce. Despite record summer temperatures and a prolonged drought, many trees have been fruiting far better than expected.

This development would permanently alter the identity of Chipping Barnet. If approved by the Planning Committee, it would set an extremely damaging precedent for the town centre and neighbouring areas. We have until Friday 19 September to comment on it.

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.