Tag: Barnet Council

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Campaign to save and rebuild an abandoned clubhouse for benefit of Underhill residents gathers pace ahead of its sale by Barnet Council

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.

Gina Theodorou (above), chair of the Quinta Village Green Residents Association, is appealing for a concerted push by the locality to help to secure and re-open the derelict club as a community hub and space.

“We fear Barnet Council may favour selling the abandoned building to an organisation from outside the area rather than a genuinely local community-led proposal.

“Our aim is to create a flexible new community building and integrate it into Quinta village green which is alongside and which we have already made sure is preserved for the use of our community.”

As a first step a community interest company is to be established by the residents’ association to develop a business plan.

An image, showing what a revived Quinta Club building might look like, has been issued in support of an appeal on Facebook and GoFundMe to help with the cost of planning and funding the application:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/save-the-quinta-club-for-the-whole-community

https://www.facebook.com/quinta.green.9/posts/pfbid0Z7oaBfVJP2sHuaZ1kcaYyYSJBMtoSDBP5QZts4jNrQCrM3iRFkvkFZZA2z9EGzaul

The club building – originally constructed by the Underhill community in the 1960s with the help of local tradesmen and residents – has been derelict for the last 20 years, raising concern among Mays Lane residents about continuing vandalism and anti-social behaviour.

Gina Theodorou – seen above with Rory (16) who is supporting the campaign for a new community space for local youngsters – is urging the community to rally round as quickly as possible so that a proposal can be submitted to the council by the deadline of October 17.

“In its heyday the Quinta Club was a wonderful community space – it was a youth centre, a meeting place for the elderly, for a nursery and for all sorts of exercise classes.

“We are becoming increasingly concerned because the council is getting expressions of interest from community groups outside the area– including religious organisations – and the priority for the council seems to be getting rid of the freehold for the best possible price.

“We want to keep the building as broad-based shared community asset, which is financially sustainable and offer affordable room hire, café, and space for family and youth activities.”  

It was at the request of residents’ association that the abandoned building was registered by the council as an asset of community value.

This has established a six-month moratorium during which the council may only sell the former club to a qualifying community interest group – a window of opportunity which lasts until October 17.

An open day will be held at the site in Mays Lane on Tuesday 30 June (from 11am to 2pm) when qualifying groups can view the property and ask questions, although there is a warning that viewing might be limited to “an external walk around on grounds of safety”.

To build up support for its GoFundMe appeal and a combined local response, Mrs Theodorou is hoping to draw on professional expertise within the community and wider backing from local politicians.

Dan Tomlinson, the MP for Chipping Barnet, launched a Community Action Network in March this year, aimed at “shaping and showcasing” projects proposed by the local residents in his constituency.

Mays Lane is within the council’s Underhill ward and one of its two councillors, Zahra Beg, is the newly elected Mayor of Barnet.   

Campaign to mount a bid for community to rebuild the Quinta Club in Mays Lane which Barnet Council has put on the market for £300,000 with deadline of October for community bids

Ms Theodorou says residents have been become alarmed at the state of the dereliction.

There are gaps in the boarding surrounding the derelict building and it has become a dumping ground for rubbish.

After its success in getting Quinta village green registered as a public open space, the residents’ association liaises with the council to ensure maintenance of the green and to ensure that fly tipping is removed.

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Promise of 100 affordable new homes influences final go ahead for tower blocks at High Barnet tube station and loss of car parking

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.

A deputation from the town’s community groups told a hearing at City Hall that squeezing 328 new homes into a narrow strip of land between the tube line and the Barnet Hill trunk road was the “wrong scale in the wrong place”.

Objections were overruled by Jules Pipe, Deputy Mayor for Planning and Regeneration, who said that although three of the blocks would exceed the seven-storey limit agreed in the Barnet local plan – and one block would be 11 storeys – the impact of the height and massing of the flats would be negligible on the neighbourhood and no reason for refusal.

Building more affordable homes was the mayor’s priority and the High Barnet Place scheme would provide 100 new homes at low-cost rent or shared ownership.

“We must take advantage of sites which offer a high proportion of affordable homes and where the key travel infra-structure is in place,” said Mr Pipe.

“Inevitably schemes like High Barnet Place would be visible, including long range views…but the alternative would be to drive such schemes to the green belt and to less sustainable sites.”

Objections to the loss 160 spaces in the station car park – and the provision of only eight places for Blue Badge holders – were rejected by Mr Pipe on the grounds that encouraging tube passengers to walk to the station or take a bus would encourage “more sustainable means of travel and improve air quality”.

Developers Barratt and Transport for London’s investment subsidiary, Places for London, hope to start construction in February next year with the first affordable homes being available in February 2029 and the scheme completed by April 2030.

Mayor of London's office gives final go ahead for blocks of flats around High Barnet Station, Key factor 100 new affordable homes, a priority for the Mayor but station will lose its car park.

Simon Kaufman, a chartered architect (above, second from right), made a joint presentation on behalf of members of the Barnet Society and Barnet Residents Association.

He said many of the flats in the five tower blocks would be of poor quality, single aspect and reliant on mechanical ventilation.

The design of the scheme exemplified the social and management failures of high-density blocks of flats built across London in the 1960s and 1970s.

After Mr Pipe announced the scheme would go ahead, Mr Kaufman said the conscience of the objectors was clear.

“We listened to the lessons of history, and we are not prepared to see a repeat of the mistakes of the past. We did our best to prevent a development which we fear will become a disaster in years to come.”

Neil Smith, senior project planning officer for the Greater London Authority, opened the hearing by reminding the Deputy Mayor that Barnet Council had refused permission for the blocks of flats because of their excessive height and harm to the character of the surrounding area.

However, the GLA considered the height and massing of the blocks responded well to the immediate context and would make “a positive contribution to the local townscape”.

Given the loss of the car park, there would be nine drop off short-stay spaces and eight Blue Badge spaces, but otherwise the development would be car-free with an enhanced public footpath on the station approach.

A significant public benefit of the scheme would be 100 affordable new homes and there were “no material considerations of sufficient weight to justify refusal”.

In opening for the objectors Simon Kaufman said that when seen from the surrounding green belt countryside the proposed tower blocks harmed the historic skyline of High Barnet where the defining landmark on the hill had been the parish church.

“This is an over-scaled urban insertion imposed on to an historic hill town.”

An issue which eroded public confidence was that many residents were troubled by the fact Transport for London was effectively promoting development on its own land while the Greater London Authority and the Mayor of London were the decision-maker.

Mr Kaufman criticised the removal of the station car park without providing a realistic alternative and the steep topography of the station approach meant that women, older residents and disabled users would continue to face intimidating routes, particularly after dark.

Janet Littlewood of Barnet Residents Association, speaking on behalf of Gordon Massey, said the blocks of flats on the site would add to the existing chaos on the station approach where there were often traffic jams.

The area around the station was isolated and many women would not leave the station unless they could exit by car.

Nick Saul, a retired civil engineer, warned that the loss of the car park and the failure to provide bus access to the station forecourt raised serious concerns for women and the disabled.

Serious assaults to passengers when on foot or on cycle were not uncommon where parking had already been lost at tube stations.

Flaws in the design and access in and around suburban stations were a key factor in the prevalence and location of attacks.

Dame Theresa Villiers, formerly MP for Chipping Barnet, who described herself as a resident and passenger, insisted that the loss of the station car park would damage the quality of life of many thousands of Barnet residents.

Anyone with impaired mobility would be at a disadvantage and the suggestion that more people might like to cycle to the station ignored the steepness of Barnet Hill – as she could testify personally it was “a tough climb for cyclists”.

“High Barnet station has been my station for 21 years. It is our get away to the world. Please don’t curtail the freedom of High Barnet people to live our lives the way we want to.”  

There was one speaker in support of the scheme, High Barnet student Yana Kostova, who said that given the pressure on local housing the only chance was to build upwards.

The prospect of more affordable homes was a relief. She thought High Barnet could “blossom and attract a younger generation with such schemes”.

In response to questions from the deputy mayor, Martin Scholar, head of planning for Places for London, said the developers Barratt Homes had maximised the number of affordable homes at High Barnet Place which would allow more people to get on the housing ladder.

“Forty per cent affordable homes at High Barnet is much higher than for most schemes in London” – a consideration that was given emphasis in the deputy mayor’s final decision.

In a statement issued after the hearing, Dan Tomlinson, MP for Chipping Barnet and Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, criticised the go ahead for a scheme which was clearly not in line with the local plan.

“Planning decisions aren’t mine to make as the local MP, but Barnet Labour has made it views very clear on these proposals.

“It is in black and white in Barnet’s local plan that seven storeys is the maximum for housing on this site.

“It is not right for the GA to overrule elected councillors to approve a scheme with an 11-storey block that contravenes the plan.”

Mr Tomlinson’s statement was followed by a statement from Barnet Labour Party expressing its opposition to the go-ahead for high storey blocks of flats at High Barnet tube station and GLA approval for the Great North Leisure Park development:

“It is extremely disappointing that two local planning decisions based on the local plan and London plan and with the backing of the local community have been overturned by the GLA.

“Local councillors should be trusted to make decisions based on the best interest of their communities.”

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Black Horse to re-open in mid-June after extensive repairs – but uncertain future for Builders Arms now on the market for £695,000

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.

Scaffolding surrounds the building and local residents who feared the worst when metal grilles were installed across the doors and windows are delighted to hear the news.

With the approach of warm weather, they say they can’t wait for the re-opening of the pub’s garden which is popular weekend venue.

Star Pubs told the Barnet Society that additional building work has proved necessary and it will take longer than originally anticipated, but they hope the pub can re-open by mid-June.

A new tenant – described as “a local businessman” – has taken on the tenancy.

To the disappointment of some previous customers, Star Pubs say the Black Horse will not be reverting to a micro-brewery which had operated at the pub in the past and produced its own ales.

Earlier this year, because of concern about the future of the Black Horse, Barnet Council accepted a community request for the pub to be protected by an order declaring the building as asset of community value.

ACV protection allows the community to enter a bid if the pub is sold for redevelopment – protection already provided for three other nearby pubs, the Lord Nelson, Sebright Arms and Ye Olde Monken Holt, as well as the Prince of Wales in East Barnet.

Black Horse public house in Wood Street Barnet to re-open after nine-month closure but now closed Builders Arms in New Barnet for sale at £695,000

A petition has been launched to secure ACV protection for the Builders Arms in Albert Road, New Barnet, which closed in mid-April and is now on the market for £695,000.

A two-year struggle to keep going finally defeated the pub’s landlady who blamed a loss of trade on the disruption caused by ending up in the middle of a massive construction site.

Albert Road is the main access to the site where Fairview Homes are building eleven high-rise blocks of flats to provide 420 new homes, and the pub found itself marooned in the redevelopment.

Despite considerable local support, the landlady reluctantly decided to hand her tenancy back to the brewers Greene King raising local concern about the future of a pub praised by the Campaign for Real Ale.

Former customers and friends started the petition in an attempt to preserve what they say is a “much loved local institution”.

Greene King, which is reported to be planning to sell off 300 of its tenanted and managed pubs, put the Builders Arms on the market soon after it ceased trading in mid-April.

WTS, agents for the sale, say the building does offer the potential for alternative use, subject to planning consent, and the property might appeal to “local licensed operators, developers, builders and investors.”

Another recent pub closure was that of the Hadley House bar and restaurant in Barnet High Street, which in previous years was known as the King George and earlier as the King of Prussia – but another High Street hostelry, the King’s Head, which closed for a month for renovations is due to re-open on June 12.

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Control over Barnet Council remains with Labour after an agreement with the Conservatives results in key votes to end the uncertainty  

Labour has kept control of Barnet Council following a post-election pact with the Conservatives to ensure administration of the authority and services to residents continue without interruption.

A “very relieved” councillor Barry Rawlings (above right), who was re-elected to the post of Labour leader of the council, congratulated Underhill Labour councillor Zahra Beg on her appointment as the new Mayor of Barnet.

A tied result in the council elections on May 7 – with both Labour and the Conservatives gaining 31 seats – forced the two sides to get together and agree a voting procedure for the first meeting of the new council (19.5.2026).

With advice from the council’s chief executive Cath Shaw and her staff, councillor Rawlings and the Conservative leader, councillor Peter Zinkin, reached a co-operation agreement.

The deal accepted that as the outgoing Labour mayor councillor Danny Rich held a casting vote, the presumption should be that to preserve continuity Labour should retain control of the council.

However, under the agreement, it was agreed the first vote should be whether to appoint Conservative councillor Zinkin as leader.

This was defeated 32 votes to 31 votes on the casting voting of the council’s Green Party councillor Charli Thompson.

Once councillor Thompson had voted against councillor Zinkin and he had been defeated, the Conservatives councillors all abstained on the second vote which resulted in councillor Rawlings being re-elected as council leader for four years by 31 votes in favour, 31 abstentions and one vote against (Green).

In discussions which started immediately after an election result which had left the council with no overall control, councillor Rawlings said that he and councillor Zinkin had accepted they had to work together to avoid deadlock in council business and ensure services to residents continued without interruption.

The agreement with the Conservatives was designed to make sure the council didn’t slip into no political control given that one Green Party councillor held a casting vote.

Councillor Thompson, who won her seat for the Greens in Woodhouse ward, and who is a High Barnet resident, was cheered by her supporters in the public gallery for a series of interventions – see above – in which she challenged the way Labour and the Conservatives had done a deal “behind closed doors”.

She said that the Greens had secured 16 per cent of the total vote in the Barnet Borough elections yet their representative was being excluded – an act that would lead residents feeling disconnected from council decision making.

After the meeting her mother Christine Thompson (above left) joined in the congratulations for the stand her daughter had made in challenging the refusal of Labour and the Conservatives to allow her to work with them on improving adult social care and care of the disabled.

Barnet Council remains under control of Labour Party after post-election pact with the Conservatives to agree on key votes which resulted in re-lection of Labour leader councillor Barry Rawlings

Councillor Beg – seen above with the outgoing Mayor of Barnet Councillor Danny Rich – was praised by fellow councillors for the way she had shown real skill in working across communities and faiths within the borough.

Councillor Rich had opened the proceedings with an appeal to residents to support each other following recent hate attacks in Golders Green.

 A seventh of the borough’s population was Jewish and an eighth Muslim. “Our priority is to the safety of Barnet residents and bringing those responsible for these outrageous incidents to justice.”

He praised the visit by the King to Golders Green which had been “a profound gesture from His Majesty.”

Voting for a new council leader was preceded by a short debate. Councillor Ross Houston said he was proud to nominate councillor Rawlings for re-election based on his track record of dealing with significant challenges, including the delivery of 1,000 new council homes.

In acknowledging that the election left the council with no overall control, he said that the mayor’s casting vote was reserved for occasions when it was necessary for the administration to preserve continuity and the best result would be for councillor Rawlings to be re-elected.

Councillor Richard Cornelius, a former Conservative group leader, proposed councillor Zinkin, reminding the council that in the election the Conservatives had won the popular vote in the borough – gaining 102,246 votes (35.4 per cent), well above Labour’s vote 79,353 (27.5 per cent).

To laughter from fellow councillors, he said that he had never been a supporter of proportional representation but perhaps now was the time.

“It is important we get this right. An agreement has been made (with Labour) and we must make it work.

“We are looking forward to co-operating, and we can co-operate to make Barnet better. Let’s hope we can have some solid achievements, especially on housing.”

Councillor Zinkin thanked the council’s officers for helping the two parties through some “unusual and quite difficult” negotiations, but this had achieved the continuation of an “effective council” which was in the interests of residents.

Councillor Rawlings (above) agreed it had been difficult to achieve the agreement, but it was vital the council continued to run, and the electors had depended on the councillors to find a solution.  

But there was a pointed reminder that if Labour were to lose a seat to the Conservatives during the next four years, the tables might well be turned, the council would no longer be tied, and the Conservatives might take control.

Councillor Cornelius fired the warning shot: “We must make this agreement work…until the next council by-election.”

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Fighting for improved adult social care and support for the disabled are priorities for Barnet’s new Green Party councillor

Priorities for Barnet Council's new Green Party Councillor, who lives in High Barnet, will be fighting to improve adult social care and support for people with disabilities

Barnet’s newly-elected Green Party councillor, Charli Thompson – who lives in High Barnet – says her priority will be to tackle issues surrounding adult social care and disabilities rather than get involved in party political infighting.

With Labour and the Conservatives each having 31 councillors, Ms Thompson might well have a casting vote at future council meetings, but she has no intention of exploiting her position for political purposes.

“I realise I hold the balance of power, but I am not interested in forming a political alliance with either Labour or the Conservatives.

“My role as a councillor will be to listen to residents and their concerns, support their interests and align myself with Green Party policies.”

Her resolve to avoid playing party politics was put to the test when the council met for the first time (Tuesday 19 May) to decide whether Councillor Barry Rawlings should remain Labour leader and control the council or whether the post should go to the Conservative leader Peter Zinkin with control passing to the Conservatives.

She voted first against councillor Zinkin, who was defeated by 32 votest to 31, and then voted against councillor Rawlings who was re-elected leader for four years with 31 votes in favour, 31 absentions by Conservative councillors and only one vote (Green) against.

Ms Thompson topped the poll with 1,331 votes in the Woodhouse ward, taking a Labour seat, in the Barnet Council elections on May 7.

Support for Greens was strongest in the Barnet wards closest to inner London where the party is now in a majority in some London boroughs.   

Her first move on being elected was to approach Barnet’s Labour and Conservative groups to see if they would agree to her becoming a member of the council’s committee for adult social care.

“I am disabled myself and to my disappointment both parties have blocked my attempt to use my expertise as a campaigner on adult social care and disabilities to help improve council services.”

In 2019 Ms Thompson was signed off work as a freelance designer because of a worsening brain condition (Chiari malformation) and during the last few years she helped to care for her father, who died earlier this year, and her sister who is autistic and in supported living care.

“I went into politics because I became so disillusioned about the level of care.

“I want to use any influence I have to improve council services for adult social care and disabilities.

“It is not asking a lot to seek to use my expertise as a campaigner, and now a councillor, for the benefit of the community, but already Labour and the Conservatives say they won’t work with me.”

Ms Thompson, who stood previously for the Green Party in a by-election in the Whetstone ward in 2025, was attracted to politics when Jeremy Corbyn was elected leader of the Labour Party in 2015. She went on to become a Labour Party member.

“I found Corbyn inspiring, the way he connected with people who had been marginalised and gave them a voice.”

After Labour’s defeat in the 2019 general election, she didn’t want Corbyn to stand down. She voted for Rebecca Long-Bailey in the 2020 Labour leadership election which was won by Sir Keir Starmer.

Shortly after the 2024 general election she resigned from the Labour Party – and joined the Green Party –following the Starmer government’s withdrawal of winter fuel allowance for the elderly and military support for Israel over the war in Gaza.

Ms Thompson has had a lifetime association with High Barnet. She was born – Charlotte Thompson– at the former Victoria Maternity Hospital in Wood Street;  went to school at the former St Martha’s Convent; and then St Michael’s at North Finchley.    

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Lifetime achievement award for Barnet Market stallholder who had his first pitch at the age of eight selling cauliflowers

David Bone broke off from selling fruit and vegetables to accept a Civic Award for Lifetime Achievement in recognition of 65 years of service at the twice weekly Barnet Market.

He was unable to attend the annual awards ceremony at Hendon Town Hall, so the Mayor of Barnet, Councillor Danny Rich, paid an official visit to the Saturday market.

David, now 74, told the mayor he started at the age of eight helping his father Albert who in 1959 had opened the first fruit and vegetable market at what was then a cattle market.

“I was only eight, just a boy. My father gave me a jam sandwich, pushed me out, and told me to stand in the market selling cauliflowers.”

In presenting the award, the mayor told assembled shoppers that David had been “a fantastic” part of the market.

“That is what is so special about Barnet: people giving their time, devoting their life to serving the community.

“Barnet only runs so well as a town because of people like the Bone family.”

Barnet Market stall holder David Bone pressented with Borough of Barnet Civic Award for Lifetime Achievement by Mayor of Barnet, Councillor Danny Rich

David told the mayor that his son Tyler was now running the stall.

He said his grandfather, Albert Bone senior, had helped his father with the stall, so four generations had been selling fruit and vegetables at Barnet Market.

“Without my son Tyler running the stall, I would not be here today.”

 The citation for David’s 2026 Borough of Barnet Award for Lifetime Achievement recognised his “unwavering commitment and dedication” to serving generations of Barnet residents through rain, snow and sunshine.

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Facing an uncertain future: unsteady state of Barnet’s iconic whalebones archway – can it be repaired or replaced with a replica?  

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.

Signs of movement in its footings and cracks in the archway – once the jaw bones of a ninety-foot-long blue whale – prompted concern about its safety.

Hill Group, who are building 115 new homes in adjoining fields, installed the scaffolding as a protective measure to safeguard the arch and to preserve “a unique local landmark”.

Hill’s intervention has been welcomed by the owners of Whalebones House, Patrick Shanahan and Helena Boland, who say urgent action is need to either repair the whalebones or replace them with a replica archway.

Straps have been applied around the surface to ensure there is no further fragmentation of the structure.

A set of jawbones was first erected as a gateway to Whalebones House in the 1860s or perhaps even earlier.

They were last replaced in 1939 by former owner of the house, Miss Gwyneth Cowing, whose family owned the Barnet Press newspaper.

She paid for two jawbones, each weighing three-quarters of a ton, to be transported to Barnet from Norway where the carcase of the whale, which had been captured in the South Seas, had been dismembered.

It took half a dozen workmen, under the direction of local builders W. Foster & Sons, all day to manoeuvre the gigantic jawbones into place and set them in six feet of concrete.

Cracks in the jawbone on the Arkley side of the drive started appearing at Easter; then its footing became dislodged; and it became clear the archway was in danger of collapsing.

Mr Shanahan said he first became aware of the damage after heavy equipment being used by the contractors started crossing the driveway less than three metres from the jawbones.

“Excavators and piling equipment kept being moved to and from the main construction area to a smaller site off Wellhouse Lane where there is to be a new community building and studio for the Barnet Guild of Artists.

“Because of the fragile state of the jawbones we have asked the contractors to stop crossing the driveway and generating the kind of vibration which has clearly been having a devastating impact.”    

After alerting the Hill Group to what had happened, the owners of Whalebones House asked for advice from Barnet Council on the historic status of the whalebones and whether permission would be needed to dismantle the archway and install a replacement.

They hope that the Hill Group and the trustees of the Gwyneth Cowing estate – which sold off the farmland for housing – will contribute to the cost of repairing or replacing the archway.

“Hill are going to call their new housing estate and gardens Whalebone Park, so they have a responsibility to ensure the whalebones remain an integral part of the whole development,” said Mr Shanahan.

“So far we have been unable to gain any assistance from Barnet Council’s planning or heritage departments, and we are anxious to work out how best to safeguard the future of the archway.”

Whalebones House is a Grade II listed building of special interest and the whalebones at the entrance to the drive are specifically referred to in the appraisal for the Wood Street Conservation area which includes the Whalebones estate.

It says that the whalebones at the entrance sit within “a notable tree boundary and create an entry feature to the space.”

Mr Shanahan says former fishing and whaling communities which have historic whalebone arches, including Whitby in Yorkshire and coastal ports in Scotland, are facing similar challenges over how best to protect them.

“Resin bonding has been used to repair some arches. Others have been replaced with replica arches made from synthetic compounds, steel or even brass.

“We need advice and help in working out how the arch can be preserved or replaced.”

There are competing theories as to how and why whalebones were first erected in Wood Street.

One report in the Barnet Press suggested the famous polar explorer John Franklin (1786-1847) once lived in Whalebones and according to local thinking installed the first set of whalebones as early as the 1830s.

A week later the paper published an alternative version: Frederick Brown, who lived at 92 Wood Street, said his sister was married to Mr Easton, a Thames waterman, who had lived at the house and started the tradition.

Mr Easton had joined the firm of Smith and Sons, whalebone and sealskin merchants, who plied their trade from the Thames, and he obtained a pair of whalebones which it was thought were erected in the 1860s and gave the house its name.

Records at Barnet Museum suggest the house was built in 1815 and the first reference to it being named Whalebones was on a map dated 1872.

Motorists travelling along Wood Street often miss seeing the jawbones, especially when the trees and hedges are in leaf and much of that side of the road is filled in parked cars.

Pedestrians get a far better view and might like to renew an old Chipping Barnet custom: according to local legal it was good luck to walk under the archway, make a wish or share a kiss.

Over the years countless Barnet youngsters have marvelled at the size of the jaw bones from a blue whale, the largest species captured in the South Seas.

Angela Morris of King’s Road, Barnet, remembers that as a seven-year-old in the 1950s she attended a Brownie pack that met in the barn at Whalebones.

“In those days there were another two sets of whalebones, only much smaller. One was at the gateway to the house and one that had fallen down beside a path that went to the barn where the Brownies met.”

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Uncertainty over future political control of Barnet Council to continue until critical meeting where the mayor’s vote could be decisive

After a split election result, future political control of Barnet Council will hang in the balance until the newly elected councillors meet for the first time at Hendon Town Hall on Tuesday 19 May.

Labour and Conservatives each gained 31 seats – with one seat going to the Greens – leaving no party in overall control of the council.

A final decision on whether Labour Councillor Barry Rawlings might remain leader of the council or whether the position goes to the Conservative party leader Peter Zinkin could rest on a casting vote by the new Mayor of Barnet.

Discussions have been taking place between party leaders and the council’s chief executive Cath Shaw to agree a procedure to determine the future political control of the council.

In a statement issued immediately after the election, Ms Shaw said it would be for the new councillors to decide how the council should be governed.

In the meantime, residents could be assured they would continue to receive council services as usual.

When they meet on 19 May, the first task of the new council will be to appoint a new Mayor of Barnet to succeed the outgoing mayor, Labour Councillor Danny Rich (who was re-elected in West Finchley).

The new Mayor was expected to have been East Barnet Labour Councillor Edith David, but she lost her seat in the council elections.

If Labour put forward a fresh nomination for mayor – and if that Labour nominee is elected (a decision on which the current mayor has a casting vote) – control of the council could possibly remain in Labour hands.

A new Labour mayor would have a casting vote for the next decision which is to appoint a council leader who would have the task of forming a new administration and appointing a new cabinet.

This is a scenario which could result in Councillor Rawlings continuing as council leader, but it would undoubtedly be opposed by the Conservatives and depends on what happens at the meeting.

An added complication is that given the tied election result, there would need to be a full attendance by both Labour and Conservative councillors. 

If there were absences on either side due to ill health or unexpected circumstances the votes on 19 May might still go either way, hence the continuing uncertainty as to the outcome.

In the council elections, Labour lost ten seats and the Conservatives gained nine resulting in each securing 31 seats with no overall control.

In his statement re-acting to the election result, the Chipping Barnet Labour MP Dan Tomlinson congratulated all the candidates elected for seats in his constituency.

“I look forward to working with you all in the coming years,” said Mr Tomlinson.

“We now have a unique election result – the council is now a balanced hung council.”     

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Devastating losses for Labour in Barnet Council elections as the authority faces uncertainty with no party in overall control

A dramatic backdrop at the RAF Museum at Hendon provided the setting for a marathon election count which upended local politics as the Labour Party haemorrhaged seats and Barnet Council slipped to no overall control.

Labour and the Conservatives finished with 31 seats each.

In another surprise a newly elected councillor for the Green Party ended up holding the balance of power, able to exercise what could become a casting vote.

Labour lost ten seats to the Conservatives – a wounding setback after its success in the 2022 council elections when Labour took overall control of the council for the first time since the London boroughs were created in 1965.

Some opinion polls had predicted that the Conservatives might regain control of Barnet but strong showings by the Greens and Reform divided the vote in many wards putting paid to the two-party Labour/Conservative clashes of the past.

Wards in and around High Barnet were among those where Labour suffered defeats.

Conservative candidate James Esses topped the poll in the High Barnet ward just ahead of Labour Councillor Emma Whysall who was re-elected.

Oliver Gough just failed in his attempt to secure the seat of retiring High Barnet councillor Paul Edwards but was just ahead of Conservative candidate Amberley Thay.

Barnet Council 2026 elections end with both Labour and Conservatives on 31 votes and no overall control of the council. A newly elected Green councillor holds the balance of power

The High Barnet count was declared by the council’s deputy returning officer Deborah Hinde.

In East Barnet, where the Conservatives also gained a seat, Labour Councillor Edith David was narrowly defeated.

East Barnet councillor Simon Radford topped the poll, with David Allen taking second place for the Conservatives and Phil Cohen holding his seat for Labour.

Labour Councillor Ella Rose lost her seat in Whetstone where the Conservatives made another gain. Only seven votes separated the top three candidates and there had to be three recounts before the result was finally declared.

Candidates for the Greens delivered one of the first shocks of the count topping the poll in Woodhouse – one of their target wards – taking a Labour seat and nearly adding a second Labour scalp.

Charli Thompson (Green) topped the poll with 1,331 votes. Labour’s Anne Hutton (Labour) was returned for the second seat with 1,287 votes but she was only just ahead of the second candidate for the Greens, George Ttoouli on 1,194 votes.

In another of their target wards, three candidates for the Greens finished a close second to the three Labour candidates in Friern Barnet who succeeded in holding their seats, including Barry Rawlings, Labour leader of the council.

Although Councillor Rawlings – and the two other Labour candidates Pauline Coakley Webb and Beverley Kotey were re-elected – candidates for the Greens were only a couple of hundred votes behind them.

Former Friern Barnet councillor Linda Lusingu, who had defected from Labour to the Greens, lost her seat finishing in fifth place.

Reform were the main challengers in the Tory strongholds of Edgware and Edgwarebury but although their candidates were ahead of the other parties they trailed well behind Conservative candidates.

Reform drew the most votes in the north and west of the borough whereas the vote for the Greens was strongest in the east of the borough, closer to inner London where there was an even greater surge in Green support.

In some wards Labour suffered devastating losses, losing all three seats to the Conservatives in both the Childs Hill and Brunswick wards.

Results:

High Barnet (two seats): James Esses (Conservative) 1,558; Emma Whysall (Labour) 1,441; Oliver Gough (Labour) 1,417; Amberley Thay (Conservative) 1,372; Darius Hutchinson (Reform) 689; Rajesh Gulabivala (Reform) 631; Fanxi Liu (Green) 538; Charles Wicksteed (Green) 536; Andrew Jackson (Liberal Democrat) 497; Grant McKenna (Liberal Democrat) 357.

Barnet Vale (three seats) : Sue Baker (Labour) 2,130; David Longstaff (Conservative) 2,024; Richard Barnes (Labour) 1,994; Elmina Homapour (Conservative) 1,805; Tom Smith (Conservative) 1,797; Mukesh Oza (Labour) 1,674; Mark Francis (Reform) 952; Mark Devey (Green) 887; Julian Teare (Reform) 868; Uri Mofsowitz (Reform) 857; Kevin Meehan (Green) 694; Matty Robins (Green) 683; Simon Cohen (Liberal Democrat) 504; Duncan MacDonald (Liberal Democrat) 292; Dave Keech (Liberal Democrat) 274.

East Barnet (three seats): Simon Radford (Labour) 1,856; David Allen (Conservative) 1,832; Phil Cohen (Labour) 1,828; Edith David (Labour) 1,745; Pavan Pavanakumar (Conservative) 1,616; Anila Skeja (Conservative) 1,589; Emma Matthews (Green) 981; Kari Khan (Reform) 921; Dima Ouda (Reform) 916; Ozen Halil (Green) 719; Kornelia Szostak (Green) 755; Roger Aitken (Liberal Democrat) 383; Petros Ioannou (Liberal Democrat) 294; Walter Buchgrabr (Liberal Democrat), 241.

Underhill (two seats): Zahra Beg (Labour) 1,233; Josh Tapper (Labour) 1,128; Lucy Milner (Conservative) 829; Andrew Hutchings (Reform) 826; Alison Mills (Reform), 774; Reuben Ward (Conservative) 683; Gina Theodorou (Independent) 619; Hugh Platt (Green) 595; Carl White (Green) 427; Stephen Barber (Liberal Democrat) 252; Sean Hooker (Liberal Democrat) 228; Riann Mehta (TUSC) 128; Donata Briamonte (Rejoin) 122.

Whetstone (two seats); Ezra Cohen (Labour) 1,292; Stephen Lewis (Conservative) 1,290; Kevin Ghateh (Conservative) 1,285; Ella Rose (Labour) 1,200; Adrian Kitching (Reform) 543; David Burns (Green) 535; Vaidehi Hedge (Green) 478; Martin Navias (Reform) 471; Luigi Bille (Liberal Democrat) 194; John MacRory (Liberal Democrat) 146; Richard Hewison (Rejoin) 79.

There were a total of 312 candidates for the 63 council seats – a record number for Barnet which far exceeded the figure of 207 candidates in 2022.

The new council will meet for the first time on Tuesday 19 May when it will have to agree on the appointment of key roles and agree the future administration of the borough.

For the full results see Barnet Council website: https://www.barnet.gov.uk/elections-and-voting/local-government-elections-thursday-7-may-2026/results

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Barnet High Street has become a showcase for Battle of Barnet banners – a heritage asset which might get international recognition

Painting and caring for the Battle of Barnet banners which are displayed along the High Street each summer is an historic legacy for the town which volunteers at Barnet Museum hope might gain international recognition.

An application has been made by the museum to see if the craft of making and maintaining replicas of these medieval banners can be recognised by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage – a practice which is part of the cultural identity of a community.

Unlike tangible heritage, such as monuments or artefacts, an intangible heritage is passed down from generation to generation and is continuously being recreated.

Almost a decade ago Barnet Museum took inspiration from the town of Tewkesbury which has been celebrating the 1471 Battle of Tewkesbury for the last 50 years with re-enactments, a medieval festival and a display of heraldic banners.

Volunteers at Barnet Museum followed their example and started researching the history of the coats of arms of royalty and noblemen whose troops fought in the Battle of Barnet on April 14, 1471, the month before the Battle of Tewkesbury on May 4, 1471.

The application to UNESCO for a listing of intangible cultural heritage is now being made in conjunction with Wars of the Roses enthusiasts at Tewkesbury.

One of the first heraldic banners to be reproduced in Barnet was that of King Henry VI – seen above in 2018 with the museum’s curator Mike Noronhan and the deputy curator Hilary Harrison.

Permission was granted for a display of banners in The Spires Shopping Centre and agreement was reached with Barnet Council for them to be hung from lampposts along Barnet High Street.

All told the museum volunteers have now researched and painted 106 banners – of which 76 currently hang in the High Street and another 26 are displayed in various locations around the town including The Spires.

Barnet Museum is applying to UNESCO for recognition of its work painting and caring for Battle of Barnet heraldic banners to be declared an intangible cultural heritage

Mike Noronha said that once the museum staff heard about the UNESCO scheme for registering an intangible cultural heritage they decided to work with Tewkesbury in making an application.

“Painting, maintaining and displaying the banners is a real craft which we think we have mastered and which we think should be recognised.

“Each winter the banners have to be repaired and sometimes repainted as they get damaged in high wind, so this is an ongoing task for the museum.”

Mounting costs involved in hanging the banners along the High Street has become an issue.

Last year when it seemed there was some doubt as to whether they would be able to go ahead the Chipping Barnet Town Team stepped in and agreed to pay half the cost of the installation, work which was carried out by Barnet Council’s street lighting contractor.

This summer the council stepped in to meet the installation cost of £3,500, for which Mr Noronha said the museum was “hugely grateful”.

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Civic awards for legendary Barnet Market trader David Bone and Barnet Museum’s deputy curator Hilary Harrison

Barnet Market stalwart David Bone, who has been selling fruit and vegetables since he started as a boy at the age of seven helping on his father’s stall, has been awarded a 2026 Borough of Barnet Civic Award for Lifetime Achievement.

His award is recognition of 65 years of “unwavering commitment and dedication” to serving generations of Barnet residents through rain, snow and sunshine.

David – above left, with his son Tyler who now runs the family stall – was praised for his legendary reliability among customers and fellow traders.

Other award winners included a Civic Award for Lifetime Achievement for the late Christine Shields, for her contributions to the East Barnet Residents’ Association and the East Barnet Festival and her role as school governor and hospital volunteer.

A Civic Award for Outstanding Service to the Community went to Sheila Gallagher, in recognition of her initiative in setting up and sustaining the Chipping Barnet Foodbank.

Hilary Harrison, deputy curator of Barnet Museum, was awarded a Civic Award for Outstanding Service to the Community for her work “championing Barnet’s history, heritage, culture and identity”.

An exhibition for which she collected and assembled the information was the display at The Spires to mark the 60th anniversary of the London Borough of Barnet – see above, from left to right, Mike Noronha, Barnet Museum curator; Hilary Harrison, deputy curator; and Councillor Paul Edwards.

In the citation for her award, Hilary was praised for her role in organising the 60th anniversary display, her work in preparing the annual display of Battle of Barnet banners and for her role at Barnet Museum leading education and outreach activities with local schools and community groups.  

The 2026 civic awards ceremony was held at Hendon Town Hall where the Deputy Lieutenant for the Borough of Barnet, Martin Russell, read the individual citations for the awards which were presented by the Mayor of Barnet, Councillor Danny Rich.

Civic awards for Barnet Market trader David Bone after 65 years' legendary service and for deupty curator at Barnet Museum, Hilary Harrison

David Bone’s long connection with Barnet Market began in 1959 when his father Albert – see above – opened the first fruit and vegetable stall at what was then the Barnet cattle mark.

Albert, who died in 2021 at the age of 95, was helped on the stall by his wife Joan, his son David, and his sisters Roma and Rachel.

David started a separate vegetable stall next to his parents’ pitch when he left school, and he now assists his own son Tyler who runs the family business.

“It’s always been a family affair. My father’s father, Albert Bone senior, used to help, and now my son Tyler runs the business. So that’s four generations who have been serving customers in Barnet.”

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High Court backs approval for two travellers’ caravans in a Mays Lane paddock once used for grazing horses

High Court rejects attempt by Barnet Council to halt the go ahead for a site for two travellers' caravans on a paddock in Mays Lane Green Belt

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.

Gina Theodorou, chair of the Quinta Village Green Residents’ Association, said that despite the setback they were determined to continue their fight to protect the Green Belt along Mays Lane.

Failure by the council to secure a full judicial review of a planning inspector’s decision in favour of the travellers site means that work installing hard standing can now go ahead in a two-acre paddock – see above – which was previously used for grazing horses.

Space has been approved for two static caravans, two mobile homes and two day rooms to be occupied by two traveller families.

The application was made by brothers Patrick and J Casey.

A refusal by the council to grant approval led to a lengthy planning inquiry last year when the inspector decided that the “very special circumstances” of the two families outweighed any harm to the Green Belt.

This ruling was challenged by the council on the grounds that the inspector’s conclusion was factually flawed because of his conclusion that a go ahead for the site was in the best interests of the “seven young children” involved.

In its challenge, the council argued that the evidence showed that in fact only four or five children would live on the site.

After a two-hour hearing – which Ms Theodorou attended – the High Court accepted that while there was a factual error in the inspector’s decision it did not materially affect the outcome of whether to allow the site on Green Belt land. Development could now proceed.

“We are disappointed because although this decision affects only one site, it means that once the land is developed it undermines the protection for our local green spaces,” said Ms Theodorou.

“There could now be future proposals for travellers’ sites on Green Belt land on both sides of the paddock and this approval would make it easier to justify.

“But that is how the Green Belt is gradually eroded.

“Our focus now has to be to focus on the bigger picture – to protect what remains of our Green Belt along Mays Lane and to ensure that our local green spaces are managed in a way that benefits both the environment and the community.”   

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Leaseholders of The Spires Shopping Centre in administration – Chipping Barnet Town Team seeking full explanation 

Chipping Barnet Town Team are seeking a full explanation given concern about leaseholders of The Spires Shopping Centre in administration.

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.

Purchase of The Spires for £28 million in 2021 was made in the name of BYM Capital which went into administration in 2023.

Freehold of The Spires’ site is owned by Barnet Council.

Companies House has now confirmed new administrators have been appointed to take control of NEG The Spires Ltd, named as the holder of the leases.

An associated company NEG Barnet Market Ltd, which owns the freehold of the former site of Barnet Market, is also under the control of the same administrators.

Given the new situation and the possibility, the adjacent sites could now be split up – and the added grave uncertainty about the future of one of the town’s key assets – the Chipping Barnet Town Team is seeking to make contact with the new team of administrators.

“Community groups and other key stakeholders in the town are desperate to find out what is going on,” said town team secretary Eamonn Rafferty.

“We have all been left in the dark for far too long.”

“Bearing in mind the strategic importance to the town of The Spires precinct of shops, the Waitrose supermarket and the multi-storey car park, we think the Town Team must be consulted before any key decisions are taken about their future.

“We want to know more about the options being considered by the administrators. If there is a complicated break-up of the assets it could put the future of the entire shopping centre at risk.”

Barnet Councillor David Longstaff, a member of the Town Team, and the Chipping Barnet MP Dan Tomlinson, have both indicated they will try to gain more information. 

When administrators were first appointed in November 2023, Barnet Council – which owns the freehold of The Spires’ site – insisted that there would be no interruption in the running of the shopping centre.

Operation of the centre and its facilities such as public conveniences – conducted through the management of Savills Property Management – was said to be the responsibility of a separate company which the council had been assured was not in the hands of the administrators and would continue without interruption.

FMX Urban Property Advisers, which took on responsibility in March 2024 for leasing retail units in the shopping centre, told the Barnet Society that it was “business as usual” when it came to seeking for new tenants for vacant outlets.

“Our role as letting agents is not affected” said FMX.

In promotional material, it describes The Spires as a “primary retail destination…boasting an affluent surrounding catchment and benefiting from excellent transport links and a 440-space multi-storey car park”.

FMX said their instructions were to help implement a “dynamic and proactive retail strategy” for The Spires.

Prior to going into administration BYM Capital held discussions with Barnet Council and public consultations about possible redevelopment.

There were proposals – about which nothing further has been heard – to convert the shopping centre into a new retail thoroughfare with blocks of flats and shops below together with more flats above the car park and on the site of the former market.

Currently the market site is a car park operated by Britannia Parking, which also operates the multi-storey at the shopping centre.

Concern over how best to safeguard the future of the shopping centre, prompted the formation of a resident’s “Save The Spires” campaign which handed out leaflets calling on Barnet Council to take active steps to preserve “a safe, quiet and much used” civic space at the heart of High Barnet.

Covered walkways and squares within the shopping centre were an important amenity because they were “free of traffic and deserved to be maintained and kept open to the public”. 

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Small children not cars take control of the road outside their homes as High Barnet parents take advantage of a play street closure

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.

Encouraging children to start playing outdoors – an activity which has been in sad decline in recent years – is a passion for a High Barnet mother who has followed through and delivered for her neighbours.

The end of Calvert Road, which forms a short cul-de-sac, becomes a designated play space for the morning of the last Sunday of the month – and it has official recognition with a road closure notice installed by Barnet Council’s highways department.

Several roads across the Borough of Barnet are closed when residents apply for a play street closure and the parents around Calvert Road are hoping other neighbourhoods in High Barnet might joint in so that children could have even more opportunities to play outside their homes in safety.

Hiranya de Alwis Jayasinghe, above with her three-year-old son Freddie, first applied for a temporary Sunday morning play street closure for Calvert Road last summer and it proved an immediate success.

Sometimes up to a dozen small children from homes in surrounding roads such as Sebright, Puller and Alston join in the fun – a chance to ride up and down, chalk pictures on the road, or even blow bubbles.

“What children have lost in recent years is the freedom to play safely in the street outside their homes, the kind of encounter that was so commonplace years ago,” said Hiranya.

She wanted her son Freddie to experience playing with his friends outside and made inquiries.

“We got up a petition to support our application and checked with people living nearby. Largely they were all ok with it and Barnet Council were really helpful and supportive, so we now have a Sunday morning street closure for three hours once a month.”

Hiranya had seen how her son Freddie had started taking an interest in the road outside. He began to recognise the different fences and front doors as they walked along, and she realised that he was interested in what was happening in the street outside.

“Playing outside in the street is something which previous generations took for granted, but playing outdoors is like clean air: you don’t miss it until you don’t have it and sadly that is what happened.

“Children playing outside has gone down by 50 per cent within a generation – and we all know the reasons: cars go so fast they are such a risk to children; cars are parked everywhere and seem to have taken over; for too many children screentime has become far too dominant; and parents have so many other fears for the safety of their children.”

Hiranya thought every parent should be aware of the consequences about not encouraging outdoor play: the health issues arising from a sedentary life and the worrying signs for mental health – 15 per cent of children aged seven to ten have a mental health problem.

“I now have a passion for encouraging children to play outside, especially close to where they live rather than always having to go to the park.

“It is such a simple intervention, but it makes such a difference. Here are opportunities for children to make social contact right on their doorstep which is so beneficial.

“They build up an association with the street where they live. It is their street and they care for it, and who knows in the future they will make sure it is a free of litter and rubbish.”

Small children take over as play street road closure in Calvert Road, High Barnet, provides a chance to play outside in the street -- an encounter in sad decline in recent years.

Longtime Calvert Road resident Chris Nightingale – who donned a yellow jacket to volunteer to help – said the Calvert Road play street closure was a model for other nearby roads and a marvellous example of community support and action.

He agreed with Hiranya that if other nearby cul-de-sacs such as Falklands Road or Cecil Court thought of joining in with the playstreet scheme there would be a network of places where small children could play outside on Sunday mornings.   

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Repairs needed to earth bank at Jack’s Lake after leak in dam wall threatened Monken Hadley Common beauty spot  

Steel piling has been used to strengthen the retaining wall along the side of Jack’s Lake in Monken Hadley Common after the bank sprang a leak which was posing a danger to the long-term future of one of Barnet’s most popular beauty spots.

Barnet Council provided a grant of £40,000 from community infrastructure money to pay for the work which will include the restoration of the bank with water loving plants and foliage.

Steel piling was inserted to a depth of 3.5metres along a 25-metre-long section of the retaining wall and then backfilled with 36 tons of pudding clay to provide a permanent plug to stop further leaks.

Dan Tomlinson, MP for Chipping Barnet, was shown progress on the two-week project – above, from left to right, Phil Keown, treasurer of Monken Hadley Common Trust, Dan Tomlinson, Hadley Common duty curator Roger De La Mare, and Steve Johnson, project manager.

Jack’s Lake – established in around 1770 – is one of several ponds which continue from the common through Hadley Wood Golf Course. They are all fed by local streams.

The retaining wall, which holds in Jack’s Lake, is alongside the footpath from Monken Hadley to Cockfosters – where the overflow from the ponds joins Pymmes Brook.

Until the 1950s, Jack’s Lake was a popular boating lake, and it is now the preserve of the Hadley Angling and Preservation Society.

Project leader Martin Vaughan (above) said the leak was causing serious erosion in the retaining bank and had needed a full repair.

The next phase of the project would be to lay coir matting over the top of the piling which would provide growing space for reeds and plants, and which would encourage lakeside wildlife.

Urgent repairs after a leak in retaining wall at Jack's Lake in Monken Hadley Common paid for by a grant from Barnet Council.

Andrew Langford, a volunteer bailiff for the angling society, described to Mr Tomlinson how the vegetation would recover and once again provide a natural habitat.

Mr Tomlinson, who is Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, congratulated the trust on doing so much to safeguard the common and Jack’s Lake and for the support of East Barnet councillor Edith David.

“As a Treasury minister I must say how happy I am to see that £40,000 of public money has been really well spent on stopping a potentially dangerous leak and in ensuring that the public can go on enjoying Jack’s Lake for years to come.”  

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Strengthened protection for woodland close to Hadley Green which has become a wildlife corridor close to Barnet town centre

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.

An objection by the owners to the strengthening of the tree protection for the one-acre site – see above – was rejected by the planning committee.

It said the strip of land alongside Christchurch Lane – opposite the junction with Sunset View – was classified by ecologists as “lowland mixed deciduous woodland” and was a “priority habitat deciduous woodland”.

As planning authority, Barnet Council had a duty to protect this asset with a “woodland tree preservation order”.

The trees on the site – including oak, ash, birch and walnut and a shrub layer of yew, hawthorn and laurel – provided “considerable visual amenity” in an area of a mosaic of small green spaces.

Nearby residents who objected to the original plan to build a large house on the site have hailed the decision as another decisive step in their campaign to preserve what they believe is a significant wildlife corridor between Hadley Green and the Old Fold Manor Golf Course.

In March, an application by Christchurchgrove Ltd to build a six-bedroom house on the site was refused by the council because it would do “unacceptable harm” to a woodland habitat and damage the conservation area.

Stregthened protection for woodland in Monken Hadley conservation area hailed by residents as decicisive in campaign to protect wildlife corridor

In objecting to the proposed tree preservation order for the whole site, the company said the land was already covered by eight separate tree preservation orders and therefore there was already adequate protection.

Without approval for the construction of the proposed house would be no management plan for the woodland which was already displaying symptoms of becoming unkempt and neglected.

There had been growth in the woods of non-indigenous and invasive species which was starting to denude the quality of the habitat.

In response, the council said that in the 45 years since the original tree preservation orders were made, many new trees had established themselves and had merit.

They had altered significantly the appearance of the land, adding to the “woodland character” of the site.

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“When Will They Ever Learn?” – blue plaque rebuke for Barnet Council’s highways team over fallout from ban on parking 

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.

Their complaint is that the council refused to listen to their concerns and has failed to respond to their argument that the restrictions are excessive and have created a dangerous corner by speeding up traffic.

Dr Chris Nightingale commissioned the plaque – highlighting the refrain “When Will They Ever Learn?” from a 1950s Pete Seeger’s protest song – to remind Barnet Councillors that they should engage with residents and take their concerns seriously.

He says residents of Sebright and Calvert feel ignored and abandoned. Traffic speeds around their narrow streets of mainly small cottages and terraced homes have increased as a result of a double-yellow line restriction which they believe is longer than at other comparable road junctions.

So far there has been no response to a letter they sent to the council’s chief executive, Cath Shaw, reminding her of Barnet’s core values such as the undertaking by councillors to “actively listen, respond, collaborate and share ideas” with residents.

The legend around the edge of the plaque could not be clearer:

“Plaque commemorates the failure of Barnet Council to listen – thereby creating a dangerous corner and loss of parking.”

The dispute with the council over the parking restrictions began in June last year and finally the council went ahead with painting the yellow lines – an operation which did not go smoothly for the council’s contractors.

This prompted a rebuke from the council:

“Unfortunately, several vehicle owners did not follow the request to keep the junction clear to facilitate the line marking installation and it was necessary to arrange for the presence of a vehicle lifter.

“Council contractors were verbally abused. We expect contractors to be free to undertake work in a safe environment.

“Contractors asked for the council’s community safety team to attend when contractors returned.”

Blue plaque in Sebright Road, Barnet, rebukes Barnet Council for frailing to listen over residents objections to doube yellow line parking restrictions

Mrs Louise Cain (above, second from right) organised a petition to protest at the proposed parking restriction but it was rejected because it had not reached the minimum number of 500 signatures.

Although a letter sent by the group to Cath Shaw had not been acknowledged, she said a reply from the council’s highways team did not address their complaints about the lack of consultation and the fair treatment of residents’ concerns.

They were told to approach their local councillors to seek support if they wished to make a request regarding road safety design or parking as the highways team had already attended to review their concerns.

“Unfortunately, the reply we have received is very confused. We think the double yellow lines are too long and that other junctions in the vicinity have far less severe restrictions,” said Mrs Cain.

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As Dollis Valley regeneration about to move ahead, launch of new job club will offer help and support to gain skills and employment

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.

A year’s funding for the club coincides with an imminent start on completing the Dollis Valley estate regeneration with the construction of 221 new homes at affordable rents.

Guidance on job opportunities and training will be provided each Tuesday afternoon by Boost, Barnet Council’s employment and advice service (from 1pm to 4pm).

The Shaw Trust will hold a drop-in session on Friday mornings offering advice on health and job support programmes (from 9.30am to 2pm).

A tailoring and sewing course – a free make and mend programme – will equip those taking part for job and business opportunities.

Julian Desborough (above, far right), secretary of Barnet Churches Action which established the community centre ten years ago, said they recognised the need for advice on employment and training.

Demand is likely to increase once demolition starts in preparation for the final completion of phases four and five of the Dollis Valley regeneration.

Work on the replacement Brook Valley Gardens estate has been stalled since 2023 but despite further delays and a fresh disagreement about the split between private and social housing, Mr Desborough said their hope and expectation was that the regeneration was back on track.  

Residents who had to move from Dollis Valley after their blocks of flats and maisonettes were condemned because of damp and mould will get the chance to return to new socially rented housing under the management of Barnet Homes.

The construction and opening of the Hope Corner Community Centre – above which are three floors of affordably-rented flats – marked the start of the Dollis Valley regeneration.

Centre manager Janet Nestor – see above, with Julian Desborough and James Ricks of the Boost employment and advice service – supervises a wide range of activities for the community.

As well as a café offering breakfast and lunch at affordable prices, the centre has two halls for classes and events including exercise and flower arranging classes, Pilates, and mother and baby and maths tutor classes.  

Hope Corner Community Centre in Mays Lane to launch job club offering help with employment and training.

Hope Corner Job Club, to be launched on Thursday 30 April, is already attracting considerable interest.

A dozen participants have signed up so far. For further information email hopecornerjobclub@outlook.com or visit Hope Corner Community Centre at 185 Mays Lane.

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Work authorised on ponds at golf course in Friern Barnet to increase water storage and reduce risk of flooding in north London

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.

As part of the scheme, which is being funded by the Environment Agency, the two balancing ponds will be widened and de-silted.

A third flood storage basin further downstream, but within the golf course, will also be improved.

Enlargement will enable the ponds to retain more water and ease flooding in north London.

From the golf course, Blacketts Brook, flows through Friary Park and enters a culvert under both Friern Barnet Lane and the main railway line before joining Pymmes Brook.

Pymmes Brook, which flows through East Barnet village and Oak Hill Park, is itself subject to flooding.

This threat increases after Pymmes Brook is joined by tributaries such as Blacketts Brook and where, further south, flooding causes even greater problems in Upper Edmonton and Tottenham.

Two ponds along Blacketts Brook at Friern Barnet golf course to be enlarged to alleviate flooding after heavy rainfall

The two ponds in the golf course form part of a site of importance for nature conservation as they are thought to provide habitat for Palmate newts, which are rare in London.

Friary Park – where the continuation of Blacketts Brook is a popular feature – is also a site of importance for nature conservation.

In another move to improve flood resilience within the Borough of Barnet, the Environment Agency is to carry out an inspection of the Stoney Wood Lake reservoir near Mill Hill Golf Course at a cost of £82,000.

This is considered a high-risk large, raised reservoir. It has a capacity of at least 25,000 cubic metres of water above natural ground level.

The reservoir, formed by a dam constructed of steel sheet piling, impounds natural surface water.

There will now be a survey of 380 metres of sheet piling to assess the structure and identify any corrosion or damage.

Dan Tomlinson, MP for Chipping Barnet, welcomed the investment in the flood alleviation schemes.

“Climate crisis means we are facing greater rainfall and higher flood risk.

“We must do this work now: expanding capacity, ensuring resilience, making our infrastructure fit for the future, because the cost of inaction, waiting until there is a flood, is far greater.”

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Anger in Arkley over plans for a massive new housing estate attracts tv news team ahead of Barnet Council elections   

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.

Bugler Homes of Rickmansworth is hoping to take advantage of new guidance allowing house building on “previously developed” sites which can now be deemed to be grey belt land.

Arkley resident Hayley Winton (above) told ITV London political correspondent Simon Harris that if Barnet Council approved the scheme, it would have a “huge impact” on life in the village, increasing its size by 25 per cent.

“Arkley is a small village with low density housing, in the middle of the green belt, and a high-density development of 300 homes doesn’t feel right.”

Hayley’s opposition to the scheme was shared by another resident Jyoti Dhanak who said it would be shocking if such a large part of green belt was built on.

“Once the green belt has gone, it has gone, and it cannot be replaced.”

Because access to the site had been refused, camera operator Gemma Green used a drone to film the 17-acre former pig farm, which is off Rowley Lane, Arkley, and is in the middle of scrubland and woods bordered by the A1 Barnet by-pass.

In its “initial vision” for the development, Bugler Homes has applied to the council to discuss plans to build 230 homes, with 50 per cent affordable housing; an 80-bed care home; publicly accessible green spaces and allotments; and improved public right of way footpaths.

Robin Bishop (above) who leads for the Barnet Society on planning and the environment, told Simon Harris the development would represent a “substantial erosion” of the green belt which had separated Barnet and Arkley from Borehamwood for the last 80 years.

The fields and woodland around Arkley are included in plans to create a new regional park which is included in Barnet Council’s latest local plan.

“If this development were to be approved it would be a major breach of the proposed regional park.

“A new regional park is a much welcome proposal. It would help to create a comprehensively managed area like the Lea Valley regional park.”

Mr Bishop urged planning authorities to proceed with care before allowing development in what housebuilders claimed was now the grey belt.

“If councils give permission for every derelict site in the green belt much of the new housing will be highly unsuitable, in places where people will not be close to amenities or public transport.”

The Rowley Lane pig farm site is part of a triangle of land which is bounded by Barnet Road, Barnet by-pass and Rowley Lane.

The illustration above shows how the land — to the east of the by-pass — has been parcelled into different plots.

Online research has revealed that 148 acres of land within this area – almost all of which is green belt – is owned by housebuilders and other associated companies and could provide space for up to 1,200 new homes.

If planning permission for housing could be obtained the land would be worth over £150 million.

One housebuilder owns 25 acres, with potential for 192 houses, on a site worth £39 million; another has 22 acres, with room for 285 homes, on a site worth £43 million.

Robin Bishop said the revelation that so much of the green belt land to the north of Arkley is effectively a land bank for housebuilders only serves to highlight the looming scandal over the likely approval of grey belt land for housing and other needs.

“There seems every likelihood that unlocking grey belt land for development will result in windfall profits for developers who have wilfully neglected land which they have been sitting on for years.

ITV News London to feature controversial plan for massive new housing estate in Arkley as part of report into political row over green belt land ahead of council elections.

Close to the pig farm site there has been unauthorised clearance of woodland in what had been declared a site of importance for nature conservation.

Hayley Winton said Arkley residents had been appalled when they saw a bulldozer hacking away at mature trees and levelling an acre of the woodland.

“Apparently the land has been sold as three plots for housing but there is no planning permission.

“We reported what happened to Barnet Council who say this is one of the worst cases they have ever seen of destruction of protected trees.

“We were told there will be consequences but how do you replace woodland like this which is in the green belt and was supposed to have special protection.”

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Government and developers set their sights on the Green Belt

View of Green Belt south of Potters Bar showing green fields, trees and hedges with M25 in background

This swathe of Green Belt (above) 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?

Between Potters Bar and Borehamwood, several enormous data centres have already been approved on land in the foreground of the photo above. Beyond the M25 will be a major expansion of Sky studios. For land off to the left of the photo, a planning application for 900 new homes has been refused by Hertsmere Council, but the developer has appealed against the decision.

Crews Hill & Chase Park new town

Between Barnet and Enfield, the government proposes a new town of 21,000 homes on Green Belt land. The plans are supported by Enfield Council and the Mayor of London but opposed by the Enfield Society and Enfield RoadWatch.

The Barnet Society has objected to any loss of the green buffer that exists between Barnet and Enfield. It is vital to preserve the separate identities of settlements that would otherwise merge into amorphous suburbia, and a vital reservoir of biodiversity.

Just ahead of the local elections in May, groups and communities across the UK will be taking part in a UK-wide Day of Action for Nature, Parks and Green Spaces on Saturday 18 April. Its purpose is to demonstrate, visibly and collectively, that people everywhere care deeply about the natural world and want to see it protected and restored. Join the national day of action here.

Barnet’s Green Belt

The countryside on three sides of Chipping (or High) Barnet was saved in 1945 from housing development, largely by the efforts of the Barnet Society. In 1955 it was formally designated part of the London Metropolitan Green Belt. The map above shows how well it has survived – at least until now.

For decades developers have tried to build in it. So far, our Council has effectively prevented most new development. Exceptions have generally been restricted to replacement of obsolescent farm buildings.

Lately, however, we’ve seen an increase in speculative purchases of, and planning applications for, Green Belt land. Also notable has been unsightly and apparently deliberate neglect of existing buildings and landscape. The prospect of profiting from escalating land values and house prices beats the cost of maintaining or restoring property.

Expectations have been fuelled by the housing crisis, which has driven up mortgages and rents. And building costs have soared due to Brexit, Covid-19, wars in Ukraine and the Middle East and the higher safety standards introduced since the Grenfell Tower tragedy. Building on city brownfield sites has become less financially viable. No wonder the Green Belt, where building is cheaper, has become so appealing to developers and politicians.

And Labour politicians have opened the door to its development.

Grey Belt sites

In 2024, Sir Keir Starmer promised to release low-quality or neglected Green Belt land for housebuilding. In 2025, the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) was revised to allow housing development on Grey Belt sites subject to ‘Golden Rules’. And public consultation recently closed on further relaxations of the NPPF.

The consequence has been a flood of planning applications for allegedly Grey sites. In December 2025 CPRE, the countryside charity, reported new research revealing that the Grey Belt policy is enabling large-scale development on England’s unspoilt rural landscapes – not, as ministers promised, on unused car parks and derelict petrol stations.

Since December 2024, when the policy was introduced, 13 developments of 10 or more homes have been approved by government Planning Inspectors on Grey land in the Green Belt. The approvals have been granted over the heads of local councils. Of the 1,250 homes these schemes will deliver, 88% will be built on previously undeveloped countryside.

In Barnet, it’s becoming routine for prospective developers of Green Belt land to describe their sites as Grey. Although some sites are quite small, they’re dotted around and have a disproportionately harmful impact on the countryside. Most aren’t served by public transport and won’t be developed for affordable (let alone social) housing. A selection is illustrated below.

Barnet Regional Park

Barnet Labour Party’s local election leaflet contains this pledge:

“We will… create a ‘Regional Park’ in the green belt.”

It would be centred on the astonishingly intact and peaceful fields and woods between Arkley and Mill Hill (below).

The concept is already embedded in Barnet’s Local Plan (adopted by the Council last year) where Policy GSS13 states,

“The Council supports the creation of a new Regional Park within designated Green Belt or Metropolitan Open Land in the Brent Valley and Barnet Plateau Green Grid Area…”

Inspired in part by the success of the Lea Valley Regional Park, interventions would include “the enhancement of footpath, cycling and bridleway networks; improved green corridors and nature conservation areas [and] a network of new strategic recreational destinations.”

The map below (from the Council’s 2019 Growth Strategy) shows its intended configuration.

Most importantly – since the Regional Park contains several of the Grey sites illustrated above – designation should provide stronger protection from inappropriate development. It would bring better public awareness and funding to ensure high design standards and long-term management of the area.

An imaginative suggestion from Roger Chapman of Barnet Green Spaces Network is for a regional food and biodiversity park to encourage a wide range of food growing practices. Linked with primary, secondary and post-16 education institutions and forest schools, it would provide an inspiring setting for environmental education and pathways to vocational qualifications in horticulture, animal husbandry and other skills essential for future food security.

As Roger says, “The park would build upon Barnet’s extensive agricultural history and heritage, enabling old stories to be retold and new ones to be created.” That’s an idea worth voting for.

The need for proper planning

Debate about the Green Belt is hampered by the lack of any regional strategy. There has been no planning body for the South-East for decades. Responsibility for the Green Belt is split between dozens of Local Planning Authorities.

The Mayor of London launched a London-wide review of the Green Belt to identify Grey Belt land for housing to tackle London’s housing crisis, but it is limited to the Greater London area. It was expected to be completed by the end of 2025 but is still awaited.

As a consequence every planning application in the Green (or Grey) Belt, however minor, becomes a bitter battle between developers, planners and residents.

The creation of the Green Belt was made possible by the government’s adoption of Patrick Abercrombie’s Greater London Plan, which created a ring of new towns around London, outside the Green Belt, to absorb the demand for new housing and promote alternative centres of growth. If we had a vision as sensible and comprehensive as that for our society – and for the natural world with which we co-exist – surely most of us would accept development in the most sustainable (or least harmful) locations in exchange for guaranteed long-term protection of our most beautiful and biodiverse environments.

Crews Hill & Chase Park new town and Barnet Regional Park could be examples of such an approach. As yet details of both projects are far too hazy for a final public decision. But each could transform substantial sectors of their borough. Whether to proceed with project planning, feasibility studies and technical investigations ought to be a matter of great public interest. This coming election is an opportunity to test the popularity of both projects.

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Final days at Builders Arms, New Barnet, as customers sign a petition to get asset of community value order to safeguard pub’s future  

A two-year struggle to keep going amid the disruption caused by ending up in the middle of a construction site has finally defeated the landlady of the aptly named Builders Arms in New Barnet.

She has reluctantly decided to hand her tenancy back to the brewers Greene King raising local concern about the future of a pub praised by the Campaign for Real Ale.

A petition has been launched by customers and friends to preserve what they say is a “much loved local institution”.

The aim of the petition organisers, Danielle Holiday and Nikki Hill, is to secure the registration of the Builders Arms as an asset of community value with Barnet Council while exploring other possible business models for the pub.

East Barnet’s councillors – Phil Cohen, Edith David and Simon Radford – have all signed the petition and are promising their support in the bid to safeguard the pub’s future by gaining ACV status.

Landlady Silva told the Barnet Society that once construction work started in 2024 on the massive housing development on the site of the former New Barnet gas works customers found it increasingly difficult to reach the pub.

Albert Road is the is the main access to the site where Fairview Homes are building eleven high-rise blocks of flats to provide 420 new homes – and a street view shows how the pub is dwarfed the scale of the redevelopment.

Initially Albert Road was blocked regularly by lorries delivering materials and construction equipment and, because of the hindrance and possible danger to customers, the Builders Arms had to cease opening at lunch times.

“Since then, access to the pub hasn’t improved and it has been a real struggle financially. It has just proved too much.”

Silva, who took on the Builders Arms eight years ago, said that she could not hang on for another year or two until the completion of the new development when all the flats might be fully occupied.

“You simply cannot run a pub when it is in the middle of a construction site. It is so off putting for customers. We can’t survive, so our tenancy ends on Sunday 12 April.

“At present there is no through road and no parking but let’s hope that Greene King can re-open one day.”

Once news broke two weeks ago that the pub was to close there has been an emotional response on the Builders Arm’s Facebook page with an appeal to regular customers to celebrate the “happy times, the music, and the unforgettable nights” they had all enjoyed.

With the pub having to be cleared of furniture, signs and fixtures, customers were invited to raise a glass and perhaps “even take home a little piece of the Builders Arms, something that might be a treasure for you.”

CAMRA has backed the Builders Arms as a real ale pub since 1970, and it has built up considerable loyalty over the

decades.

Connie East (see above) said that serving behind the bar was a real privilege because the Builders Arms had always been part of her family.

“I was brought here first as a baby 24 years ago as my parents were regulars. It has always been a real family pub.”

Dannielle Holiday, who helped organise the petition, has an even stronger family connection.

Her grandfather was a customer, so were her parents, and her own grown-up children have followed the tradition.

“The Builders Arms is a living testament to the rich local history of New Barnet,” said Danielle.

“Hundreds of local residents are signing up and joining our effort to preserve a much-cherished local pub.”

Petition launch to get asset of community value order on Builders Arms, New Barnet, becuase of pub's closure due to construction disruption during massive housing development.

When the Barnet Society first reported on the plight of the Builders Arms in 2024 the assistant manager Nina Hristova – see above – looked on in despair as work was progressing on a block of flats immediately opposite the pub.

At the time East Barnet councillor Simon Radford and Chipping Barnet MP Dan Tomlinson intervened after the pub’s staff appealed for help in curbing the mayhem and keeping the highway clear of work.

Councillor Radford said he and councillors Cohen and David had built up considerable expertise in using the asset of community value process to safeguard threatened pubs – and exercise which had proved highly successful when campaigning for the re-opening of Prince of Wales, the only pub in East Barnet village.

“As councillors we would like to pay tribute to Silva, George, Nina and the rest of the team who have run the Builders Arms for so many years, making it truly a community asset despite such outsized challenges to the business,” said councillor Radford.

“We owe them a debt of gratitude for what they have achieved with the pub, and we would also like to thank Daniella and Nikki for leading from the front in trying to save the pub.”

Councillor David said she hoped the community would show what the pub meant to them by signing the petition.

“We can all demonstrate our links with the Builders Arms through family stories and how the pub has been there for us on special occasions. The fight to save the Builders Arms goes on.”

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Barnet, Borough of Towers – surely a local election issue?

The tsunami of tall buildings that started 20 years ago in West Hendon and Brent Cross is now breaking on the northern suburbs of Barnet. Above are samples: High Barnet Place and Great North Leisure Park, both refused by the Council but called in by the Mayor of London; and Edgware town centre, approved by the Council. Their transformation of our borough, visually and socially, should surely be a local election issue on 7 May.

The Mayor has referred the decisions on High Barnet Place and Great North Leisure Park to his Deputy, Jules Pipe, who’s on record as supporting high-density schemes at Arnos Grove and Stanmore. We’re concerned about the conflict of interest, and with Barnet Residents Association have written to him to say so. Read our full letter to him below.

Mayor Kahn is keen to improve his house-building record and recently announced reductions in the proportion of affordable housing to 20% of the total; the previous minimum was 35% (currently offered at High Barnet). He’s also lifted a requirement in his London Plan for all flats to be dual-aspect – a regrettable lowering of their quality threshold.

The Labour Council’s rejection of the High Barnet and Great North Leisure Park applications indicated its awareness of the growing strength of public opposition to overdevelopment. We understand that it has asked the Mayor to respect the Council’s resounding decisions (by 8 votes to 1 and 8 to 0 respectively) to refuse both applications.

Housing deserves to be a major issue in May’s local elections – but design quality and appropriateness to its neighbourhood are just as important as quantity.

Some excellent new housing has been built recently in Barnet. Brook Valley Gardens, 931 High Road and Edgewood Mews (L-R below) show what can be done by building at high density but retaining a human scale.

But High Barnet Place won’t do that. What it would deliver, if approved by the Deputy Mayor, is a row of slabs that will brutally dominate our gentle, historic town and its green surroundings.

Now that the local election campaign has begun, the public hearing can’t be held until after the vote on Thursday 7 May (in practice, probably June at the earliest). The Barnet Society & Barnet Residents Association intend to submit a joint written statement beforehand and to speak at the hearing with a single voice, as we did at the Barnet Strategic Planning Committee in December. Individuals who have previously made written representations about the application either to Barnet Council or directly to the Greater London Assembly (GLA) can also request to speak.

You can show your concern about the crisis in affordable housing and harm to our neighbourhood and heritage assets by joining in the National Housing Demonstration on Saturday 18th April 1pm In Central London. Sign up here https://www.housingdemo.org/ for the Assembly point.

You can also help mitigate the impact of the Great Northern development by signing this petition to save trees on the site boundary.

Joint letter by the Barnet Society & Barnet Residents Association, 28 March 2026

For the attention of Jules Pipe, Deputy Mayor of London

Dear Mr Pipe,   

We write on behalf of the Barnet Society and the Barnet Residents Association regarding your decision to call in this planning application for Stage 2 review.

We recognise the reasons for the Mayor’s recusal. However, delegation to a Deputy does not resolve the acknowledged conflict of interest. The application relates to TfL land, and TfL forms part of the GLA group. Given your strategic responsibility for planning and your publicly expressed support for the programme of developing station car parks, there is a perception risk that the decision-making process lacks the necessary distance and objectivity. This concern is heightened by your prior public statements on LinkedIn and elsewhere indicating that the High Barnet proposal “will deliver” key benefits. You have expressed similar sentiments in relation to the Arnos Grove and Stanmore schemes. Even if unintended, such language gives rise to a perception of pre-judgment. Confidence in the integrity of the review process depends not only on independence and fairness but on the clear appearance of independence and fairness.

Barnet’s Strategic Planning Committee refused the application primarily because of its fundamental conflict with the adopted Local Plan regarding height and townscape impact. That policy position was established through an evidence-based assessment and endorsed by the Planning Inspectorate in examination. Reliance on the Hillingdon case cited by the applicant and officers was misleading as Hillingdon never undertook an assessment of their site. If strategic intervention were now to override the Local Plan without compelling and transparently evidenced justification to demonstrate why Barnet and the Planning Inspectorate may have got it wrong, the credibility of plan-led decision-making across London would inevitably be weakened.

We also remain concerned that certain material planning considerations were ignored or presented in a misleading manner prior to refusal, including:

  • failure to properly test the visual impact of the eleven-storey block on the skyline and on the setting of the listed St John the Baptist Church, including the omission or manipulation of key viewpoints;
  • no recognition that the elevated topography of the High Barnet station site materially increases the perceived scale and dominance of the buildings;
  • misleading claims regarding improved drop-off and pick-up arrangements, which would reduce existing informal capacity and risk congestion on the A1000;
  • There are also evidently inadequate features of the scheme that were not properly addressed in the documentation provided by the applicant or in the officer’s report to committee;
  • creation of homes of unacceptably poor safety and quality in terms of layout, detailed design and amenity;
  • minimal improvements to modal inter-connectivity, accessibility and safety that would be negated by loss of the car park.

We emphasise that we do not oppose redevelopment of the station car park in principle. Our concern is with the scale, form and long-term consequences of this particular scheme.

You will appreciate the wider significance of this case. As Mayor of Hackney you previously expressed strong opposition when London Mayoral intervention overrode local planning judgment on the Bishopsgate scheme that you considered “far too high” and inappropriate to its context. The present situation raises closely analogous concerns regarding the balance between strategic objectives and the integrity of local democratic decision-making.

Given the strength of local opposition, the adopted policy context, and the acknowledged governance sensitivities, we respectfully urge that the review process gives full and transparent weight to these issues before any determination is reached.

Yours sincerely,

Robin Bishop, Planning & Environment Lead, The Barnet Society

Gordon Massey, Planning Officer, Barnet Residents Association

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Yellow line parking restrictions are excessive say residents who believe they have been treated with contempt by Barnet Council

Residents of two narrow streets of mainly small cottages and terraced homes claim they have been ignored and abandoned by Barnet Council which has imposed double yellow lines at the junction of Sebright and Calvert Roads without proper consultation.

They say ten-metre-long restrictions either side of the junction have reduced parking spaces and had the perverse effect of speeding up traffic round the corner, placing pedestrians and children at greater risk.

“The restrictions are disproportionate, unsupported by evidence and a waste of public funds.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

At the heart of their grievance is their anger at finding that changes to procedures for local consultation have made it virtually impossible for small groups of residents to challenge council decisions.

In a letter to Cath Shaw, the council’s chief executive, they accuse the council of failing to honour one of its core values, an undertaking given by councillors regarding their responsibilities to the public:

“We actively listen, respond, collaborate and share ideas, to achieve the best outcomes with residents, businesses and colleagues.”

The letter, highlighting the need for TLC for Barnet – for transparency, for listening and for consultation – sets out how they believe the council has been systematically reducing the opportunities for residents to influence decisions.

Face to face residents’ forums with councillors and council officers were abandoned in 2022 and the minimum number of signatures required to present a petition at a council or committee meeting has been raised from 25 to 500.

Their complaint mirrors anger in Underhill where residents’ groups have complained that despite overwhelming opposition council officers have gone ahead with an extension to the Barnet Hospital controlled parking zone and introduced parking charges outside the Mays Lane parade of shops.

Mrs Louise Cain (above, second from right), one of the organisers of the Sebright and Calvert Roads protest, said that once the council decided to impose yellow lines on each side of the road junction they immediately set about raising a petition.

“We easily got to 72 signatures, understanding that the minimum requirement was over 25, but then the council said our petition had been excluded because the minimum is now 500 signatures.”

Dr Chris Nightingale (above, far right) said the new minimum of 500 signatures effectively withdrew a democratic right from small groups of residents who had already lost the ability to challenge councillors and officers face-to-face at residents’ forums.

“Our community – bounded by Sebright, Puller, Alston and Calvert Roads – only has around 400 households at the most so we have lost our voice as a small community.

“Petitions with fewer than 500 signatures only require a written response and we have lost the democratic right as residents to present a case directly to councillors at a committee or council meeting.”

Dr Julia Gibbs (above, second from right) feared that the rights of residents had been eroded still further by the barriers they faced when seeking greater transparency when making Freedom of Information requests.

“A recent FOI request we made was refused on the grounds it would be too expensive for the council as it would require 15 officers to spend over 90 minutes each to produce the information.

“This was challenged and the council took over 50 working days, longer than the statutory reply time of 20 days, to send a reply.

“But even then, the council would not provide the requested information or give specific advice on how to obtain it.”

Events leading up to the painting of the yellow lines had proved to the protesters that the council had not been serious about conducting detailed consultation.

As far as they knew, there had been no complaints from ambulance or fire crews about difficulty in gaining access and apparently the only request for yellow lines had come from a refuse lorry driver.

It appeared one resident had spoken to a council officer and another official who was challenged said the yellow lines were a parking and not a highways matter.

The group thought that yellow lines of the length painted at the junction would have been expected if there was heavy traffic.

Puller and Sebright Roads were a one-way system – with Calvert Road a short cul-de-sac – and the restrictions were excessive.

“The result is a monument to officers’ failure to listen and then not revealing how their final decision was made.

“The restrictions are disproportionate, unsupported by evidence and a waste of public funds.

“We are contemplating commissioning a blue plaque to this effect.”

The protestors hope their demand that the council should restore quarterly residents’ forums will become an issue at the forthcoming Barnet Council election on Thursday 7 May.

A priority for the new council elected in May should be to restore trust between residents and councillors and to improve decision-making by identifying problems early and locally.

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Rainbow Centre, Underhill’s community hub, celebrates its re-opening in refurbished premises provided by Barnet Council

After several years of uncertainty about its long-term future, Barnet Council has finally found new premises for the Rainbow Centre, a vital community hub for residents of Underhill and especially the Dollis Valley estate.

A weekly foodbank, free lunches and activities for children in school holidays, and highly popular mixed martial arts classes for youngsters and adults are just some of the centre’s activities.

At the official opening, the Mayor of Barnet, Councillor Danny Rich, was full of praise for the centre’s initiatives and congratulated those involved, including from left to right, centre manager Sarah Snell, and food bank volunteers Christine Burbridge and Karen Gosland.

Councillor Rich said he was delighted the Rainbow Centre’s move from Dollis Valley to the former Priory Grove Scout hut, off Westcombe Drive, next to the Ark Pioneer Academy, had gone so well.

“As an authority of 63 councillors we realise, we only achieve anything when we work with our residents, which is why as your landlords, we want to extend a big ‘thank you’ for all you are achieving for the community.”

Because of delays to the completion of the regeneration of the Dollis Valley estate, the Rainbow Centre was kept waiting to be rehoused and there was added grief for the volunteers when a proposed move to the former cricket pavilion in Barnet Lane fell through.

The move to the Scout hut went ahead late last year and the Rainbow Centre is building up its activities with the first free lunch club for school children being held in the week before Easter.

Rinbow Centre, community hub for Underhill, moves into new premises after years of uncertainty following action by Barnet Council

The centre is operated and managed by charity, Barnet Community Projects, and Mike Benaim, chair of its trustees (above, third from left) said the four-year wait for new premises had turned into something of a saga but they were “very happy” with their new home.

The centre’s Thursday food bank is currently supporting around 80 people who get three days’ worth of free food, including fresh fruit and vegetables and three meals.

Sarah Snell, centre manager (above, third from right) said Rainbow’s policy was to be there for whoever needed help.

No referral is needed to get assistance from the foodbank, just a name and postcode.

“We don’t want to turn anyone away, so if someone is prepared to seek help at a food bank, we are there for them. Making that first visit is often the hardest thing for someone to do,” said Sarah.

One of the Rainbow Centre’s great success stories is its mixed martial arts classes run three times a week by Ibush Januzi, founder of North London MMA Kabashi (above, seventh from right).

Classes for children attract up to 70 youngsters a week and adult classes up to 60. On Tuesdays there is a wrestling class and women’s self-defence on Saturdays.

“The response since we started has been amazing,” said Ibush.

“I am always keen to offer free classes to people who might have been in trouble, perhaps with drugs, or are homeless.

“These free sessions are very rewarding for those involved. The discipline of martial arts helps people who have been in trouble believe in themselves. They can see what they can achieve and realise they are not losers.”

Councillor Zahra Beg (above, sixth from right) added her thanks to the council for finally agreeing to the move.

Since she was elected for Underhill in 2022, finding a new home for the Rainbow Centre had been a major pre-occupation and she was delighted the move had finally been accomplished.

“We bullied the council into finding new premises and then we found the Scout hut needed lots of repairing, but it has all been worthwhile.

“The centre now has a new home for 25 years with the freedom to expand its services and bring in more people from in and around Underhill.”

Councillor Tim Roberts (above, fourth from left), who is standing down in May after serving Underhill for 12 years, said the official opening of a new home for Rainbow was a great way to finish.

“The Rainbow Centre really has been part of the Dollis Valley estate for such a long time.

“It has been a regular meeting place for so many of us and we are all delighted it is up and running once again here in Underhill.”  

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Food waste being collected on bin days from homes across Borough of Barnet to be used for producing electricity and farm fertiliser

With the reintroduction of domestic food waste collections from homes across the Borough of Barnet, families will be making their contribution towards generating electricity and producing liquid farmland fertiliser at a renewable energy plant midway between North Mymms and London Colney.

Barnet householders have been supplied with two new containers – a brown kitchen caddy for collecting food waste indoors and a larger brown outdoors food waste bin.

Food waste bins will be emptied at the kerbside into new collection vehicles hired by the council.

Collections will take place on a householder’s regular bin day.

Lorries will unload into a bunker at Severn Trent Green Power’s facility at Coursers Farm, just to the north of junction 22 on the M25 motorway.

Severn Trent Green Power opened the plant around ten years ago.

It serves towns and councils from a wide radius in Hertfordshire, including Hertsmere, and processes up to 75,000 tons of food waste a year, including some commercial waste.

  Once tipped at the plant all plastic from caddy liners, bags and wrappings is removed mechanically so that the food waste can be pumped into digester tanks where biogas is produced ready for the generation of electricity in site’s engines.

Severn Trent Green Power’s North London plant produces three megawatts of power for the National Grid at Coursers Farm.

Liquid fertiliser for farms, which is the residue of the process, is distributed for spreading in fields on local farms.

Barnet Council has reinstated food waste collections – as from a government deadline of Monday 30 March – as a result of new regulations requiring local authorities to collect food waste separately from other household waste.

A food waste collection service had operated in Barnet from 2013 until it was cancelled by the council in November 2018 – against the advice of the Mayor of London – in order to save an annual bill of £300,000.

Government capital grants – including £2.7 million for Barnet – have now been paid to local councils to meet the cost of new containers and collection vehicles.

New kitchen caddies and kerbside bins for Barnet householders have cost £1.3 million and food waste collection vehicles are being hired for five years from Riverside Truck Rental at a cost of £2.8 million.

Publicity for the reintroduction of the service includes advice on what to place in the food waste caddy – leftover food, peelings and waste from fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, dairy products, bread, cakes, tea bags, coffee grounds etc.

Special bins are being provided for household food waste from flats above town centre flats – as seen in Barnet High Process.

In the first part of the process at the Coursers Farm plant all plastic bags and coverings are removed. The plastic waste which is left is sent to separate waste-for-energy plants.

Food waste collections reintroduced by Barnet Council and it will be turned into electricity and farm fertiliser at Severn Trent Green Power plant just north of M25

Loads have to be rejected if they are contaminated with other waste such as bottles and cans.

Once the processed food waste has been reduced to a liquid – a food waste soup as it is known in the trade – it is pumped into one of four digestion tanks where it is heated to between 37 and 42 degrees, breaks down, and releases biogas for electricity generation.

From being tipped by a lorry, it takes around 85 days for the waste to be converted into gas and liquid fertiliser for spreading on fields.

To reduce odours escaping into the neighbourhood, air from the plant goes through a biofilter using a water filter and damp wood chips.

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Protective shutters installed by Star Pubs to allow for essential work before Black Horse re-opens in time for summer  

Star Pubs say Black Horse public house will re-open by early summer in time for FIFA world cup televised matches -- and protective shutters needed during essential work

Star Pubs say they hope that the Black Horse – now protected by metal grilles across doors and windows – will reopen by at least mid-June in time for the start of televised football matches in the FIFA World Cup.

Several potential tenants are being interviewed by Star’s management team.

Improvements and other essential work are to be carried out to the interior in preparation for the re-opening of a pub which is an historic Barnet landmark.

But the closure of the Black Horse since last September is another indication of the precarious trading prospects for the licensed trade.

In a move to safeguard the long-term future of the Black Horse, Barnet Council has accepted a request for it to be protected by an order declaring the building an asset of community value.

Securing protection for the Black Horse – allowing the community the right to enter a bid if the pub is sold for redevelopment – follows the declaration of similar ACVs for three other nearby pubs, the Lord Nelson, Sebright Arms and Ye Olde Monken Holt, as well as the Prince of Wales in East Barnet.  

An application to safeguard the Black Horse was made in the name of the Barnet parish church of St John the Baptist and was backed by a petition launched by Olly Gough, who is to stand as a Labour candidate for High Barnet in the Barnet Council elections in May.

He said strong support for the petition proved that the Black Horse was much loved by the community and was especially popular with its customers, which was a reminder to Star Pubs that it had every chance of remaining a viable business.

High Barnet Councillor Emma Whysall, who supported the application when it was considered by Barnet Council, said she realised the depth of local concern about the future of the Black Horse should it cease trading once again in the future.

Councillor Whysall, who had been in contact with Star Pubs’ management, welcomed the company’s promise of swift action to ensure that the Black Horse is re-opened in time for the start of the World Cup in mid-June.

She said people should not be alarmed by the installation of grilles across the doors and windows. They were needed for added security and protection and were essential to secure the building while work was carried out.

Pubs have been granted extended opening hours for the month-long contest because of the late kick-offs – until 1am for national ties and until 2am should any of the home nations reach the knock-out stages.   

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Save Chipping Barnet Woodland campaigners delighted by planning refusal for new house in a protected wood close to Hadley Green

An application to build a six-bedroom house in a protected wood between Sunset View and Hadley Green has been rejected by Barnet Council on the grounds it would cause unacceptable harm to a woodland habitat.

Nearby residents mounted a highly publicised campaign to save what they argued was a significant wildlife corridor between the Green and Old Fold Manor golf course.

Over 2,000 people signed a petition against the application and there were multiple objections to the planning department.

Expressing delight at the result, Marianne Nix, one of the lead objectors, said their campaign to save the woodland would now refocus on efforts to ensure it is included in the Barnet Parks and Open Space strategy.  

In rejecting the application by Christchurchgrove Ltd, the council says building a house on a one-acre site in the woodland would damage the character and appearance of the Monken Hadley Conservation Area.

When the developers held a public consultation last year to unveil their plans for the proposed house – see above – Stuart Lees, of Alan Cox Architects, told residents steps would be taken to safeguard mature trees on the site, most of which are already covered by tree protection orders.

There would be other measures to enhance the biodiversity of the woodland and as the new house would be surrounded by trees, it would be hardly visible, which had been one of the aims in the design.

Planning permission was refused because the council considered it would result in the unjustified loss and deterioration of protected woodland and to a significant number of trees within a woodland tree protection order.

This would cause “unacceptable harm to the woodland habitat and to the character and appearance of the Monken Hadley Conservation Area.”

Site clearance and loss of vegetation would “irrevocably and harmfully” alter the woodland character, and the siting and size of the new house would appear to be “out of character and appearance” of the conservation area and general locality.

Christchurchgrove Ltd had failed to demonstrate that construction, access and essential services could be delivered in accordance with recognised industry guidance, including standards relating to underground service installation near trees.

“The development would further create substantial post development pressures for the removal and degradation of trees, deadwood, and ground flora, leading to the incremental erosion of the woodland’s ecological and landscape value.”

Application for house in wood close to Hadley Green has been rejected by Barnet Council because it would unacceptable harm to a woodland habitat.
Screenshot

If the new house had been approved the objectors feared that badgers, bats, mistle thrush and other protected species would be in danger of losing their habitat.

Marianne Nix, who lives next to the woodland, installed a trail camera in her garden when she moved to High Barnet three years ago.

As well as recording hedgehogs scuttling about, there have been shots of badgers – including the picture above, captured on her video camera last New Year’s Eve when fireworks were exploding near the woodland.

So far two of the veteran trees on the site have been verified by the Ancient Tree Register – which supplied the screen shot of Sunset View and the woodland.

Robin Bishop, Planning & Environment Lead for the Barnet Society, commented, “Although we’d worked with the developer and secured some important improvements, scrutiny of the submitted documents left us with many concerns. Ours was one of 279 objections lodged against the application, an impressive number for such an inconspicuous site.

“It’s timely that the Council’s refusal came a day after the Mayor of London published London’s Local Nature Recovery Strategy. Although the spinney isn’t on the LNRS Local Habitat Map, it adjoins Old Fold Manor Golf Course, which is. The LNRS and Barnet Couuncil’s refusal are milestones in growing public awareness of the inportance of nature in cities.”

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Barnet Council steps in with an exemption from council tax for residents who have a terminal diagnosis

Terminally ill householders in the London borough of Barnet will be removed from council tax if they qualify under a new relief scheme which takes effect in April.

Barnet, which has a higher proportion of the elderly than in much of the capital, will become one of the first London boroughs to ease financial pressures on residents with a terminal diagnosis.

Councillor Simon Radford, the council’s cabinet member for finance – see above – is anxious to promote the assistance which the council is offering when residents and their families face “the most difficult moments in their lives”.

If residents are already receiving council tax support – through discretionary relief or housing payment policies – they will not have to pay council tax if a clinician has confirmed a terminal diagnosis.

Charities have welcomed the move by Barnet – and other councils such as Manchester and Barnsley – which they say will help people cope with the emotional strain of end-of-life care by removing or reducing council tax from families who might be dealing with loss of income and increased care costs.

Barnet, which has the second largest population of any London borough, has over 22,000 residents aged over 80, including nearly 5,000 aged over 90.

High Barnet ward illustrates the significance of the age profile: over 2,000 residents are over 65 and 673 – roughly six per cent – are over 80.

Councillor Radford said the aim of the council and health authorities was to keep people in their own homes for as long as possible with care and support, so that they could maintain their independence.

There was more demand for adult social care in Barnet than in other London boroughs which underlined the need for the council to enhance its support for the terminally ill.

Marie Curie, the UK’s leading end-of-life charity hopes that more London boroughs – especially those in the north London care belt with numerous care homes – follow Barnet’s example in ensuring residents get clear and compassionate support.

Housing costs and council tax bills added to the financial pressures on those who are terminally ill and wished to continue living in their own homes.

Under the new criteria, Barnet residents may qualify for a council tax reduction if they receive council tax support and provide an SR1 medical form, completed by a clinician, confirming life expectancy is thought to be of 12 months or less.

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Bags of litter piled up after clean-up organised by Barnet Residents Association – and the town’s MP is urging more community action

Litters pickers from Barnet Residents Association fanned out across the town in one of the association’s regular clean ups – the kind of initiative which the Chipping Barnet MP Dan Tomlinson hopes will be encouraged by his new community action network.

Association co-chair Ken Rowland and committee member Emma Morgan – see above – cleared up litter in Bruce Road which backs on to the Waitrose car park and often gets overlooked in street cleaning.

However, they left Bruce Road feeling rather disappointed because they were not equipped to tackle a heap of builder’s rubbish which had been left by a recent fly-tipper.

Committee member Anna Watkins was on hand at the association’s stall in The Spires shopping centre ready to hand volunteers litter pickers and rubbish bags which had been supplied by Barnet Council.

The clean up was organised in partnership with the Chipping Barnet Town Team and was considered a great success – a heap of around 40 rubbish bags was left nearby at Chipping Barnet Library in Stapylton Road ready for collection by the council’s refuse service.

Among the volunteers were staff members from McDonald’s fast-food restaurant who also stage their own litter pick sessions.

Franchisee Hubs Backshi (above, second from left) said McDonald’s team members regularly did a litter sweep around the restaurant in the Barnet High Street and were keen to help whenever street clean-ups were organised.

Barnet Residents Association reports another successful litter picking clean up as Chipping Barnet MP Dan Tomlinson backs more community action

Litter picking was one of the targets discussed at a meeting organised by the Chipping Barnet MP Dan Tomlinson which went on to establish a community action network.

Over 200 people attended a discussion and workshop where an agenda was established for action next year.

Long-term projects include supporting East Barnet Festival and Community Energy Barnet.

Mr Tomlinson said he hoped the network could run a monthly community cation day.

“The focus of the network is making tangible differences to the local area through local action, whether that’s litter picking or organising a community festival,” said Mr Tomlinson.