Tag: Barnet Council

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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 is being 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.”

Her 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.   

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Two deputations from Underhill challenge Barnet Councillors over their failure to consult residents and take local views into account

After hearing some vociferous complaints from Underhill residents, Barnet Council has agreed to review two controversial issues – the imposition of the Underhill South controlled parking zone and a decision to abandon the existing split between private and social housing in the regeneration of the Dollis Valley estate.

Two separate deputations explained their grievances and were assured by council leaders that officials would prepare reports into their objections.

A petition calling for a rethink on the extension of the Barnet Hospital CPZ to take in 16 roads around Chesterfield Road and Mays Lane was presented jointly by Gina Theodorou and Jon Woolfson – see above at the town hall, Hendon.

They claimed that the experimental CPZ was imposed by the council’s highways department despite opposition from 61 per cent of residents.

There was no justification for introducing parking charges other than to help the council recoup its parking deficit.

In response the council agreed on the recommendation of Councillor Alan Schneiderman, cabinet member for the environment, that officials would look at criticism of the way the Underhill South CPZ had been introduced.

There would be a full review of the scheme when the six-month consultation period ends in mid-June.

A second petition was presented by two members of a group of private houseowners in the Brook Valley Gardens development, off Mays Lane – see above – which is regenerating the former Dollis Valley estate.

They objected to the council’s agreement with developers Vistry to complete the two final stages of the regeneration with 221 social rent homes instead of continuing with a mix between privately owned and social housing.

By failing to honour the commitment that Brook Valley Gardens would be mixed tenure neighbourhood – and by turning it into 60 per cent social housing – the council had jeopardised the future of houseowners who had invested life savings into new properties.

Bulldozing through without consultation a deal with Vistry, the second largest housebuilder in the UK, and by failing to construct 128 private homes as originally promised, the council had changed the nature of Brook Valley Gardens.

A petition had been signed by 120 private householders who feared that a result of increasing the proportion of social housing from 40 to 60 per cent the council had threatened “a well-integrated community, increasing the risk of anti-social behaviour” all for the sake of the council getting access to Greater London Authority funding to help “bail-out” the developers.

In acknowledging their anger, Councillor Ross Houston, the cabinet member for homes and regeneration explained that the council’s objective was to demolish empty blocks of flats and maisonettes – see above – and secure the completion of the Dollis Valley regeneration through the construction of new well-designed homes.

On Councillor Houston’s recommendation, the council agreed it would ask officials to report back on the concerns which had been raised.

The deal proposed with Vistry would be reviewed at the next cabinet meeting which would consider whether any changes could be made in the current plans for the competition of phases four and five of the regeneration.

Deputations from Underhill complain to Barnet Council about imposition of Underhill South CPZ and changes in proportion of private housing in Dollis Valley regeneration

Opposition to the Underhill South CPZ has been mounting since it took effect in mid December with a concerted campaign by members of the Quinta Village Green Residents Association and the Underhill Residents Group.

In her submission Gina Theodorou of the QVGRA said experience since its introduction had proved there was no justification for a CPZ as most of the parking bays were empty most of the time. Residents were leaving cars in their drives rather than apply for a permit.

Jon Wolfson of Underhill Residents raised the plight of retailers in the Mays Lane parade of shops who were losing a substantial amount of business because of the introduction of parking charges on their service road.

A petition had raised over 2,200 signatures in protest at the imposition of cashless parking charges at a tariff of £3.38 an hour from 8am to 6.30pm whereas in nearby roads, which are also within the Barnet Hospital D CPZ, restrictions apply only between 2pm and 3pm.

There was support for the Underhill petition from Councillor Richard Cornelius who agreed with the deputation that parking regulations imposed around Barnet Hospital were “a complete mess”.

“I hope this CPZ is reconsidered because the overwhelming opposition shows it cannot be right and as someone who parks outside the Mays Lane parade of shops I don’t see why parking charges are necessary”.       

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Barnet Vale residents a step nearer the day when Tudor Park’s derelict cricket pavilion might be open again for community use

A determined community effort in Barnet Vale to rescue and renovate an abandoned former cricket pavilion at Tudor Park has achieved a major objective – and to celebrate there are new artist’s impressions of what the renovated building might look like.

After lengthy negotiations, Barnet Council has finally agreed the terms of a 50-year lease with the Friends of Tudor Park and Pavilion, paving the way for the launch of a fund-raising appeal.

A binding agreement with the council would give the friends three years to present a detailed planning application to the council for rebuilding and improving a dilapidated structure which is currently closed to the public and is in desperate need of repair.

Once the paperwork is complete and the lease has been signed, the friends can start fund raising and making appeals to the National Lottery Community Fund, local charities and other groups for financial support towards a possible target of £800,000 to £1million.

Barnet Council has already agreed a £200,000 grant from community infrastructure funds.

Simon Cohen, chair of the friends’ committee who in 2020 initiated the campaign to save the 106-year-old pavilion for community use, outlined the terms of the lease at an exhibition of the latest images.

There would be no rent to pay for the first five years; £500 a year for the following five years; then increasing at £500 a year to year 20, followed by further increases in line with inflation.

A business plan prepared by the committee proposed that the pavilion would be open for community use and a variety of activities seven days a week from 9am to 9pm. A wide range of local groups have already expressed interest in making use of the building.

Committee vice chair Simon Kaufman outlined the latest proposals and images.

Consultations with the community showed the largest support was for the refurbished pavilion to include a café, overlooking the existing Tudor Park children’s playground, with accessible public toilets, indoor and outdoor seating areas and wheelchair access.

The main hall in the pavilion would be multi-functional with additional activity spaces, more toilets, lockers and storage for space for equipment.

There would be space in the central area to seat 50 people which could be expanded to take 80 people and even as many as 120 people with sliding internal walls.

Dogged community campaign in Barnet Vale to save abandoned cricket pavilion in Tudor Park a step closer with Barnet Council agreeing a 50-year lease

Instead of the metal bars which currently close off access to the pavilion the refurbished building might feature external decorative steel panels – as seen above – which could feature motifs reflecting local history and events.

The original portico of the pavilion would be preserved but along with major structural repairs, much of the interior and exterior would need to be rebuilt with installation of new windows and doors.

All those attending the presentation were urged to keep giving their opinions and making suggestions as to how they would like to see the pavilion renovated and repurposed for the use of the community.

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Redevelopment of Dollis Valley estate to be restarted after two year delay following go ahead for construction of 221 new homes

Completion of the Brook Valley Gardens estate off Mays Lane – which is a regeneration of the Dollis Valley estate – has moved a step closer.

Progress has been stalled since 2023, but a revised deal has been agreed with the developers and approved by Barnet Council.

Demolition of the remaining 1960s high-rise blocks and maisonettes will take place shortly. This will allow work to start on another 221 new homes.

The redevelopment had to be halted when the developers told the council that it was no longer economically viable to build the final 221 new homes on the basis of a split between private and social housing.

To get the regeneration of Dollis Valley back on track, the council’s cabinet has decided that the new homes that are yet to be built will now all be socially rented and under the management of Barnet Homes.

However, the failure to continue – as was originally proposed – with the construction of another 128 houses for private sale, will mean that instead of Brook Valley Gardens being a mixed-tenure neighbourhood the estate will become 60 per cent social housing.

This change has angered many of householders in privately owned homes on the estate who are organising a petition to present to a meeting of the Dollis Valley Partnership board at its annual meeting in March.

They say that Barnet Council has failed to hold any consultations about a fundamental alteration to the terms under which they purchased their houses.

“Barnet Council is bulldozing this through and have been keeping residents in the dark over Brook Valley Gardens becoming 60 per cent social housing.”

Private householders are concerned about the future saleability of their properties because mortgage lenders now take into account the percentage of social v private housing on an estate.

Because the original plan was for 50 per cent private housing, high street banks were happy to lend money on Brook Valley Gardens properties but with 60 per cent social housing future owners might be unable to obtain mortgages without resorting to specialised lenders and this could “materially affect property values for existing homeowners.”  

Regeneration of Dollis Valley estate to be restarted with construction of 221 social rent homes to complete Brook Valley Gardens estate following Barnet Council approval

The remaining Mill Bridge and Garrowsfield blocks of flats and maisonettes in the Dollis Valley estate were surveyed in 2024 and were found to have widespread damp and mould.

They were deemed unsuitable for prolonged occupancy beyond December 2025 and the council decided to rehouse the tenants. Demolition is now to due start in the coming months.

The delay in finishing the estate arose because the joint developers Vistry Group (formerly Countryside Properties) and London and Quadrant declared that the original plans were no longer cost-effective.

Vistry proposed an alternative accelerated programme, and the council cabinet has now agreed to purchase 221 social and affordable rent homes from Vistry at a fixed price, subject to securing grant funding from the Greater London Authority.

On completion, Barnet Homes will manage the properties on behalf of the council. Eleven will be wheelchair accessible.

Vistry is proposing to deliver an accelerated programme of construction of replacement homes so that tenants rehoused from Mill Bridge and Garrowsfield can be prioritised to return on completion if they wish to.

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High Barnet Station – Mayor’s team set to decide own planning application                      

Since Barnet Council decided in December that it was minded to refuse Barratt London’s planning application, the Mayor of London has called it in for review. A public hearing seems likely directly after the local elections on 7 May 2026. The Barnet Society & Barnet Residents Association are greatly concerned that the Mayor’s decision won’t be impartial, and has sent the letter below to our MP, Barnet Councillors and its Greater London Assembly Member.

Readers are urged to make their feelings about the planning application known to Dan Tomlinson MP at dan.tomlinson.mp@parliament.uk and Assembly Member Anne Clarke at anne.clarke@london.gov.uk

We expect candidates seeking election to Barnet Council in May in wards in and around High Barnet will be asked by residents whether they are for or against the blocks of flats being proposed on the tube station car park. For some voters this will be a critical issue.

We are hoping for a clear indication of where candidates of all parties stand. The positions to be taken by our MP and GLA member are of particular interest ahead of polling day.

Dear Dan Tomlinson, Assembly Member Anne Clarke & selected Barnet Councillors

We write on behalf of the Barnet Society & Barnet Residents Association to ask if we can count on your support at the Mayor of London’s representation hearing on this planning application. As you will know, the Mayor called in the application following Barnet Council’s decision on 8 December 2025 that it was minded to refuse it.

The date for the hearing seems likely to be directly after the local elections on 7 May 2026.

Our principal concern at this point is the clear conflict of interest since the Mayor controls Transport for London, which not only owns the site and runs the tube and bus services connecting it to our neighbourhood, but has commissioned the project and stands to profit from its construction. That is setting, writing and marking your own homework.

Although the Mayor has delegated the decision to his Deputy, Jules Pipe, conflict of interest cannot be avoided since Jules Pipe has made statements in support of this and other TfL developments. He has also expressed regret at their refusal when they could not be called in. That is not an unbiased position from which to determine the future character of Chipping Barnet.

If approved, the application will have a most harmful impact on the town and its nearby green spaces, and set a benchmark for future development in the area. Visualisations in the application were cynically manipulated to downplay its deplorable visual impact.

We’d welcome well-designed homes at an appropriate scale of development. But this proposal grossly exceeds that.

Instead, it would

  • breach many policies in Barnet’s recently-adopted Local Plan, including its tall buildings assessment for this site endorsed by the Planning Inspectorate, and make incorrect use of the Hillingdon case to justify a tall building in this location;
  • create homes of unacceptably poor safety and quality in terms of layout, detailed design and amenity;
  • provide minimal improvements to accessibility and safety that would be negated by loss of the car park;
  • exacerbate existing congestion of the set-down and pick-up area, likely causing vehicles to back up onto the busy A1000;
  • irreparably harm the identity of the neighbourhood, nearby and from afar;
  • be unsustainable by many environmental standards, contrary to the developer’s claims; and
  • offer no compensating benefits of significance by way of transport connectivity or new/improved facilities to the existing community.

Our many pages of comments on the application detailed multiple breaches of Borough, London & National policy and guidance (some of them basic matters not revealed in earlier public consultations).

In sum, the site is unsuitable for 1,000 new residents. The resulting excessive height, density and design weaknesses – and the operational difficulties that would beset residents and travellers and the public, commercial and emergency services trying to serve them – risk repeating the mistakes of postwar housing estates. That would be to the lasting cost of our community and the identity and character of Chipping Barnet.

Regards

Robin Bishop

Planning & Environment Lead, the Barnet Society

Gordon Massey

Planning Consultant, Barnet Residents Association

The planning application can be viewed on Barnet Council’s planning portal (reference no. 25/2671/FUL). The Mayor of London’s case reference is 2025/0802/S2.

On our website you can read the Barnet Society’s objections to the scheme as well as coverage of the Council’s Planning Committee decision.

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Request for pre-planning negotiations over possible development of a large housing estate in green belt land off Rowley Lane, Arkley

An application has been made to Barnet Council by a housing developer seeking permission to start discussions on building up to 300 homes on 17 acres of green belt land off Rowley Lane, Arkley.

Part of the site was a former pig farm – see above – and the proposed development would take place in woods and scrubland between Rowley Lane and the A1 Barnet by-pass to the north of the Stirling Corner roundabout.

Bugler Homes of Rickmansworth is hoping to take advantage of new government guidance which came into effect a year ago and which allows for the release of some green belt land for housing.

Where there is green belt land which was “previously developed” and which does not “strongly contribute” to limiting urban sprawl, it can now be deemed grey belt land and can be developed for housing and other needs.

Arkley’s community group – Arkley Association – has been informed that Bugler Homes is at “an early stage of exploring opportunities to bring forward a grey belt application”.

The site has been purchased unconditionally by the company which says an assessment of the site indicates that it that would meet the criteria for grey belt approval.

Its “initial vision” is to build approximately 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.

“We want to work with the community to ensure the proposals reflect Arkley’s character and identity, help address local needs, and contribute positively to village life.”

Bugler has asked for a meeting with the association to discuss its proposal – a plan which has shocked and surprised many Arkley residents.

They fear that if approval is given it could connect to another large site closer to Stirling Corner which has been vacant since the demolition of a former police academy.

“Before we know it approval will have been given for housing on the whole of the triangle of land between Barnet by-pass, Barnet Road and Rowley Lane,” said one resident.

“That would desecrate the green belt, damage the village surroundings of Arkley and would lead to even more urban sprawl between Borehamwood and Barnet.”

Most of the houses in and around Arkley village are individual detached properties and except for Rockways off Barnet Road there are no significant housing developments.

If approval was given for up to 300 homes off Rowley Lane it would be Arkley’s first housing estate.

The 17-acre site which includes the former Rowley Bank Farm is to the rear of houses in Amethyst Close – see above – at the junction of Rowley Lane and Rowley Green Road.

Bugler Homes has asked to meet representatives of the Arkley Association which says it will now hold an extra-ordinary annual meeting to decide what action to take. Other interested groups will be invited to take part.

Government guidance on green belt land which might now be redesignated as grey belt says that this applies particularly to “previously developed” land such as the site of dis-used petrol stations or abandoned car parks.

Arkley Association informed of pre-planning application to build up to 300 homes on a 17-acre site off Rowley Lane. Bugler Homes to have discussions with Barnet Council.

The Arkley site includes abandoned buildings from the former pig farm – which have more recently been used for storage – and extensive hard standing.

When considering Bugler Homes’ plan, Barnet Council will be required under the government’s national planning policy framework, to assess the contribution which the site makes to the green belt and whether a grey belt approval would result in the remaining green belt in the area being “fundamentally undermined”.

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Unauthorised tree felling in protected woodland at Arkley has angered residents who fear a covert attempt to secure residential development

Arkley residents who have been campaigning for several years to safeguard woodland in Rowley Lane were shocked to see protected trees being felled across a one-acre plot – and their anger increased still further when Barnet Council apparently failed to take immediate action to stop the clearance.

They say it took the council’s tree protection team over 24 hours to intervene and by then most of the trees had already been cut down. Only a few that had been badly hacked about were still standing.

The plot where the clearance has taken place is part of a ten-acre woodland which is protected by a special nature conservation order designed to protect it from any land use change which might damage a protected habitat or species.

The residents fear that if developers get their way the woodland will be turned into sites for new houses.

Once this Green Belt land has been cleared of trees, the concern in the surrounding community, is that Barnet Council might be more likely to grant planning permission, despite approval having been refused in the past.  

When an adjoining one-acre plot was cleared in 2023 without permission the residents succeeded in obtaining a tree preservation order covering the whole site.

The wording of the nature conservation order was also strengthened to reflect the character of the land as “wooded with open glades of grass or scrub”.

The woodland, which is at the rear of Rowley Lodge, was sold off by a previous owner of the house and was subdivided into ten separate one-acre plots which were sold for a combined total of £1.3 million.

What has so angered the residents is that they say nothing happened on the day they complained to the council (18.2.2026) and when they notified the council again the following morning (19.2.2026) the protection team did not arrive until the afternoon.

“Within that 24-hour period the trees had been cut down. It is devastating. We now have Arkley’s very own Sycamore Gap; a woodland left with a gaping hole. It is a tragedy,” said one distraught resident.

Workmen who were challenged by the residents said the one-acre which was being cleared was being subdivided into three plots for houses.

“We have been assured planning permission will not be granted because it is Green Belt but the boarded off entrance to the woodland already has an agents’ sign indicating that plots are for sale.

When the ten acres were first sold off, five of the individual acres were purchased by householders whose properties backed on to the land and who were determined that it should be preserved as a woodland.

Two of the five acres in the hands of individual plot holders have now been cleared without permission and residents fear that there might be an attempt to prepare the other three acres for residential development.

Residents have appealed to Barnet councillor Emma Whysall to intervene of their behalf.  

(Photos supplied by residents)

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“Love them or lose them” is the blunt message from the organisers of Barnet’s summer round of shows, fetes and festivals

Organisers of a busy programme of summer shows and festivals in and around High Barnet hope there will be maximum support this year because today’s tough times are forcing the postponement and even cancellation of some popular events.

Out in front once again is Barnet Classic Car Club’s annual show which is to be held on Sunday 17 May on the top floor of The Spires car park — see above last year’s display of Jaguar cars.

Four concerts – including a family concert – will be held between June 6-28 by the High Barnet Chamber Music Festival which is backed this year by Arts Council England.

Another highlight of the summer calendar will be the two-day Barnet Medieval Festival over the weekend of June 6-7, back for a second year at its new site in Galley Lane.

Fields around Fold Farm (Lewis of London Ice Cream) provided an ideal location last summer with record crowds for the re-enactments of the Battles of Barnet and St Albans and masses of space for a campsite, medieval traders and enthusiasts.

Publicity material is already out for the annual Arkley Village Fayre on Saturday 23 May and its highly popular all comers dog show – see above, last year’s winners.

Other events planned include Queen Elizabeth’s School’s founders’ day fete on Saturday 20 June; Jazz and More on Hadley Green on Sunday 5 July (12pm to 6pm); and Hadley Wood Association’s fireworks night on Sunday 1 November.

Financial challenges, a shortage of helpers, complex safety regulations and higher Barnet Council charges are all adding to the pressures facing the volunteer committees which work so hard behind the scenes.

Their plea to the residents of Barnet and further afield is to put dates in the diary and to help ensure the continued success of what promises to be an entertaining and engaging programme of events.

“Love them or lose them” is the blunt message.

Summer programme of shows, festivals and fetes in and around High Barnet and an extra strong plea this year for strong public support

Even the town’s biggest annual celebration, Barnet Christmas Fayre, is facing an unprecedented financial challenge.

For the first time it seems the organisers might have to raise the funds to meet the cost of road and bus-route diversions which are needed to keep the High Street clear of traffic.

If Barnet Council is unable to absorb the estimated cost of around £4,000, the fayre committee might have to launch an appeal and look for additional sponsors.

One popular event which has had to be cancelled this year is the Barnet Summer Soulstice soul music festival which has been held for the last 18 years at the Old Elizabethans playing fields in May Lane.

But the Spring into Soul Ball – also in aid of Cherry Lodge Cancer Care – is being held on Saturday 21 March at the Double Tree Hilton Hotel in Borehamwood.

Another of this year’s casualties is the East Barnet Festival which is planning on returning in 2027. Organisers have issued a plea for support for next year’s event which they say will help “keep the spirit of East Barnet alive”.

After missing out last year, Potters Bar Carnival is due to return on Sunday 14 June with live performances from show bands and dance troupes. Community support is vital to the carnival’s success.

East Finchley Festival is booked in for Sunday 21 June but again the organisers have issued a plea for support because of the mounting costs and challenges facing self-funded events.

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Barnet pub with a tradition of community and creative engagement included in sale of 30 licensed premises by Hertford brewers McMullen’s

Sebright Arms in Alston Road is one of three Barnet public houses which the Hertford family-owned brewers McMullen’s have sold to Punch Pubs & Co.

Two others included in the sale of a total of 30 pubs are the Kings Head in Barnet High Street and the Queens Arms, next to the Everyman cinema.

James Croft, Punch Pubs’ strategy and commercial director, said the company was delighted to have acquired a collection of pubs with such strong community roots and the focus would be to continue to invest in their licensed premises and to support their publicans and managers.

McMullen’s joint managing director Tom McMullen was confident Punch Pubs was committed to supporting the Sebright Arms and other pubs included in the sale.

“Punch Pubs have indicated a willingness to invest £4 million in the 30 pubs we have sold and to protect their long-term future.”

These assurances have been welcomed by the Sebright Arms Community Group which says Punch Pubs have “responded positively” in recognising “the Sebright’s established place at the heart of the local community”.

Ken Rowland, co-chair of the Barnet Residents Association, had been encouraged by the “proactive engagement” by Punch Pubs.

Because of previous uncertainty about its long-term future, the Sebright was registered with Barnet Council as an asset of community value, a safeguard which continues until 2027.

“The Sebright holds particular significance in Barnet,” said Mr Rowland.

“It has long served as a creative and community driven hub, hosting open microphone nights, quiz evenings, charity fund raising events and a wide range of residential led activities.

“Its role extends well beyond that of a traditional pub, providing a welcoming space where friendships are formed and local talent is supported.”

Mr Rowland said Punch Pubs’ reassurances were especially significant as the Sebright prepares to host its largest charity event to date on July 11, a celebration of the life and legacy of Graeme Hall, a much-loved regular and key figure in the Barnet music scene.

More than 25 acts have already committed to performing, reflecting the depth of affection and respect he inspired.

News of the sale of the Queens Arms and the Kings Head follows a temporary closure of the two pubs last year while waiting for new tenants and the BRA says it hopes they thrive under new ownership.

Other McMullen’s pubs included in the sale to Punch Pubs are the Builder’s Arms, Potters Bar, and the Windsor Castle, East Finchley.

All 30 were described by Punch Pubs as having strong trading histories, distinctive heritage and established positions.

Sebright Arms, Alston Road, one of three Barnet pubs sold by Hertford bewers McMullen's to Punch Pubs

In his statement Tom McMullen said it had been important to transfer the pubs to a new owner who possessed both the “scale and strategic direction” to offer tenants improved support and willingness to provide the pubs the financial commitment they deserved.

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A community orchard is the latest feature to be completed at a new base in Mays Lane for outdoor activities for young people

Despite the wettest of winters and having to struggle through mud, volunteers completed the planting of a community orchard in former farmland off Mays Lane, Barnet, which has become the home of The Green Wellbeing Hub.

A five-acre site within the Dollis Valley Green Belt was made available to the charity by Barnet Council as a base for outdoor activities to support young people with social, emotional and mental health needs.

Students from secondary schools and alternative education across the borough are among those who take part in activities at the hub and the planting of the orchard was a project which brought together youngsters and families.

Charlotte Antoniou, hub co-ordinator (see above) said apple, mulberry, quince, greengage and fig were among the fruit trees which had been planted after the land had been cleared of blackthorn and undergrowth.

Since moving on to the site in the summer of 2024, Charlotte and fellow co-ordinator Janine Young (above, right), have seen through the installation of facilities such as a wet-weather shelter, composting toilet and other features including a log campfire circle for events in the summer.

“The Green Wellbeing Hub is so fortunate to have use of the site which is made up of emerging woodland and tree covered glades,” said Janine who has been working on the project with Charlotte for the last five years.

Support and funding to help establish the hub has been provided by a range of groups including the charity Wild About Our Woods, Young Barnet Foundation and Big Lottery.

Oak trees are well established on much of the site and where areas have been cleared of blackthorn and undergrowth, there have been new plantings of wild cherry, rowan and birch. Many of the saplings were donated by the Woodland Trust.

The Green Wellbeing Hub, in Mays Lane, Barnet, an outdoor centre for activities for young people, is adding new attractions such as a community orchard and biodiversity pond.

Recent excavations include digging out a pond which it is hoped will add biodiversity to the hub and attract frogs, newts and perhaps dragon flies.

“We are developing what we hope will be a unique nature-based programme using tried and test outdoor therapeutic interventions to support the positive mental health of young people and adults,” said Janine.

“Activities connected with nature and outdoor skills such as cooking and bushcraft help young people build resilience and the deal with the challenges they face.”

The hub is close to the Dollis Valley Green Walk – which forms part of the London Loop – and the site can be accessed from either Underhill or Hendon Wood Lane providing an excellent route for summer walks, avoiding traffic on Mays Lane.  

For more information email: thegreenwellbeinghub@gmail.com

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If you go down in the woods today, you’re sure of a big surprise!

This is a Badger Boar in Chipping Barnet Woodland at 5:53 am on New Year’s Day 2026. It’s one of several fine photographs in this article by Marianne Nix, a Barnet Society member who lives opposite the spinney by Christchurch Lane and designs leaflets and posters for the Save Chipping Barnet Woodland petition. She writes here in her personal capacity.

Marianne Nix writes

As the famous old song in the headline promised, if you go down in the woods today, you’re sure of a big surprise*. But is it really that surprising that badgers, muntjac deer and other protected species live and forage 350 metres from High Barnet High Street?

In June last year ecologists did a walk-through of a small one-acre woodland on Christchurch Lane. It is in the Monken Hadley Conservation Area, Chipping Barnet. According to their Preliminary Ecological Appraisal (PEA) submitted on 13th January 2026, as part of a current planning application to build a six-bed mansion with cinema, swimming pool and space to park three cars, they found little to persuade them or the Developer employing them, Christchurchgrove Ltd, that there was much of note in this Woodland with no official name.

The temporarily named ‘Chipping Barnet Woodland’ is sandwiched between Old Fold Manor Golf Course and Hadley Green. If you are on a gentle stroll with push chair, dog, a chatty friend, running or walking between your home and place of work, it could take you as little as 5 minutes to reach High Barnet High Street. The Woodland is a tranquil pocket of peace buffering a busy urban existence on the edge of London.

Christchurchgrove Ltd and Barnet Recreational Trust made a conditional sale agreement with Barnet Council Estates to purchase the Woodland if planning permission is granted. The planning application is for the ‘Demolition of the existing garage and erection of a new two storey dwelling with rooms in the roof space. Associated landscaping, off street parking and refuse/recycling storage’.

On first reading, the PEA may sound reasonable. Until you visit the site. When I first moved to High Barnet, and next to the Woodland three years ago, I set up a trail camera in my garden and was delighted to find hedgehogs scootling about. I discovered bats in my attic and much to my surprise, my garden trail camera video revealed a badger shrouded in mist.

In July 2024, after learning of the potential development threat, I emailed Barnet Council biodiversity officers and others about my dismay. I included the images I mentioned above of a bat, a hedgehog and a badger. I assumed the data would become part of the ecology base line of the area and available to future ecologists via Barnet Council. My hope was that any developer would think twice about building on the land. It was clear to me then that the Council’s moral duty was to protect the Woodland.

The local community was getting nowhere with their attempts to convince the Council and our local MP Dan Tomlinson of the travesty of selling the Woodland for development. Last July a group got together and created the campaign group Save Chipping Barnet Woodland (SCBW). One of the first steps was to find out what data ecologists might find on the wildlife and habitat in the woodland.  With no budget, the campaign group approached GiGL (Greenspace Information Greater London) who provide data to ecologists. We were dismayed to discover there were few wildlife records of the site and its surroundings. My bat, hedgehog and badger were not mentioned. We started collecting data of our own and sending it to Barnet Council and GiGL as citizen scientists. These records should form a baseline in the GiGL database for future reference.

Fortunately, many Barnet residents do have their eyes open to the magic of nature. This is demonstrated by the support from over 2,250 signatures to our Save Chipping Barnet Woodland petition started in mid-September 2025.  Our campaign, with a core group of approximately 35 local resident members, has devoted much of their spare time proving what two so called ‘experts’ employed to carry out a preliminary ecological appraisal did not appear to observe, record or acknowledge. On nearly every occasion we used date and time-stamped trail cameras we were pleasantly surprised to record more than a fox or two. We captured images and video of badger, muntjac deer, woodmouse and more.

Below, at 9am a male fox goes about his morning business quite hidden just a few meters away from passers-by on Christchurch Lane going about theirs.

Screenshot

However, Andrew Robinson, Director of Christchurchgrove Ltd. goes as far as to say in his response to an article published before Christmas in The Barnet Society online edition:

‘The site…has low levels of biodiversity. We know this because we have had it surveyed by an expert ecologist…This survey has shown that there are absolutely [no] mammals living here. No badgers, foxes, bats, deer or hedgehogs…or, in fact, any protected species.’

Astonishingly the PEA commissioned by him states on page 28 that there may be hedgehogs!

‘…it is considering [sic] that breeding and foraging hedgehog may be present within the Site and be impacted by the proposed works.’

The largest Oak tree that stands in the Woodland, and verified as Veteran by the Ancient Tree register, has numerous holes and cavities possibly suitable for bats. There are Birch with multiple holes in the middle of the site. And of course there is my very own roost in my attic within 30 metres of the site. I love my bats. It’s a nice feeling thinking of them hanging about, sleeping and then warming up by flying about my roof space before launching themselves, weather permitting, into the canopy of the woodland.

Below is the Veteran Oak with cavities possibly suitable for bat roost.

Much to my surprise the existence of the bat roost in my attic and the licence to do minor works I obtained in 2023 – 2025 from the Bat Conservation Trust are not mentioned in the ecologist reports.

‘Therefore, it is considering [sic] that potential for the Site to support roosting bats is negligible—no impacts from the proposed works to these species are anticipated’ (PEA, page 22).

There is a badger sett confirmed by Herts & Middlesex Badger group in January. The setts are protected. They were discovered by two of our volunteers, not the ‘expert ecologist’. Also there is no acknowledgment of the sett in the ecological reports.

‘…it is considered that the potential for the Site to support breeding, foraging and resting badger is negligible— no impact from the proposed works to this species are anticipated’ (PEA, page 22).

There are other inaccuracies in the application. I have complained to the Council. But to no avail. The application inaccuracies cannot be changed. It appears there is no governance that can stop the misleading of the public. The developer is encouraged to hold public ‘consultations’ to ‘listen’ and make adjustments to their application. There are no rules regarding the accuracy of their presentations. We, the residents of Barnet, to my knowledge, officially have no framework to put across the alternative ‘facts’ to the public. The planning system has to change. This week on Tuesday there was a Barnet Council meeting to discuss making the planning system more democratic. Unfortunately I was too busy saving Chipping Barnet Woodland to attend.

Our images and videos show that the habitat combining a range of trees including Cherry Laurel appears to be functioning well. The badgers, foxes, muntjac deer, woodmice, multiple bird species such as Tawny Owl and Mistle Thrush on Amber or Red conservation list and seen rarely elsewhere, all appreciate the ‘novel ecosystem’ found in the ‘Woodland with no name’. (British Ecological Society, Sept 11th 2024: ‘Novel ecologies the new normal?’)

Below, species seen within 50 metres of the Woodland – left to right: Small Copper Butterfly; Common Frog; Smooth Newt, Male.

The wildlife love the Woodland, judging by their repeated and lengthy stays captured on video earlier this month when freezing conditions made the ground elsewhere rock solid. The deep leaf litter and protection of the canopy and understory keeps the ground soft. This allows for lingering and rooting in the leaf debris. There appears to be lots to eat; a good sign of a strong ecosystem. The PEA and Biodiversity Net Gain assessment submitted as part of the planning application belies the truth of what we can see with our own eyes, even if it is a surprise!

To make your own comments regarding the planning application ref 26/0116/FUL go to Barnet Council Planning Applications. Deadline Thursday 12th February 2026. If you have difficulty accessing the planning portal, you can submit your comments by alternative ways listed here.

Screenshot

Above, a Muntjac Buck, a frequent visitor to the Woodland.

*Songwriters: Jimmy Kennedy / John W. Bratton

Teddy Bear Picnic lyrics © Wb Music Corp., Emi Music Publishing Ltd, M Witmark & Sons, Emi Music Publishing Ltd, B Feldman & Co Ltd

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Despair among Mays Lane traders as introduction of pay-by-phone parking charges leads to a dramatic loss in customers

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

Coopers of Barnet say trade is down by 40 per cent in the last six weeks since the withdrawal of free parking in the service road outside their premises.

Well over 1,500 residents and shoppers have signed a petition organised by Denise Bagge, proprietor of Mays Lane Pets, to protest at the charges.

The Mays Lane shop owners say the council could easily introduce a scheme allowing free parking for 20 minutes or half an hour which would be more than enough time for most customers.

In calling for a re-think, the Mays Lane traders are adding their voice to mounting anger over parking restrictions and charges which have been imposed as part of the Underhill South Controlled Parking Zone.

Despite opposition from 85 per cent of householders – and pleas from staff and parents at Whitings Hill Primary School – the council went ahead with the introduction of an 18-month experimental CPZ in 16 roads off Mays Lane and on either side of Chesterfield Road.

Residents can have their say during a six-month consultation period which ends of Sunday 14 June by which time the Quinta Green Residents Association and the Underhill Residents’ Group intend to have completed their own in-depth surveys and consultation to demonstrate the strength of opposition to the CPZ.

Mays Lane Pets launched the petition which is available for signing at neighbouring shops in the parade and online. (For more information email mayspets.co.uk

Shop assistant Sarah Burley (above) said they have been amazed by the response and are appealing to the Chipping Barnet MP Dan Tomlinson to visit the parade and give his support.

“This is just a money-making exercise for Barnet Council. Instead of getting tough with Barnet Hospital and forcing the hospital to build a multi-storey car park, we are all having to suffer just because there isn’t enough parking space for hospital staff, patients and visitors.”

There used to be free parking space outside the Mays Lane parade for a dozen or perhaps as many as 15 cars at time, but that has been reduced to five bays with pay-by-phone charges at the top rate for on-street parking in the borough.

“The effect on our trade has been dramatic,” said Sarah.

“Lots of elderly customers used to stop in their cars and just pop in for items like bird seeds, that sort of thing. But lots of the elderly can’t do pay-by-phone and who is going to pay £3.30 to pop in to buy a bag of doggy treats.”

Mohinder Dhingra, proprietor of Coopers of Barnet, was distraught at the loss of trade for his hardware business.

“If it continues like this, we will have to close the shop. Trade is down by up to 40 per cent since December 15.

“There was never any trouble before with the parking outside the parade.

“Now people are scared to come in. You can’t expect customers to pay a minimum of £1.70 just to park when all they want is something which might cost £1 or £1.50.

“The council could easily introduce a limit, say free parking for 20 to 30 minutes and that would work well for everyone.”

Among those who have signed the petition is Paul Marshall – above with Mohinder Dhingra in top picture – who was formerly a parking enforcement officer.

He thought the charges for such a small parade were unnecessary and felt the CPZ exercise was just a revenue earner for local councils.

“In my day councils used to say the income from parking charges would go back into the local area, but that never happens now. Just look at the potholes round here. The money certainly isn’t being spent improving the roads around here.”

Mays Lane shopping parade businesses fear closures unless Barnet Council drops pay-by-phone parking charges and reinstates free parking

A similar scheme for parking charges has been introduced at the parade of shops in Bells Hill, again part of the Underhill South CPZ.

Quinta Green Residents Association says the justification for the new CPZ is that it is necessary because of the displacement of vehicles caused by the existing and extended Barnet Hospital CPZ.

“But displacement caused by an existing CPZ cannot be used retrospectively to justify another CPZ and we have now found the experimental Underhill South CPZ is generating displacement in roads the council originally excluded from the new CPZ.

“The council’s reasoning is circular. It is simply creating parking pressure through intervention.

“Barnet Hospital does intend to use surplus land to increase its own on-site parking, but the long-term solution is for the Royal Free Hospital Trust to build a new multi-deck car park.

“In the meantime, unresolved hospital demand – and its costs – are being transferred on to residential streets through CPZs, which are the most likely measures to become permanent even if the hospital problem is eventually solved.”

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Bid to safeguard Black Horse public house for community use amid continuing doubts about its future despite Star Pubs’ re-assurances

An attempt is being made to safeguard the long-term future of a Barnet landmark, the Black Horse public house, which has been closed to the public since mid-September last year.

Barnet Council is being asked to declare the building an asset of community value which would ensure the community had a chance to buy the property should there be an attempt to sell it for redevelopment.

Star Pubs, which said before Christmas that it hoped to find a new tenant starting in the New Year, has admitted that the company, which is part of Heineken UK, is still has no nearer to saying when the pub might re-open.

“The Black Horse is a much-loved pub, and we are committed to keeping it as such,” said Star Inns in a statement to the Barnet Society.

“We remain keen to re-open it as soon as possible but are unable to provide timings at this stage.

“As soon as we have more information, we will be happy to share it.”

The application for an asset of community value order has been submitted in the name of the Barnet parish church of St John the Baptist on behalf of the community, says Olly Gough.

Olly, who is to be a Labour candidate for the May elections to Barnet Council, has organised a petition to the save pub which has attracted over 3,500 signatures.

https://www.change.org/p/save-the-black-horse-chipping-barnet-list-it-as-an-asset-of-community-value

Barnet Council has eight weeks to make a decision on the application and, if approved, Olly says the ACV order would given the community “a real say in the pub’s future and help protect it as a proper local”.

In his campaign to save the pub, Olly has been publicising one of the early pictures of the Black Horse back in the day when a horse drinking trough and lamppost formed an effective mini roundabout at the Ravenscroft Park junction of Wood Street and Stapylton Road.

He says the strength of support for the petition reflects the news coverage which has been given to his campaign by the BBC, London Evening Standard, Barnet Post, Morning Advertiser and the Barnet Society.

“Thanks to everyone who has backed this campaign. Fingers cross for a good outcome.”

An ACV was issued in March 2024 to safeguard the future of the Prince of Wales public house in East Barnet which was closed by the Stonegate Group but was finally rescued and re-opened by the Heartwood Collection group of inns and hotels.

Once an ACV is registered, an owner wishing to sell the asset or to lease it for more than 25 years, is legally obliged to notify the relevant local authority.

Barnet Council will then inform those making the application – in this case the Barnet parish church – which would signal an interim moratorium period of six weeks during which the community could express an interest in taking on the asset.

If a community does express an interest in taking on the Black Horse, then a full moratorium is triggered and the property may not be sold on the market for a six-month period, which would give time for the formation of a residents’ group to consider their options.

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Pressure to offer and retain workrooms and offices close to Barnet town centre, but developers claim there is no demand for employment space

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

So far, the council’s attempt to ensure that affordable space for employment is available is failing to attract tenants as indicated by the number of “To Let” signs.   

The latest challenge revolves around a fresh application to change the use of Highlands House in Bath Place, just off the High Street – see above – to provide seven self-contained one-bedroom flats.

Previously Highlands House was used for offices and graphic printing by sign makers RHM Event Graphics who have moved to premises at Borehamwood.

Subsequently the building has remained vacant, and other developers in the vicinity say the lack of demand for commercial space close to the town centre is underlined by the failure to find a tenant for a potential affordable workspace in the adjoining Lightfield housing development.

When dealing with planning applications, the council has been insisting that in line with the Barnet local plan, affordable employment space should be provided when new housing developments replace commercial and industrial premises.

In the case of Highlands House, council planners will have to decide whether prior approval is required for a change of use following new government regulations on permitted development.

An application to convert Highlands House to flats was rejected last year on the grounds that it would have a “detrimental effect” on the free flow of traffic and highway safety in Bath Place.

But this latest application states the seven flats would be car free and the developers would enter a legal agreement to restrict car parking permits.

Just a few yards away from Highlands House is an empty site – see above – which was earmarked for affordable workspace when approval was given to Shanly Homes to provide 40 homes in flats and houses on the new Lightfield estate, just off the High Street.

Lightfield was built on the site of Brake Shear House which once housed 20 businesses in small factories and workshops which had a combined employment floorspace of 4,000 square metres.

When granting permission for Lightfield, the council stipulated that the site should retain 754 square metres of employment space.

Since the completion of the new estate, the developers say there has been no interest in developing the available commercial floor space and this prompted a fresh application to build a four-storey block which would have comprised eight flats with a ground floor offering 210 square metres of employment space.

However, after this application was refused, the developers took their case to a planning inquiry, only to find that the inspector backed the council.

In his report, the inspector said there was no evidence the employment space had been advertised at a genuinely competitive price; the developers had not demonstrated satisfactorily that there was no demand; and building additional flats would mean a “significant decrease in the employment potential of the site”.

In support of its wider policy of seeking mixed development, the council has intervened to see if a tenant can be found for vacant community space on the ground floor of a new block of flats in Salisbury Road.

This follows the council’s refusal for permission to convert vacant community space on the ground floor of the new block – see above – into a three-bedroom flat.

Again, the developers say that despite having been “extensively marketed” for four years there has been minimal interest in hiring the community space.

In an attempt to find a potential tenant, the council is to contact community groups and local charities to see if there is any interest.

The ground floor space of 1,280 square feet is on the market for a guide sale price of £400,000 or an annual rent of £25,000.

Another vacant commercial space which has been on the market for some considerable time is on the ground floor of new flats in Moxon Street – see above – which were built after the demolition of a car repair business and a former Salvation Army Hall.

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Planning application in to build a house in Christchurch spinney

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

The application is a test of Barnet Council’s commitment to protecting the environment. You can comment on the proposals until Thursday 12 February – see below for details.

Barnet Council declared a Climate and Biodiversity Emergency in 2022. Barnet Labour’s Green Manifesto promised to ‘Protect ALL existing green spaces in the Borough’. And its recently-adopted Local Plan contains policies and supplementary planning documents specifically to protect green spaces. Mayor Khan has similar planning policies, and recently consulted on London’s first Nature Recovery Plan to reverse biodiversity loss.

The site is mainly established deciduous woodland. Although small in area its ecological value is great because it provides a vital undisturbed ‘green corridor’ for the transit of insects, animals and flying creatures between the Old Fold Manor golf course and Hadley Green, both of which are in the Green Belt. It is not managed, however, and its biodiversity is limited by the dominance of cherry laurel and bramble on the east side of the site.

In 2024 the Council authorised the sale of part of the spinney that it owns for £430,000, subject to the buyer obtaining planning consent.

The planning application is by Christchurchgrove Ltd, a developer in a joint venture with Barnet Recreation Trust (BRT), which owns the other part of the present site. BRT is a charity that supports ‘the provision of facilities in the interest of social welfare for recreational and leisure-time occupation’ locally.

Both organisations would profit from the sale of the substantial (567 sq m) new house and garden that would occupy about a third of the site. The house-owner would be responsible for the rest of the (0.4 hectare / 1 acre) site, which includes almost all the existing protected trees. (See plan below by Helene Landscape and Garden Design).

A public consultation on the proposals was held before Christmas, and Nick Jones’s report on that can be found here. You can also read my earlier post on the issues this project raises for nature protection.

Ideally, the Barnet Society would like to see Christchurch spinney and its wildlife conserved, enhanced and protected, with a minimum of landscaping to enable some public access. In practice, that would require funding and organisation that the Council can’t currently provide. It’s a pity no effort seems to have been made to find a community group or charity to take it on.

Although we’d prefer no house to be built at all, we wouldn’t object to permission being given for one on the least ecologically valuable part of the site on certain conditions:

  • The house and garden must be in keeping with their natural setting.
  • They must be built to high environmental standards.
  • The site as a whole must be subject to a long-term management plan to safeguard and enhance the environment.

The scheme the Society was shown last year fell short on all these counts. To the developer’s credit, however, it has been improved in the light of our comments. Overall, therefore, we’re neutral about the application. But because we aren’t yet convinced about a number of critical details, we’ll submit a list of conditions that must be met before approval.

How you can comment

Have your say one of these ways:

  1. on the Council’s planning portal (ref. no. 26/0116/FUL) via the Comments tab;
  2. email comments direct to planning.consultation@barnet.gov.uk (cc tania.sacordeiro@barnet.gov.uk); or
  3. post your comments to the Planning Officer: Tania Sa Cordeiro, Planning and Building Control, Barnet Council, 2 Bristol Avenue, Colindale, NW9 4EW.

In the cases of 2 & 3, be sure to include:

  • the application ref. no. (26/0116/FUL) clearly at the top
  • the site address (Land Opposite 15 Sunset View Barnet EN5 4LB) and
  • your name, address and postcode.

Sending a copy to our MP dan.tomlinson.mp@parliament.uk and to your local Councillors will increase the effectiveness of your comments.

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Barnet Football Club abandons planning appeal over stadium at Underhill as Bring Barnet Back identifies possible new locations   

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

In view of what the campaign says is now a “very positive” dialogue, the club has decided not to appeal against the strategic planning committee’s refusal last July to approve an application for a new stadium on Barnet playing fields at Underhill.

The last date for an appeal is January 24, but the Bring Back Barnet campaigners urged the club’s chairman Tony Kleanthous against challenging the council.

“Constructive conversations” with councillors and planners have succeeded in producing a shared sense of good will over the push to secure a move from the club’s existing stadium at The Hive, Harrow, and a return to the town.

A total of 51 alternative sites for a stadium were identified and evaluated by the campaign and the highest scoring four to five sites will now be assessed in greater detail.

They are all in what is described as a “ring of suitable sites” – in an area within High Barnet, New Barnet and East Barnet.

As an indication their good faith in trying to find a site acceptable to the council, the campaigner says they will not identify sites on their short list so as to prevent the long-standing controversy over Barnet FC’s return to the town becoming a political football at the council elections in May.

Bring Barnet Back had been thinking of whether to promote candidates – or a symbolic single candidate – in the May elections to demonstrate the strength of their support but decided against the move so as not to jeopardise the constructive relationship which they have established with councillors across the political parties.

However, the campaign will establish a clear public record of which candidates “clearly articulate” their backing for the principle of the club’s return so that supporters can make “informed decisions”. 

The application for a new stadium at Underhill was rejected by the strategic planning committee last July – see supporters above outside the town hall at Hendon – on the grounds that it failed to demonstrate “very special circumstances” for breaching the Green Belt.

Barnet FC’s planning consultants, WSP, and other consultants, advised that the club would have a “very good opportunity” to appeal on the grounds that the government was now encouraging certain developments within what was deemed “Grey Belt” land.

But the campaign feared an appeal might take 12 to 18 months, with no guarantee of success and even less likelihood of the council agreeing to lease a site on Barnet playing fields.

Conversations over the last few months have indicated that councillors believed the campaign had not been “sufficiently explicit” about why returning to the town was essential for the club.

At stake was the long-term sustainability of the club, given its reliance on continued financial support for the chairman.

The current stadium at the Hive is over an hour away from Barnet on public transport and over a quarter of the club’s local fans no longer attend, creating an annual deficit for Barnet FC of over £1 million.

“Without a permanent asset – a stadium – in its home town, the club’s long-term future remains structurally insecure.

“We now believe there is a shared understanding with all councillors we have spoken to that this is not a matter of sentiment, but of sustainability.”

However, the campaign recognised that the needs of the football club could not be considered in isolation and needed to be grounded in the “delivery of clear, substantial and demonstrable community benefit”.

Although the July application for a stadium had included proposals for a sports hub, medical facilities and wider economic benefits for the town, councillors were clear that a fresh application needed to be “more tightly and explicitly” linked to the need for additional community facilities and collaboratively designed to help deliver the council’s wider objectives.

Any revised plan would take into account issues like the number of school pupils with special education needs, how best to alleviate pressure on the adult social care budget, community-based medical provision and support for young people.

“Prior to these conversations Bring Back Barnet did not fully understand why the original application failed; these discussions have now provided clarity and are reshaping the approach going forward.

“Councillors stressed the importance of designing proposals with them rather than for them.

“The original application was perceived as presenting a largely complete scheme, with limited opportunity for councillors and officers to shape its form, priorities and trade-offs at an early stage.

“Finally, councillors highlighted the need for deeper consultation with key local groups prior to submission.

“In particular, the opposition from Northway School and Ark Pioneer Academy was seen as avoidable had those institutions been engaged meaningfully at an earlier stage.

“When a suitable location is identified and finalised by the planners, Bring Barnet Back will work with local groups to ensure the plans benefit as many as possible.”

Barnet Barnet Back campaign says it has short list of four to five locations for a new stadium for Barnet FC following club's decision to appeal over Underhill plan

Whereas the previously suggested Barnet playing fields site had scored strongly on technical planning grounds, it failed to meet the political test required for approval.

Therefore, any alternative site would have to command sufficient support from councillors to secure permission.

Until further enquiries, technical work and extensive private consultation, the campaign will not reveal the location of the four to five sites on its short list.

“Publishing a potential site prematurely, without full due diligence, would be irresponsible. It would risk exposing early-stage options to speculation, misinformation and unnecessary opposition.

“We fully understand – and share – the frustration this lack of public detail may cause. However, particularly in an election year, it is essential that any future proposals are robust, well-evidenced and carefully prepared.”

Bring Barnet Back statement in full: https://public.hey.com/p/76F1KjJccqW7Q9577B1aTzg3

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Wish list from Marks and Spencer targets High Barnet and New Barnet among sites across the borough as possible locations for a new food hall

High Barnet and New Barnet are two of ten districts within the London Borough of Barnet which are on a wish list of potential sites for a new Marks and Spencer food hall.

M&S plans to double its number of stores across the country and has named 197 possible locations within Greater London.

The ten within the Borough of Barnet are Brent Cross Town, Cricklewood, East Finchley, Edgware, Finchley, Golders Green, Hendon, High Barnet, Mill Hill East and New Barnet.

Currently an M&S food hall at Whetstone is closed while the premises are being upgraded to offer more products and to include a new bakery and coffee counter.

Until it re-opens in the spring, customers are being advised to use M&S food stores in Friern Barnet and Southgate.

In announcing its expansion programme, M&S has identified a wish list of 500 locations across the country and the company’s aim over the coming years is to almost double its existing 330 stores to 420 dedicated food shops and 180 mixed stores.

Within the M25 the company says it is targeting sites which benefit from strong public transport links and a steady footfall throughout the week and are capable of delivering an M&S food hall with a trading space of between 6,000 and 18,000 square feet.

Large sites are need so that the food halls can stock the full range of M&S food, offer wider aisles for bigger shopping trolleys, and large car parks for more family shoppers.

High Barnet and New Barnet are on a wish list for a site for a new Marks and Spencer food hall

Perhaps one of the few, if only sites, within the High Barnet town centre which might attract the interest of M&S would be premises within The Spires Shopping Centre or a site on surrounding land presently used for a staff car park and the Chipping Close car park (on the former Barnet Market site).

Plans to redevelop The Spires with shops along a through walkway, together with the construction of five and six storey blocks of flats, appear to have been in abeyance since administrators took control after the owners, BYM Capital, became insolvent in 2023.

An M&S local food store at 146 Barnet High Street – and a Sainsbury Local which replaced it – were both closed some years ago after becoming loss making.