News from The Barnet Society

When customer satisfaction is the only protection against the tsunami of change that is sweeping through so many of Britain’s high streets, few Barnet traders can match the long-standing loyalty of local residents for the refreshments served at Dory’s cafe, still going strong and now in the hands of the third generation of an Italian

Underhill stadium, home ground of Barnet Football Club for over a century, is to be sold.  News that the club’s chairman Tony Kleanthous has put the Bees’ former stadium up for sale will be a disappointment for the campaign Back2Barnet that has been fighting to get professional football restored to the town.

Glenn Foard, a celebrated military archaeologist, is to spend a day assessing the prospects for a new bid to obtain funding for an archaeological excavation to determine the precise site of the 1471 Battle of Barnet. An earlier application was rejected by the Heritage Lottery Fund on the grounds that it needed to be better prepared.

Transport for London has turned down a suggestion by the Barnet Society that by slightly extending the final destination of the 34 bus service (Walthamstow Central to Barnet) there could be a reorganisation of bus stops at the top of Barnet Hill and an easing of traffic congestion.

Feasibility study begins on future use of abandoned Marie Foster Home: could it become the site of a new GP surgery for High Barnet?

One of the many vacant frontages along Barnet High Street is about to get a new lease of life as a pop-up shop where aspiring independent traders, artists and voluntary groups can display samples of their work, goods and crafts.

New look for Spires shopping centre: a continental cafe-style culture for Barnet High Street? A computer-generated image released by the Williams Pears property group gives an impression of the proposed new-look entrance to the Spires shopping centre and an outside seating area in front of a new Carluccio’s restaurant.

Barnet Council has promised that a heritage officer will carry out an inspection in Church Passage in the “very near future” in an attempt to resolve continuing disagreement over cladding on the frontage of retail premises in the heart of the High Barnet conservation area.

Barnet Council has almost £150,000 available which could be spent immediately on improving the road junction at the top of Barnet Hill, if only an agreement could be reached on how best to ease traffic congestion and make it safer for pedestrians.

A restaurant with an outside seating area will become part of the High Street frontage of the Spires’ shopping centre if Barnet Council gives its approval. Carluccio’s will take the lease of a new restaurant that will be created out of what were originally the premises of WH Smith.

A new layout for High Barnet’s bus stops could benefit passengers and speed up traffic flow.  Transport for London has been asked to consider reorganising the bus stops at the top of Barnet Hill in order to reduce traffic congestion around Barnet parish church and to provide easier access for bus passengers.

The Friends of Barnet Market have orgainsied a series of events this Spring to encourage new shoppers to visit the Market site. The market was reopened at the historic site a few months ago and is now increasingly vibrant with new stalls joining all the time.

The Barnet Society pinpoints the sites of missing telecoms cabinets needed to deliver a fast broadband service.  The Barnet Society has identified eight sites where it believes British Telecom needs to install additional kerbside telecoms cabinets if several thousand High Barnet households are ever going to have the chance to obtain a fast broadband connection.

An imaginative array of ideas for reviving Barnet’s shopping centre was outlined at the Barnet Society’s annual question and answer session with the Chipping Barnet MP Mrs Theresa Villiers.

Barnet Museum is staging a display of instruments and memorabilia belonging to Barnet Band, thought to be the oldest musical group in the London Borough of Barnet, which is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year.

Local historians are busy researching the lives of Barnet men who lost their lives in the First World War.  The aim is to compile as many life histories as possible in support of a special exhibition which is being organised by Barnet Museum to commemorate the centenary of the Great War.

After collecting High Barnet’s rainfall figures since the 1980s, a Barnet family can say without hesitation that this winter has been the wettest locally for at least thirty years.

Hopes have been dashed of getting approval for an early start to an archaeological excavation to determine the precise site of the Battle of Barnet of 1471.   An application for funding has been rejected by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

A controversial plan to demolish the twin spires to provide a new entrance to the Spires shopping centre has been dropped after overwhelming opposition from Barnet residents and shoppers.

Two designs for a new High Street entrance to the Spires shopping centre – one of which would be without the two original spires of Barnet Methodist Church – are now on public display and open for consultation. But Barnet residents have only a matter of days to give their reaction.