News from The Barnet Society

Barnet Council is being urged by the Barnet Society to postpone the two-month temporary closure of Chipping Barnet Library planned to take effect as from Monday 5 December in order to allow time for further consultation on the building alterations and redundancies that have been proposed.

Completing the majestic row of Norway Maple and London Plane trees that line Barnet Hill – and provide such a magnificent entrance to the town – might become possible following a generous donation to the Barnet Society.

A traffic management experiment at the junction of Wood Street and Barnet High Street is causing a headache for some drivers. There is currently no left turn from Wood Street into High Street, and no corresponding right turn in front of the parish church from High Street into Wood Street.

“Well-behaved dogs welcome” is the message that dog lovers are hoping they will hear from more and more of the cafes, restaurants and public houses along the High Street in High Barnet.

Bats, owls, wrens and hedgehogs are among the species that nearby residents fear might be disturbed or even lost because of the construction of a new, two-storey leisure centre in the Victoria Recreation Ground off Lawton Road, New Barnet.

The Barnet Society has joined other local organisations and groups – together with many nearby residents – in lodging an objection to the plans to build a school for 1,680 pupils on the site of the former Barnet Football Club stadium at Underhill.

When a group of 26 women move into their new homes in Union Street, Barnet, at the end of November they will be making a small, but truly historic contribution towards alleviating the country’s chronic housing shortage.

A unique, almost-forgotten tape recording gives a fascinating eye-witness account of every-day life in Barnet at the turn of the century before last, when horse-drawn coaches, traps and wagons filled the High Street, long before the arrival of the motor car.

Local residents, bird watchers and nature lovers are joining forces to step up their campaign against plans to develop a natural burial ground on farmland at Arkley bounded by Barnet Road, Barnet Gate Lane and Mays Lane.

In a first for schools in the London Borough of Barnet, the Pavilion study centre in Meadway, High Barnet, is offering vulnerable and excluded school children the opportunity to get an entry level qualification in horticulture.

The Barnet Society’s long-running campaign to try to secure a short period of free parking at the 63 parking meter spaces along the High Street featured prominently in Dom on the Spot, BBC television’s latest series about the people whose job it is to hand out on-the-spot fines.

Years of friendly rivalry over which shop in Barnet High Street has the longest record of continuous service seems to have been finally resolved. Documents unearthed by Peter Wanders suggest his shoe shop has been in business for longer than Victoria Bakery.

After an extensive search with metal detectors a highly-experienced team of military archaeologists has unearthed a host of medieval items that might be linked to the 1471 Battle of Barnet.

After facing a barrage of complaints and criticism over proposal to build a new school for almost 2,000 pupils on what was formerly the Barnet Football Club stadium, the Ark Academy network admitted its plans were “not yet a done deal”.

In the feline appreciation stakes there is currently no contest in determining High Barnet’s most sociable – and safety conscious – cat. Milly, a 15-year-old tabby, regularly stops the traffic as she walks from her home in Carnarvon Road and over the zebra crossing between Barnet Library and the Spires shopping centre.

After months of construction work, the last remaining scaffolding and hoardings are about to be removed from 25 new flats in Union Street, Barnet – the UK’s first purpose-built co-housing project for seniors.

Nine pupils from Totteridge Academy have been awarded special commendations by the educational charity TalentEd which enlists retired teachers to help pupils from low-income households to develop self-awareness and study skills.

Virgin Media hopes to be able to offer its ultrafast broadband network to 40,000 homes and businesses across the Borough of Barnet by the end of 2018.

Well over 300 members, friends and supporters attended the preview of the Barnet Guild of Artists’ 68th annual exhibition which continues at Christ Church, St Albans Road, until Saturday 6 August.

After mounting concern about the recent loss of leading retailers, High Barnet’s shopping centre has received a shot in the arm: H&M, the leading Swedish fashion chain, has finally signed up to take the lease of a brand new store in the Spires shopping centre.