| | | | | | | | Dear Guest, here are some updates and information: | | | | | | The organisers of the East Barnet Festival have issued this update: | | | | We are sorry that the Festival couldn't happen this year but the committee have been working very hard and we can say the festival SHALL BE BACK IN 2024.🙂 We will need the community's support to ensure this great festival can continue for years to come. If you can help with any of the following or wish to hold a stall at next year's festival please email us with your interest... | | | | | | Barnet Society Newsletter | |
Our colleagues at The Barnet Society oversee the whole of the Chipping Barnet constituency, with particular focus on High Barnet and the area to the west of the railway line.Click on the image to read their latest newsletter: | | | |
They write:
"This issue gives formal notice of our AGM (on July 13) and contains much of the business end of the Society's activities: Chair's Report, Accounts, Membership, Minutes of the Previous AGM, etc.
It also does no harm to let members read what we have been up to for the preceding year - quite a lot, actually.
Much of our time and effort goes into planning and the environment to which Robin Bishop's annual report testifies. Many battles on the planning front have been fought, with more to come.
Elsewhere, we have a round-up of all-things Barnet, from Coronation bell ringing to the Rose of Tralee, (yep, Barnet link) classic cars and the Medieval Festival. As usual, Nick Jones is prolific in his story output. Finally, Nick has written an obituary for Irving Wardle, drama critic and actor, who was the first to spot the talent of Harold Pinter. Hope you enjoy this issue.
We encourage you pass this on to non-members, with encouragement to join the Society (which they can do here)"
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Our colleagues at the New Barnet Community Association (aka Save New Barnet) have sent this latest update about the development on the old gasworks site:
Victoria Quarter Exhibition & Public Consultation
Fairview New Homes and One Housing are holding a public consultation event to present their latest plans for the main part of the New Barnet Gasworks site in Albert Road. Dates: - Wednesday 12th July from 4.00 pm to 7.30 pm
- Friday 14th July from 4.00 pm to 7.30 pm
Venue: Mary Immaculate and St. Peter Catholic Church, 63 Somerset Road, New Barnet, EN5 1RF
We urge you to make time to go along, ask questions, and give your feedback. This will be the developer’s first ‘in person’ public event since January 2020, and a lot has happened since then. Details should also be online from 12 July if you can’t get to the exhibition. LINK: consultation
You will recall that Fairview have long standing planning permissions to build 371 homes on the gasworks site, and a huge basement foundation has already been constructed. Having twice failed to get much bigger buildings for the site approved, the developers are now working on reworking the consented plans. Earlier this year the SNB team were approached by Fairview to discuss how the Victoria Quarter scheme was progressing. We have had two meetings with them which we were asked to keep confidential at the time. We have been pressing them to keep the heights and density down, and to work toward a scheme that is closer to the approved plans from 2017. We still have concerns over building heights, the unit mix, and sizes of flats. We wait with interest to see what they present at their public exhibition. We expect a planning application will be made soon after the consultation period closes on 31 July.
Current Building Works Back in December, Fairview submitted plans to amend blocks H & J which run along Victoria Road at the front of the site. Permission was granted and work is now underway to build these two blocks. Initial marketing of these flats has recently launched under a new name - ‘Park Quarter’. LINK: Fairview website
| | | | | | | | You can read the June news update from the East Barnet Safer Neighbourhood Team here (PDF) | | | | | | | | Almost 21 million reports have been made to the Suspicious Email Reporting Service (SERS), resulting in the removal of over 235,000 malicious websites.
SERS was launched by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and the City of London Police in April 2020 to enable the public to forward suspicious emails to an automated system that scans them for malicious links.
Since its launch, almost 21 million reports have been made to the service. Mobile phone providers also offer a service that allows customers to report suspicious text messages, by forwarding them to the number 7726. The service is free of charge and enables providers to takedown malicious websites and block malicious texts from being sent across their network. As of 31 May 2023, 54,000 text message scams have been removed as a result of suspicious texts forwarded to the 7726 service.
Commander Nik Adams, from City of London Police, writes:
"Every year, thousands of people in the UK are scammed by a fraudulent email or text message. Phishing scams, whether it’s a text message claiming you have missed a delivery and are required to pay a redelivery fee, or an email claiming to be from your bank are a common security challenges that both individuals and businesses across the UK face on a daily basis.
If you receive an email or text message that you think might be a scam, don’t respond to it or click any links in the message or email. Instead, contact the organisation directly using contact information from the company’s official website, and not the links or numbers provided in the message itself.
If you think you have been a victim of fraud, report it to Action Fraud or by calling 0300 123 2040. By reporting phishing scams or suspected fraud, you are directly helping us in our work to identify and stop these criminals and helping us protect others from these scams."
How to protect yourself from scam emails and texts Received an email or text that seems suspicious? Report it. Your reports enable us to remove the emails and websites criminals use to commit fraud and cyber crime. - Forward suspicious emails to report@phishing.gov.uk . Send emails to this address that feel suspicious, even if you're not certain they're a scam - we can check. You can also take a screenshot of the email and send it.
- Forward suspicious text messages to 7726 (it’s free of charge). Your provider can find out where the text came from and block or ban the sender.
- If you’ve lost money or provided personal information as a result of a phishing scam, notify your bank immediately and report it to the Police's Action Fraud website or by calling 0300 123 2040.
The Consumers' Association magazine Which? has set up a new scam alert page. This rolling page is frequently updated and covers a variety of the latest scams, including fake gift card texts and dodgy ticket giveaways, just make sure you bookmark it:
| | | | | | | | An EBRA member writes:
"I recently had signal problems and called out an aerial contractor. He put a meter on my aerial and showed me that the mobile network 4g and 5g were blocking my TV signal. The technician said a lot of people are having problems in this area. I contacted my local councillor who got information from the council regarding Restore TV | | | | I contacted Restore TV, apparently a postcard was sent out about 9 years ago, which I don't recall seeing. They supply free filters and suggest anyone with problems should contact them first as they can send out engineers free of charge.
I was lucky they looked at my case and are reimbursing me with the amount I paid to the contractor."
| | | | | | | | The next performance in this year's Theatre in the Park season is on Sunday 30th July 3pm to 4:30pm | | | | Join Peter and his naughty cousin Benjamin at Oak Hill Park on their hair-raising adventures in Mr Mcgregor’s garden at our charming adaptation at Oak Hill Park golf course.
Please bring blankets and foldaway chairs to sit on and come dressed for the weather! Light refreshments available.
Barnet Arts website
| | | | | | Finchley Lido Consultation | |
Barnet Council write:
"Get involved and have your say on the mix of facilities to be included as part of a replacement leisure facility on the site of the Great North Leisure Park. We want to involve a wide range of residents to help us shape a new leisure centre that works for everyone.
Finchley Lido Leisure Centre, located at Great North Leisure Park (GNLP) was built in c.1995/96 and is operated by Better on behalf of London Borough of Barnet. The existing facility is ageing, and the condition of the building restricts its ability for the council to deliver wider aspirations to create a more active and healthy borough, whilst offering a full family friendly and inclusive experience. Earlier this year, we undertook a public engagement to understand users’ experience and gauge the public’s views on a potential refurbishment, redevelopment, or relocation of the existing Finchley Lido Leisure Centre to North Finchley Town Centre.
After considering the engagement findings and what you told us we have decided that the leisure centre will be replaced on the existing site of the Great North Leisure Park. To help shape the mix of facilities to include on the site we are undertaking the next phase of community consultation, at Engage.Barnet
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