Six weeks ago, we were facing a planning process with huge momentum and would very likely by now be putting dates in our diaries for the planning committee meetings to consider the applications. Instead thanks to the public meeting we now have a clearly expressed view from the Highgate community asking the School to think again. We have also got in principle agreement on a process for meaningful local consultations and are close to an agreement on the specifics. We will keep readers updated. For more details click here.
Highgate School plans: public meeting report
The public meeting about Highgate School’s planning applications was a great success. Catherine West was an excellent chair, and we had a very good turnout, estimated at nearly 250 people including online. There were over 30 speakers from the floor, and opportunities for everyone to make contributions, nearly all of them well researched, intelligent and thoughtful. The school will have lots to think about. The detailed notes are here and a recording here.
Tourist information boards
Congratulations to “Visit Highgate” for obtaining funding and planning approval for three boards on lecterns, which will display information about important buildings and other nearby features. The cemetery is an obvious tourist attraction but living here we don’t always realise how important Highgate is, as an attraction. Local shops, restaurants and pubs all benefit from tourism so this is a welcome step forward.
One of the information boards will be situated opposite The Flask and another at the junction of Pond Square and South Grove. The third will be sited close to the former 271 turnround. The boards will be painted black, to match other signage in the area, and in their approval Camden state that the size, height and simple design of the lecterns result in an addition which should not impact negatively on the appearance of the area or the setting of nearby listed buildings or trees.
At this stage the drawings, words and other content for the information boards have not been finalised and are subject to further consultation and approvals
Waterlow Park and the proposed Archway Campus development
A tower block approaching double the height of the existing Archway tower is proposed as part of the redevelopment of the Archway Campus site. Were this to proceed it would have a huge impact on Highgate as it would be a 'foreground' building which would be taller than the highest point in Highgate. This would dramatically change the relationship of Highgate to the built environment of London. Waterlow Park would be overlooked with visitors no longer having the feeling of being 'above' a distant city skyline. The Waterlow Park Trust has written to object to the proposals. You can read its letter to the developers here [ https://bit.ly/archwaycampusletter2306 ] To find out more see https://highgatesociety.com/archway-campus-holborn-union-site; visit https://www.archwaycampus.co.uk/ and https://www.savearchwaycampus.org and sign the petition at https://www.change.org/p/stop-seven-capital-s-plans-for-archway
Highgate's post boxes
The Community Projects & Infrastructure Group were informed by Royal Mail that all postboxes in the Highgate area would be repainted by April 2023. This did not happen and we are keen to notify Royal Mail about any box of any type in the wider Highgate area that needs some TLC.
The key information required is the unique ID number (see photo of Postbox N19 2) outside Highgate Cemetery on Chester Rd which is looking smart.
A detailed spreadsheet is being compiled with photo, ID number, street, postcode, condition and date to help us ensure repairs are carried out as needed.
Send all info to :pr@highgatesociety.com.
Former 271 bus stand
Working with the Neighbourhood Forum we now have a modest short term plan agreed with Camden. Planters will be put in place to stop traffic driving through the area. We also have an £8,000 CIL grant which will be used for benches and a maintenance contract for the planters.
One concern is that Camden’s drawings show what we think is an over provision of "No Entry” signs. The lack of any vehicle entry will be obvious once planters are in place, and there are already No Entry signs both sides of the entrances at both ends of the space. We’ve written to challenge whether these can be omitted.
More ambitious and expensive plans for the space and the wider South Grove junction seem years away, but from a more positive perspective this does give an opportunity to test out uses and demonstrate its value as a community public space.
Changes to Highgate Hill near St Josephs Primary School
Islington are proceeding with changes on Highgate Hill near St Josephs Primary School. The plans are a wrong headed encouragement to parents and children to spend time sitting beside a busy and particularly polluted road. There are frequent buses (one every 2 minutes in each direction during the day – so one a minute) and other heavy vehicles going past this point and often waiting in the queue for the traffic lights. At least the plans show some greenery between the seats and the road and the children’s seats a bit further from the road than the adults. But there are other concerns about those seats expressed in the consultation too: attracting smokers and drug users – if they are hidden behind greenery, which is better for reducing polluted air, then they are concealed from public gaze more in terms of unsupervised space. And there is a comment made that parents won’t want to hang around there anyway. We think the case is rather against having seating there.
There is a formal consultation process now, set out in the next steps leaflet, so you can make objections to the proposed TMO.
Talk: Firing London's imagination: the Highgate Roman Kiln Project
Wednesday 5 July 7.00 for 7.30 pm (postponed from 21stJune)
10A South Grove N6 6BS and on Zoom
Entry £6 to include a glass of wine (£3 on Zoom)
Booking via Eventbrite - click here
The National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded the Friends of the Highgate Roman Kiln(FOHRK) £243,550 to 'bring home' a 2nd Century CE kiln excavated in the Wood, now in store in Bruce Castle Museum, as a focus for heritage and community learning. Harvey Sheldon FSA, Co-director of the dig in the 60s and 70s, and Nick Peacey, MBE, replica kiln builder, will discuss FOHRK's exciting plans and the latest thinking about the identity and story of the Highgate potters.
More events
●The Poetry Group has its next meeting on Tuesday 4th Julyat 6.30 pm. The challenge is fish or marine life/ war and or the ashes/ escape. £3 admission includes tea and biscuits. For more details contact Richard Downes at r.downes@yahoo.co.uk
● On Friday 14th July (Bastille Day), the CERCLE FRANÇAIS will repair to the Cote Brasserie, 2 Highgate High Street, N6 5JL, for an evening meal, at 7.00 pm. We will all pay for ourselves; the language spoken will be English - but French is always welcome, of course, and it will be a great opportunity for friendly chat about life in general! After that, our first meeting for the 23/24 session will be on Wednesday 6th September.
●The next tidy-up event is onSaturday 8thJuly. Meetat 10.30 amon Shepherds Hill outside the library. The next guerrilla gardening session is at 2.30pm on Saturday 1st Julyon the open land between Sheldon Avenue and the Wellington roundabout. For full details, including the date of future events, click here.
You may also be interested in:
2nd July - Kite display at Parliament Hill 12.00 to 4.00 pm
13th July - Salon Music - Wessex Songs & Elegies for Emma - Thomas Hardy poems set to music. Details and booking here.
22nd July - Highgate Horticultural Society Summer Show - details here.
Disclaimer:
The Highgate Society is an unincorporated association established for the public benefit. It endeavours to ensure that the information it provides as a free service is correct but does not warrant that it is accurate or complete. Nothing in this correspondence constitutes professional or legal advice and may not be relied on as such. In no event will the Society be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation indirect or consequential loss or damage or any damage whatsoever arising from any objections criticism advice and information it provides.
