Planters have now been installed in the former bus stand to prevent unauthorised turns from South Grove into the High Street. The next stage in the short term plans is for benches to be installed to start to create a community facility, but these will only cover a small part of the area and there will be plenty of space for other activities. We want to use the opportunity of the present “cheap and cheerful” arrangement to try out possibilities to see what works so if you’d like to run a street stall or have other ideas for what you’d like to do in the space, please let us or the HNF (info@forhighgate.org) know. Please use the Contact Us page on our website or email chair@highgatesociety.com
Highgate School planning applications - pupil numbers
Pupil numbers govern the size of facilities required and have an important influence on levels of traffic - already an issue with the constrained Highgate Village roads during term times. The School has accepted the limit of 1,970 pupils in the SPD and has assured the community that there will be no increase in pupil numbers, but this assurance is weak because the SPD expires in March 2031.
We have written to the School and Haringey to say that we think the pupil numbers limit should be covered in a Section 106 agreement - a formal legal agreement - as this would ensure the limit continues beyond March 2031. There is a precedent in Camden where South Hampstead High School in very similar circumstances agreed a limit of 700 pupils when granted permission to expand their senior school.
NLWA consultation on Joint Waste Strategy
The North London Waste Authority is responsible for waste in Camden, Haringey, Islington and Barnet, as well as other boroughs. The NLWA is – at last – consulting on a waste strategy; the last one expired three years ago. It will cover packaging, domestic and business waste, recycling and re-use, among other things. What do you think are the important things about waste management? Reducing packaging? More re-use? Better recycling by having more different bins at home? This is a significant opportunity to make your views known and to stay informed about the new waste strategy as it develops. You can complete the survey here.
Camden in Bloom
Highgate has some of the best gardens in Camden. Why not put in a Camden in Bloom entry for Waterlow Park, or one of the other lovely open spaces or front gardens? If you’ve been growing a community garden or making your street beautiful with the help of your neighbours, why not enter the Best Community Garden category of Camden in Bloom? If you have a smaller garden or limited space, you can showcase your beautiful hanging baskets, front gardens and window boxes by entering the Best Mini Garden.
You have until 31 August to enter. For more information on the different categories you can enter, visit camden.gov.uk/camden-in-bloom.
Licensing application - Bombay Rickshaw
We keep an eye on licensing applications and make representations on any that we think are inappropriate. One that caught our attention was an application by Bombay Rickshaw for premises at 171 Archway Road (formerly Fabio’s Kitchen), where the application is for a licence to sell food for delivery until 3am Sunday to Thursday and 5am on Friday and Saturday.
We have written to say we think the proposed hours are inappropriate in an area where otherwise there is no night-time activity, save for The Village Square on Fridays and Saturdays, and that is to earlier hours. We are concerned about disturbance from noise from mopeds coming and going - and these can be quite noisy; kitchen ventilation equipment; and odours from the cooking.
A weakness of the licensing system is that there is no requirement to notify neighbours of applications and so we’ve also said in this case neighbours nearby must be asked for their views.
Air pollution information
Following various roadworks and traffic jams through the Highgate area over the summer, the Community Projects group has recently looked at air pollution and discovered helpful information made available by Camden Air Action here: https://camdenairaction.wordpress.com/
You can access a live map for the area made available by Airscape at:airscape.ai
.
This can help you plan routes to avoid areas with high levels of pollution.
While road traffic is a major source of air pollution, many other activities contribute such as demolition and building work.
Helping with the Jacksons Lane garden fundraising
Jacksons Lane Art Centre on the Archway Road want to improve their gardens so that they live up to their transformed interior. You can contribute to the Just Giving campaign to buy plants here and later - when funds have been raised - Jacksons Lane will also be looking for volunteers to help with the planting. They will build on the work done by our guerrilla gardening team in April.
The Heath Hands 'Hedgehog Friendly Heath' project has explored a possible northern route for its planned Heath to Waterlow (East) hedgehog corridor. (See here) They are now looking to set up a working group to take this further. If you are interested in volunteering, contact the Project officer Emma Onyejekwe at info@heath-hands.org.uk, More information here.
EVENTS
Hampstead Garden Suburb - a guided walk
Wednesday 30th August
4.00 pm start
A guided walk of Hampstead Garden Suburb led by David Davidson, Head of Architecture at the HGS Trust.
£6 per person. Limited to 25 people.
For more details click here. To book click here or visitEventbrite.co.uk
Seats of London
A talk about seat coverings on London's Tubes and buses
Wednesday 20th September
7.30 pm
10A South Grove N6 6BS and online via Zoom.
Author Andrew Martin will give an illustrated talk on the history of moquette, the seat coverings on London Tubes and buses.
Entry £6.00 includes a complimentary glass of wine (£3.00 on Zoom)
For more details clickhere. To book click here or visit Eventbrite.co.uk
More events
●The Poetry Group has its next meeting on Tuesday 1st Augustat 6.30 pm. The challenge is Harvest or corn/Food or Festival/Folk music. £3 admission includes tea and biscuits. For more details contact Richard Downes at r.downes@yahoo.co.uk
● The first meeting of the French Circle for the 23/24 session will be on Wednesday 6th September.
●The next tidy-up event is onSaturday 12th August. Meetat 10.30 amoutside the entrance to Highgate Tube in Priory Gardens. The next guerrilla gardening session is at 2.30pm on Saturday 16th September on Pond Square next to the toilet building. For full details, including the date of future events, click here.
There will be no Coffee & Computers sessions during August. The next session will be on 4th September at 10A South Grove. To receive notifications of sessions email highgatecoffeeandcomputers@gmail.com.
Save the date
Hybrid talks:
11th or 18th October - Isokon - the building and the people 8th November - Development plans for Highgate Cemetery West 29th November - Hidden waterways of Highgate
You may also be interested in:
Michelle Turriani's exhibition 'Endangered - Vestiges of Vanishing Species' at Three Gallery, 3 Highgate High Street. More details here.
Summer proms in Waterlow Park - 6th/13th/27th August. 2.30 to 4.00 pm. Detailshere.
Summer concert on the Heath bandstand - 3rd September 12.00 till 5.00 pm. 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.
