Search

In July the council launched its #KeepBarnetClean campaign, a six-month trial programme across the borough to crack down on environmental-crimes such as littering and flytipping. A dedicated team of Environment Enforcement Officers has been patrolling well-known litter hotspots in the borough and investigating flytipping incidents. From this month they will also be making sure businesses are disposing of their waste correctly.

Chiabass Lawrence, who has been managing HMOs across London since 2003, pleaded guilty at Willesden Magistrates’ Court on 19th June for failing to acquire a license for an HMO without reasonable excuse. Mr Lawrence and his property management companies, OGAS Group Ltd and LT Group, were prosecuted under the council’s Additional HMO licensing scheme for breaching property management regulations.

Licences help to protect the health and safety of the tenants in a growing rental sector, and reduce the impact that HMOs can have on local neighbourhoods. The licence will also ensure that only suitable landlords have control of HMOs, and that these properties are managed properly. Barnet Council issued its first HMO Licence in August to a landlord under the new Additional Licencing Scheme, which was introduced on 5 July - targeting more than 3,800 HMOs.

Running from Saturday 14 July to Saturday 8 September, the challenge is free to take part in, and gives children an incentive to continue reading and developing their literacy during the long summer holidays. This year’s theme celebrates the 80th anniversary of the much-loved comic, Beano. Barnet’s libraries are teaming up with The Reading Agency to bring Dennis, Gnasher, Bananaman and all the Beanotown characters to life.

The Mayor recently presented his Transport Strategy to the London Assembly for consideration before final publication in the coming weeks. Barnet Council welcomes the Mayor of London’s fresh commitment to the creation of a West London Orbital Railway. Following extensive feedback from the consultation, the strategy now also includes the potential for a West London Orbital rail line, connecting Hounslow with Cricklewood and Hendon via Old Oak, Neasden and Brent Cross.

Opendoor Homes will deliver an initial 320 homes for affordable rent for Barnet residents. These new homes will be owned and managed by Opendoor Homes, a subsidiary of The Barnet Group, which is wholly owned by Barnet Council. The new build programme is funded with a loan of up to £65m from Barnet Council. The first site for the new homes will be Basing Way, Finchley Central, where 14 affordable new homes will be built on the site of under-used garages. Pictured, from left to right:

The Customer Transformation Programme will form a vital part of the council’s new Customer Access Strategy which was approved following consultation in June 2016. The Customer Access Strategy (CAS) identified that while 82 per cent of residents use the internet, the vast majority, 80 per cent, of contact with the council is still by phone. The CAS aims to shift this, with its goal to take 80 per cent of interactions online by 2020.

Keith Wilshir, 57, of Suncote Avenue, Dunstable; Catherine Jones, 44 of Athenaeum Road, Whetstone; Ilham Quronfoleh, 24, of Gibbon Road, Acton; Anastasia Kyriacou, 44, of Fore Street, Edmonton; and Raho Xaaji, 45, of Airco Close, West Hendon, were all sentenced after pleading guilty to blue badge misuse charges at Willesden Magistrates’ Court on 26 July.

Since October last year two schools in the borough have taken part in a pilot of the Mayor of Barnet’s ‘Golden Kilometre Challenge’. The challenge is aimed at getting primary school children running or walking at least one kilometre every school day in addition to the school’s normal curriculum. The scheme is similar to the ‘Daily Mile’ project run by a school in Stirling which is acknowledged to have had a marked improvement on children’s health, fitness, and concentration and behaviour in the classroom.

This year almost 95 per cent of children who applied on time for a place at a Barnet primary school received one of their top three choices, and almost 85 per cent received an offer at their first choice of school. The figures are up on last year when around 92 per cent of children received one of their top three choices and 79 per cent received an offer at their first choice of school. To help ensure there are enough places, schools including Tudor, Underhill and Holly Park have created extra classes to help cope with demand.