Barnet Council has completed the first phase of its plan to increase the energy efficiency of a number of council-owned buildings. The £1.38million upgrade is part of the council’s wider commitment to becoming ‘carbon net zero’ by 2030 as an organisation.

Phase one of the project has delivered a variety of energy-efficiency measures across Barnet Council buildings, including heat pumps, solar panels, battery storage and building management systems, installed in council offices, libraries, children’s centres and two primary schools.

Councillor Reuben Thompstone, Chairman of the Community Leadership and Libraries Committee, said: “Dr Shah was a well-known figure in our borough whose work touched many of our lives. As Chair of the Jain Network Dr Shah worked tirelessly to represent the Jain faith and promote its values, both here in Barnet and across the world. He was also a strong advocate of inter faith understanding, and a longstanding member of the Barnet Multi Faith Forum executive committee.

Barnet’s business community is being offered a free support service, as part of a package of council measures to help local employers bounce back from the economic hit caused by the pandemic lockdowns.

Barnet Council is to mark International Women’s Day (Tuesday 8 March) with the launch of its new Domestic Abuse (DA) and Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) strategy.

The council’s three-year DA and VAWG strategy takes a zero-tolerance approach to abuse and violence against women and girls in Barnet. It builds on the council’s first VAWG strategy, which was initiated in 2017.

Local residents and commuters are set to benefit from less congested roads after Barnet became the first London borough council to sign a charter for coordinating roadworks with gas, water and electric companies.

The Utilities and Highways Charter was signed at Hendon Town Hall yesterday (3 March) and means the council and utilities companies will plan and organise works together to minimise disruption.

We want everyone in Barnet to enjoy the upcoming Platinum Jubilee celebrations. You can celebrate with a traditional street party, but you need to apply for a road closure in advance.

What better way to mark your appreciation for HRH Queen Elizabeth’s remarkable reign than by hosting a traditional street party alongside your friends and neighbours?

Councillors have approved Barnet Council’s budget and agreed to freeze General Council Tax for the financial year 2022/23 at a meeting on Tuesday evening (1 March). Council Tax in Barnet in 2022/23 will be £1350.70 for a Band D property, lower than that for neighbouring North London boroughs.

Barnet has been chosen as home to the first Andy’s Man Club in London and the Southeast, supporting working age men to talk about their mental health.

Andy’s Man Club will host its first London event a month today, on 28 March, in Barnet at the Meritage Centre in Hendon and is part of a wider suicide prevention campaign led by Barnet Council.

Barnet Council has teamed up with environmental charity Earthwatch Europe and Good Gym Barnet to plant a Tiny Forest in a green space at Henlys Corner just on the side of the North Circular, supported by a local foundation and MINI Electric.

A Tiny Forest is a dense, fast growing native woodland planted in an area the size of a tennis court around 200sqm. They are planted with the aim to create a small pocket of quality green space for benefit of people and wildlife.

Cllr Alison Cornelius, The Worshipful the Mayor of Barnet, has led the tributes paid to Cllr Anthony Finn, Councillor for the Hendon Ward and former Mayor of Barnet, who passed away yesterday aged 75.

Cllr Finn had represented the Hendon Ward since being elected in 1990. He served as Deputy Leader of the Council from 2002 to 2005 and was elected Barnet’s 46th Mayor in 2010.