| London Borough of Barnet | |
 Shown within Greater London |
|
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Status | London borough |
| Area — Total |
Ranked 230th 86.74 km2 (33.5 sq mi) |
| ONS code | 00AC |
| Admin HQ | North London Business Park |
| Demographics | |
| Population — Total (2007 est.) — Density |
Ranked 15th (of 326) 329,700 3,801 /km2 (9,845 /sq mi) |
| Ethnicity White British White Irish Other White White & Black Caribbean White & Black African White & Asian Other Mixed Indian Pakistani Bangladeshi Other Asian Black Caribbean Black African Other Black Chinese Other |
(2005 estimates)[1] 57.7% 2.9% 10.6% 0.6% 0.6% 1.1% 1.1% 8.8% 1.6% 0.6% 2.1% 1.3% 5.1% 0.4% 2.3% 3.2% |
| Politics | |
| Barnet London Borough Council | |
 |
|
| Leadership | Mike Freer |
| Mayor | Brian Coleman |
| Executive | Conservative |
| MPs | Andrew Dismore Theresa Villiers Rudi Vis |
| London Assembly — Member |
Barnet and Camden Brian Coleman |
| Coat of Arms | |
 |
|
| Official website | http://www.barnet.gov.uk/ |
The London Borough of Barnet (
pronunciation (help·info)) is a London borough in North London and forms part of Outer London. It borders Hertfordshire to the north and five other London boroughs: Harrow and Brent to the west, Camden and Haringey to the south-east and Enfield to the east.
Contents |
Districts
The pattern of settlement is somewhat diverse.
In the north of the borough on the eastern side is Barnet, also known as High Barnet or Chipping Barnet, Totteridge, and Whetstone. In the north on the western side is Edgware and Mill Hill. The central northern part of the borough is largely countryside. This division is largely because the eastern side grew around what is now the High Barnet Underground branch of the Northern Line. The western side grew around the Midland Railway and what is now the Edgware branch of the Northern Line.
Further south, the development becomes steadily more intensive around the suburbs of Cricklewood, Colindale, Hendon and Finchley. Golders Green is renowned for its Jewish minority ethnic population and forms part of the south of the borough, along with Hampstead Garden Suburb and Childs Hill.
History
The borough was formed under the London Government Act 1963 in 1965 from the Municipal Borough of Finchley, Municipal Borough of Hendon and the Friern Barnet Urban District of Middlesex and the East Barnet Urban District and Barnet Urban District of Hertfordshire.
Individual articles describe the history and development of the districts of Church End, East Finchley, Edgware, Golders Green, Mill Hill and North Finchley.
Governance
The borough is divided into 21 wards, each with 3 councillors. Following the Barnet local government election on May 4, 2006 the Conservative party gained a working majority and full control of the council. Mike Freer became leader of the council on 11 May 2006, replacing Brian Salinger as Conservative group leader, having previously been Salinger's deputy.[2]. Barnet had £27.4 million invested in Icelandic banks Glitnir and Landsbanki when they collapsed October 2008.[3]. A report showed that Barnet Council failed to follow correct procedures when depositing the money.[4]
1. Hendon North (Con)
2. Hendon South (Con)
3. Chipping Barnet (Con)
4. Finchley (Con)
1. Chipping Barnet (Con)
2. Hendon (Lab)
3. Finchley and Golders Green (Lab)
The current political composition of the Council is:
- Conservative: 37
- Labour: 20
- Liberal Democrat: 6
For administrative purposes, such as planning committees, the borough is divided into three areas. They match the respective parliamentary seats and each contains seven council wards.
- North (Chipping Barnet) - Brunswick Park, Coppetts, East Barnet, High Barnet, Oakleigh, Totteridge, Underhill
- South (Finchley and Golders Green) - Childs Hill, East Finchley, Finchley Church End, Garden Suburb, Golders Green, West Finchley, Woodhouse
- West (Hendon) - Burnt Oak, Colindale, Edgware, Hale, Hendon, Mill Hill, West Hendon
Barnet Council along with the 31 other London boroughs and the City of London Corporation share local government powers with Greater London Authority. The area covered by London Borough of Barnet and the London Borough of Camden is jointly represented in the London Assembly by Brian Coleman, a Conservative from Barnet.
The area covered by London Borough contains three Westminster Parliamentary Constituencies, each is represented by an MP in the House of Commons:
Places of interest
- Royal Air Force Museum
- Brent Cross Shopping Centre
- College Farm
- Middlesex University (Hendon Campus)
- Hendon Police College
Parks and open spaces
The borough has a large number of parks and open spaces. The Borough also has controls five Local Nature Reserves (LNR), and is jointly responsible with the London Borough of Brent for the Welsh Harp reservoir. In addition there are large areas taken over by cemeteries and golf courses; part of Hampstead Heath; as well as smaller recreation grounds.
Sport
The borough is home to a professional football club, Barnet F.C. and Barnet Copthall leisure complex.
Demographics
| Population | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Pop. | %± |
| 1801 | 6,404 | — |
| 1811 | 7,502 | 17.1% |
| 1821 | 9,578 | 27.7% |
| 1831 | 11,343 | 18.4% |
| 1841 | 12,436 | 9.6% |
| 1851 | 13,232 | 6.4% |
| 1861 | 22,675 | 71.4% |
| 1871 | 32,119 | 41.6% |
| 1881 | 41,563 | 29.4% |
| 1891 | 58,432 | 40.6% |
| 1901 | 84,784 | 45.1% |
| 1911 | 123,023 | 45.1% |
| 1921 | 169,204 | 37.5% |
| 1931 | 232,722 | 37.5% |
| 1941 | 272,356 | 17.0% |
| 1951 | 318,770 | 17.0% |
| 1961 | 311,951 | −2.1% |
| 1971 | 305,338 | −2.1% |
| 1981 | 290,204 | −5.0% |
| 1991 | 299,934 | 3.4% |
| 2001 | 314,561 | 4.9% |
| Source: A Vision of Britain through time | ||
In 1801, the civil parishes that form the modern borough had a total population of 6,404; and the area was characterised by farming and woodland — with settlement principally around the Great North Road. By 1830, a new turnpike, the Finchley Road was constructed and horse-drawn omnibuses introduced. The population rose dramatically with the arrival of the trams and railways in the middle of 19th century, and new estates were built to house commuters. As industry relocated away from London during the 1960s, the population entered a decline, that has begun to reverse with new housing developments on brownfield sites.
According to the 2001 census the borough has a population of 314,564 though the most recent ONS projection for 2007 is 338, 600. 67% of householders are owner-occupiers. The borough has the highest percentage (14.8%) of Jewish residents of any local government area in the United Kingdom. Many more people in Barnet have some Jewish ancestry, but don't consider themselves Jewish.[citation needed] Barnet has the largest Chinese population of any London borough population wise, and ranks 5th by percentage of Chinese people.[citation needed]
Education
Transport
Bicycle
Former mayor of London, Ken Livingstone said "Barnet's transport agenda is recklessly anti-public transport, anti-pedestrian and anti-cycling. Barnet has become a laboratory experiment for some very ill-thought out policies"[5].
Tube
The borough is served by the northern-most sections of the London Underground's Northern Line, including all three of the line's northern termini (Edgware, High Barnet, and Mill Hill East):
- High Barnet
- Totteridge and Whetstone
- Woodside Park
- West Finchley
- Mill Hill East
- Finchley Central
- East Finchley
- Edgware
- Burnt Oak
- Colindale
- Hendon Central
- Brent Cross
- Golders Green
The Piccadilly Line skirts around the north eastern edge of the Barnet. Four stations are close to the borough border.
Train
National Rail services in Barnet are operated by First Capital Connect on two routes.
There was a railway joining the two sides of the borough, part of the Edgware, Highgate and London Railway which was going to be part of the Northern Line "Northern Heights" expansion, but steam passenger services beyond Mill Hill East ended in 1939, and the completion of the electrification of this railway was abandoned in the 1950s. The track was removed in the 1960s, and part of the route was used for the M1 motorway in the 1970s.
There have been various proposals to re-establish the rail link between the two sides of the borough. The latest was in early 2008, when the London Group of the Campaign for Better Transport (UK) published a plan[6] for a light-rail service, as part of an orbital light railway across north London.
Bus
The borough is served by a large number of bus routes managed by Transport for London.
Road
The following major roads run through the borough:
London Fire Brigade
There are four fire stations that operate in the Borough of Barnet. These are mobilised to protect around 330,000 people. The main risks identified in the borough include Barnet FC's stadium, Underhill Stadium, Brent Cross shopping centre, Coppetts Wood Hospitals and Barnet General Hospital. There are also several busy roads that run through the borough such as the [A1] and [A406].
Between the four stations; five pumping appliances, two equipment lorries, a bulk foam unit, a breathing apparatus support unit, a damage control support unit and a hazardous materials support unit are operated.[7]
London Fire Brigade - Barnet Profile
Twinning
Barnet, United States
Chaville, France
Jinja, Uganda- Le Raincy, France
- Montclair, United States
Morphou, Cyprus
Ramat Gan, Israel
Siegen-Wittgenstein, Germany- Tempelhof-Schöneberg, Germany
See also
References
- ^ Data Management and Analysis Group, Greater London Authority, Demography Update October 2007, (2007)
- ^ Marzouk, Lawrence (18 May 2006). "'Right-wing coup'". Times Series Newspapers. http://www.times-series.co.uk/display.var.764223.0.rightwing_coup.php. Retrieved on 2008-06-03.
- ^ Lowe, Rebecca (Thursday 16th October 2008). "BARNET: Held to account over bank crash". Times Series. http://www.times-series.co.uk/search/3764706.BARNET__Held_to_account_over_bank_crash/. Retrieved on 2009-06-08.
- ^ Lowe, Rebecca (Tuesday 10th March 2009). "Barnet Council officer resigns over Icelandic bank deposits". Times Series. http://www.times-series.co.uk/search/4191512.Barnet_Council_officer_resigns_over_Icelandic_bank_deposits/. Retrieved on 2009-06-08.
- ^ Humps Faceoff (from Times Series)
- ^ London Campaign for Better Transport Brent Cross Railway plan
- ^ http://www.london-fire.gov.uk/about_us/media/Barnet.pdf/ London Fire Brigade - Barnet Profile
External links
- Barnet Council
- Barnet Borough Arts Council
- Independent reports from the Audit Commission indicating Council performance assessment improvement
- Deep Topography Nick Papadimitriou's deep topographical site offers much original research into local and natural history in the Barnet area, with special emphasis on watercourses.
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