Highgate Conservation Area Advisory Committee

Save Arena Essex- Tell Google to search elsewhere!   Wedged between the Mar Dyke Valley and Lakeside Retail Park, the former Arena Essex Raceway is not your usual wildlife haven. Where once stock cars and speedway bikes lined up to cross the fini...

Google plans to bulldoze a wildlife haven in Essex – home to rare species – for a data centre. Sign the petition now to help save it before it’s gone forever 🐝🦋 you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/sa...

Fresh consultation on library services launched by Haringey Council It comes only a year after opening hours were reduced across the borough's nine libraries

Fresh consultation on library services launched by Haringey Council

It comes only a year after opening hours were reduced across the borough's nine libraries
haringeycommunitypress.co.uk/?p=405142

Once again, bats are blamed for Britain’s planning woes – but the evidence tells a different story - News - Bat Conservation Trust Reports in several news outlets today suggest that bats and other protected species are once again being framed as obstacles to development by the Chancellor Rachel Reeves.

Weakening wildlife protections will not deliver growth – the evidence shows they are not what holds up development. Undermining these safeguards risks eroding the natural assets our economy depends on. www.bats.org.uk/news/2025/08...

We are part of this year’s Open House Festival. The Vic Soc are based in Bedford Park, Chiswick. Our building is Grade II, 1880 and designed by E. J. May. We are just a couple of mins walk from Turnham Green tube. Just drop-in between 11.00 am and 5.00 pm on Sat 13th September. More bit.ly/3UDOCf9

Calls for national strategy as London sees three times more wildfires London Fire Brigade has responded to 64 wildfires this summer compared to just 19 five years ago

Calls for national strategy as London sees three times more wildfires

London Fire Brigade has responded to 64 wildfires this summer compared to just 19 five years ago
haringeycommunitypress.co.uk/2025/08/22/c...

Khan calls for joint action to tackle growing threat of wildfires London Fire Brigade (LFB) has responded to 64 wildfires already this year, compared to just 19 in the entire summer of 2020

Wildfires are raging across Europe, engulfing green spaces, endangering homes, forcing evacuations and posing a genuine threat to life.

This isn’t a faraway issue; it's on our doorstep.

We’re working with LFB and partners to keep our city prepared - everyone has a role to play.

London’s Top 10 Spots to Wonder at Wildlife CPRE London is working to enhance, promote and protect London's green spaces. Love London's beautiful green spaces? Find out more and get involved.

We’ve compiled a list of some of the best places to wonder at #wildlife in #London. Keep your eyes peeled for #deer, ancient #trees and rare #birds, and make the most of what our biodiverse city has to offer!
www.cprelondon.org.uk/news/londons...

Fears over renters being 'priced out' of London as every borough said to be unaffordable Renters should be spending no more than 30% of their income on housing but in Haringey the figure is 48.3%

Fears over renters being 'priced out' of London as every borough said to be unaffordable

Renters should be spending no more than 30% of their income on housing but in Haringey the figure is 48.3%
haringeycommunitypress.co.uk/2025/08/21/f...

The Alienation Effect Hardback, 608 pages By Owen Hatherley In the 1930s, tens of thousands of central Europeans sought sanctuary from fascism in Britain. While the rainy, seemingly quaint island they discovered on arrival...

We’re open this weekend. Come and visit! Here’s our recommended book of the day, available at the Isokon Gallery shop and online: “The Alienation Effect: How Central European Émigrés Transformed the British Twentieth Century” by Owen Hatherley.
isokongallery.org/products/the...

🦇🦎🐣 Important big news has been announced this week on Government planning reforms.

How will it affect nature?
It's not a clear picture, but some of it looks concerning...

Here’s a quick summary thread and brief thoughts, and some key concerns, with my environmental hat on as an ecologist.

🌍 In July, 5,000+ people united in Westminster to demand bold climate and nature action. Now it’s time to make it local!

🗓️ 13–20 September

👉 Sign up and connect with campaigners: tinyurl.com/signuplobby
👉 Contact your MP to book a meeting: tinyurl.com/meetingwithmp

💚 #CANBill #ActNowChangeForever

Summer wildfires more than triple since 2020 with new 'firewaves' threat Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said the London Fire Brigade has been given record investment to help tackle wildfires

Wildfires are no longer a distant problem; they’re on London’s doorstep.

I’ve given the London Fire Brigade record investment, and we’re working with partners to ensure the capital is as prepared as possible for the impact of the climate crisis, wildfires and extreme heat.

Reeves launches fresh war on bats and newts to speed up development The Treasury is reportedly looking at major reforms, making it more difficult for wildlife concerns to hold up developments

🤯 Once again, the Government sides with big developers—while blaming nature. Stop rewarding corporations, start protecting communities.

🌱 Good developers build with nature, not against it. Families across the UK want a thriving, healthier nature-rich future.

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...

Mayor urges action as London wildfire risk soars The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, is urging Londoners to take collective action as the Natural Hazards Partnership rates the current risk of wildfires in the capital as severe This summer, the London F...

The climate crisis is having a devastating impact on our environment, with temperatures rising in the UK and across the world.

I’m determined to do everything possible to ensure London is prepared for the impact of the climate crisis, wildfires and extreme heat.

🚨 “Politicians need to listen to scientists, not just the lobbyists.” We agree.

👏 Over 1,200 scientists are champions of the Climate and Nature Bill for a reason—we need stronger legislation to secure a liveable future for us all.

👉 zerohour.uk/scientists

📰 theconversation.com/how-scientis...

Once again, bats are blamed for Britain’s planning woes – but the evidence tells a different story - News - Bat Conservation Trust Reports in several news outlets today suggest that bats and other protected species are once again being framed as obstacles to development by the Chancellor Rachel Reeves.

🦇 Once again, bats are blamed for Britain’s planning woes – but the evidence tells a different story.

Read more: www.bats.org.uk/news/2025/08...

Rachel Reeves to cut ‘bats and newts’ in boost to developers Chancellor considers making it harder for concerns about nature to stand in the way of infrastructure projects, in an effort to boost the economy

🌳 Nature underpins the economy Rachel Reeves wants to grow. This move is no more than short-termism that sets us up to fail.

🌍 It’s not “just snails.” We depend on thriving nature and ecosystems for clean air, safe water, food security, and protection from the worst impacts of climate change.

Carbon training for the heritage sector, more details below:

Ditching the pesticides & going organic is a great way to garden with #wildlife in mind - but what's your best #organic #gardening tip?
We like letting the grass & weeds grow a bit wild, creating space for #hedgehogs to forage!🦔🐞🌼

#ShareSunday #GoWildForHedgheogs #NationalAllotmentsWeek2025

Walter Gropius on Britain: “People's humaneness here is so attractive … I am treated with a respect I cannot help liking”. From “The Alienation Effect” by Owen Hatherley, who will be giving a talk at the Isokon Gallery on 25 September. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/masters-an...

Fears over renters being 'priced out' of London as every borough said to be unaffordable Renters should be spending no more than 30% of their income on housing but in Enfield the figure is 38.5%

Fears over renters being 'priced out' of London as every borough said to be unaffordable

Renters should be spending no more than 30% of their income on housing but in Enfield the figure is 38.5%
enfielddispatch.co.uk/fears-over-r...

Through shade from their canopies and a process called evapotranspiration, trees harness the power to make our surroundings cooler, especially in concrete-dense areas ❄️🌳

Have you noticed the cooling effects from local trees this summer?

Post-war London Architecture – Part 2 In June 2025 library staff presented an exhibition as part of the London Festival of Architecture representing all recorded eras of London’s architecture from the Normans to Post-War to the Millenn…

New blog! Post-war London Architecture - part 2. Read here:
guildhalllibrarynewsletter.wordpress.com/2025/08/15/p...

Arts centre bid doubts, 6 years on Plan for derelict former church set to be rejected

Arts centre bid doubts, 6 years on - www.islingtontribune.co.uk/article/arts...

It's #NationalAllotmentsWeek2025 🪴🌻

Allotments are important green spaces and habitat for #hedgehogs and other wildlife in urban environments. We've been monitoring a few allotments as part of the this year and they've been beautiful and full of wildlife! 🦔 🦋 🦉@zslofficial.bsky.social

Whitewebbs campaigners announce new Judicial Review CPRE London is working to enhance, promote and protect London's green spaces. Love London's beautiful green spaces? Find out more and get involved.

Campaigners in #Enfield have launched a fresh legal challenge to the Council’s decision to construct a private sports facility on top of protected #GreenBelt land in #WhitewebbsPark. See below for more details and links to the CrowdJustice fundraiser👇
www.cprelondon.org.uk/news/whitewe...

Map showing London in 1811 with a 15 mile radius.

Part of the title page of 'Survey of 15 miles Round London' by John Cary (1811) (A 4.7 NO. 29)

Colour map focused on London in 1811.

Map detail showing Plumstead Common. Also a Guildhall Library stamp.

'Survey of 15 miles round London' (1811) by John Cary (A 4.7 NO. 29) These fascinating survey maps show London when places such as Peckham, Hackney and Kentish Town were villages out in the countryside 🌳🗺️

Help hedgehogs in your neighbourhood with Hedgehog Highways!
🦔 🧱 🪚
These 13x13cm square gaps in fences & walls help ensure #hedgehogs can access vital habitat! Please #ShareToMakeAware!

#ShareSunday #SundayShare

Are you curious to know more about flats as an ubiquitous yet overlooked building type that changed urban living forever? Join us on August 28th to find out the role played by George Kay Green in building some of interwar London’s largest blocks of flats.
www.ticketsource.co.uk/art-deco-soc...

Happy International Cat Day! 🐾

Have you visited Whittington: The Man, The Myth, and The Cat yet?

Don’t miss it — closing 21 August 2025!