Cabinet votes on the £200m savings plan and a £3.5m drug treatment top-up on Monday. Planning Committee decides a 130-room hotel and a Golders Green slots centre on Wednesday. Full Council follows on 20 October.

Three Barnet Council meetings with published agendas fall in the next seven days, and the biggest meeting of the autumn follows on 20 October. Here is what is decided, when, and how to take part.

All agendas are on the council’s meetings calendar. Every meeting below starts at Hendon Town Hall unless the agenda says otherwise.

Monday 12 October, 7pm: Cabinet

The Cabinet agenda carries six substantive decisions.

The £200m savings plan. Cabinet is asked to approve Our Plan for Financial Sustainability 2026-29 and the Business Planning 2027-2032 medium-term financial strategy. We set out what is in them, including the £113.5m gap for 2027/28 and the talks with government about a council tax rise above the referendum limit, in our report on the plan. The Finance and Growth scrutiny sub-committee examined both papers on 8 October; its comments go to Cabinet under item 7.

The response to the Draft London Plan. Officers want approval for a response that objects to Barnet’s proposed housing target, reliance on Green Belt release and infrastructure capacity. Background in our piece on the London Plan housing target. A public question on the agenda asks whether the council has worked with the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community on the draft plan’s requirement for at least 16 more permanent pitches.

Colindale office remediation. A £770,136 package to oversee the fire safety repairs at 2 Bristol Avenue. Our report on the Colindale office defects has the detail.

Drug and alcohol treatment. An extra £3,542,384.50 to Change, Grow, Live over 2026/27 to 2028/29, from the ring-fenced Public Health Grant. The report says it expands treatment for rough sleepers, women, young people and people in the criminal justice system.

Renewable electricity. Approval to develop a full business case for a 15-year power purchase agreement for 4GWh a year from a solar farm. The outline case puts the whole-life contract value at £6.3m and the possible saving at £456,000 in cash against the current electricity budget. Two appendices are restricted.

Public questions have already closed; three from one resident are on the published list.

Wednesday 14 October, 7pm: Planning Committee

Six applications are on the agenda. Officer recommendations are in brackets.

  • Hotel Unique, 907-911 Finchley Road, Golders Green (approve): a 130-room hotel scheme behind the Refectory pub. Our report.
  • 867 Finchley Road, Golders Green (approve): Merkur Slots adult gaming centre, 7am to midnight, 30 objections and a Public Health objection. Our report.
  • View Lodge, Grange View Road, Whetstone (approve subject to a Section 106 agreement): demolition and a new two-storey building with rooms in the roof, for six flats and one house, with five parking spaces. Twenty-one objections. A larger eight-flat version was refused in November 2025.
  • Langley House, Park Road, East Finchley (refuse): change of part of an office car park to an outdoor play area for a day nursery. Officers cite noise for neighbours and the loss of eight parking spaces. Report.
  • 16 Corringham Road, Hampstead Garden Suburb (approve): a single-storey rear extension, raised patio and taller privacy screens. Twenty-two objections. Report.
  • 17 Lyonsdown Avenue, New Barnet (approve): a front and side extension replacing a garage. No comments received. Report.

Anyone who commented on an application can ask to speak; the arrangements are set out on the meeting page. Our planning applications page explains how to look up any application.

Monday 19 October, 6pm: Local Pension Board

The board reviews the pension fund’s administration performance for April to June, its second-quarter investment report and a training strategy. One appendix covers retrospective McCloud pension amendments and a breach to be reported to The Pensions Regulator.

Coming up: Tuesday 20 October, 7pm, Full Council

Outside this week’s window but already published, the Full Council agenda has eight motions in 45 minutes:

  • declaring a gambling harms emergency (Cllr Alison Moore)
  • exploring a twinning partnership with the City of Haifa (Cllr Raffy Lachter)
  • VAT relief for repairs to community buildings (Cllr Emma Whysall)
  • “The London Plan is the wrong plan for Barnet” (Cllr Josh Mastin-Lee)
  • antisemitism is racism (Cllr Barry Rawlings)
  • the PATHWAYS puberty blocker trial and children in the council’s care (Cllr James Esses)
  • Noah’s Ark Hospice (Cllr Emma Whysall)
  • action on the proliferation of fast food outlets (Cllr Alison Moore)

Council is also asked to approve the salary grades for three senior posts, at £107,477 to £130,937 and £129,800 to £142,071, and to let the chief executive designate an interim Section 151 officer while a permanent finance chief is recruited. Background in our report on the finance director’s departure.

What it means for you

  • Council tax payers: Monday’s Cabinet vote starts the formal process towards the 2027/28 budget. The plan’s assumptions about council tax are in our savings plan report; this year’s bands are on our council tax page.
  • Golders Green and Whetstone residents: Wednesday is the decision night for the hotel, the gaming centre and View Lodge.
  • Anyone wanting to ask a public question at Full Council: check the deadline on the agenda page; questions to Cabinet for 12 October have already closed.

We will report the Cabinet decisions, the planning outcomes and the Full Council votes.