Council issues rare ‘stop’ notice against noisy events at Hendon school

Barnet Council has issued a rare “stop” notice against a Jewish school in Hendon which regularly hires out its school hall for external events, including fund-raisers, weddings and bar and bat mitzvah celebrations.

The council’s move comes after months of complaints from local residents in the small street which is also home to the Talmud Torah Tiferes Shlomo School, formerly Hendon Reform Synagogue. The residents say that with around two or more events every week, there has been noise, disrupted sleep, extra traffic and pollution.

Last year people living in Danescroft Avenue told Jewish News about “massive disturbances” on the nights that the hall has been used, with catering trucks, huge amounts of traffic unsuitable for a quiet road, and noise from music and guests standing outside the hall until the early hours of the morning.

The council’s environmental health department has been assessing the complaints from the neighbours and also responding to the school, and limiting the way in which events could take place in the school’s hall.

In May, Barnet issued an enforcement notice against the school, preventing it from holding events, and giving it until the end of June to appeal. The process allows for events to continue to take place while any appeal is under way —and an appeal can take up to two years.

Mindful of this, the council has now issued a “stop” notice against the school. It does not prevent an appeal, but it does forbid any events taking place. The “stop” restriction is much more draconian and adds “bite” to the enforcement notice, a neighbour told Jewish News. It is understood that the “stop” notice will come into effect in mid-July, after which the school — which is expected to appeal against the enforcement notice — will not be allowed to hold any external events in its hall. Breaching a stop notice could result in fines “north of £20k”.