College Farm is currently not open to members of the public

A small ad hoc group has been meeting since 2014 to discuss ways in which the local community could help get the Farm re-opened; our objective is to see the Farm revert to the activities** enjoyed before the closure caused by the Foot and Mouth epidemic of 2001. These **included School Visits, the breeding of rare breeds of pigs and fowl, the regular presence of cattle and/or sheep in the fields, Art exhibitions and the monthly ‘Open Days’, with Teas available in the Tea House. In the long term, it is hoped that there would also be scope for other activities.

College Farm loses its status as an operational UK Charity

From February 2018 the Charity Commission removed the College Farm Trust (CFT) from the Registry of Charities.

The Charity Commission found that “the Trust is unable to hold the land for charitable purposes as it is restricted by the type of lease held by the sitting tenants on purchase of the land.” It is believed that the sitting tenants, having initiated, in 1998/9, the setting-up of the CFT, have subsequently refused to facilitate the Trustees’ objective of re-opening the Farm to the public.

“In 1998, largely at the instigation of the tenant, Chris Ower, with the strong support of Spike Milligan, (the first Patron), the College Farm Trust was formed to save the farm. Its main objects were to acquire, manage, conserve and interpret for the benefit of the public, the farm, and in particular the environmental, historical and architectural heritage. In March 1999 the CFT was given charitable status by the Charity Commission.  In 2006 the CFT had raised the necessary funds to complete the purchase from the Highways Agency.”

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Asset of Community Value (ACV).

As a result of the Petition created by the Chair of the Finchley Society, (https://www.finchleysociety.org.uk/ ), which attracted more than 3000 individual votes, in March 2019 Barnet Council accepted the nomination of College Farm, Fitzalan Road, Finchley, N3 3PG as an Asset of Community Value (ACV).

Although the Farm is already identified as a Conservation Area (an area of land that is protected and that cannot be built on or used for certain purposes) the ACV represents an additional barrier to unwanted development, and reduces the possibility of a developer or other unwanted interloper becoming involved.

 

This website was initially created in 2016 to provide a brief history of the land and buildings; if you would like to see College Farm re-opened to the public, with activities similar to those enjoyed before 2001, and to take advantage of all the wonderful possibilities that this Conservation Area offers, please show your interest by emailing: [email protected]

Contents

College Farm Early History

What happened next?

Current history

What’s gone wrong?

How you can help secure the future

for more information Email: [email protected]

Information on this website has been extracted from various sources, including Wikipedia.

Website under construction

This page updated – September 2021