Recent correspondence and comment on the lack of progress in securing a lease for Avenue House Estate Management AHEM [the new charity set up under Barnet Council auspices] has arisen because of what many people see as an extraordinarily lengthy process.

In its public consultation exercise in the spring of 1999 the council recognised that perhaps it was not best equipped to run a local charity and that a much more focused trust could be more effective in managing and enhancing Avenue House and its grounds as a community facility.

In June 2001, although no formal charity 'scheme' was in place, negotiations on a draft lease had commenced and, as anyone who has dealt with a new lease will know, there is an inevitable to and fro of suggested provisions and amendments.

The desire of the council and the AHEM trustees to successfully conclude a lease ought to enable the few outstanding issues to be resolved quite quickly.

Real progress has been and will continue to be made and I believe all concerned remain as anxious to conclude matters as they did all those months ago.

Bill Tyler

Chairman, AHEM

East End Road, Finchley