At first glance they might look like telephone lines.

But, once you take a closer look at the thin black wires soon to be strapped to poles around the borough, you will realise that as a means of communication Barnet's eruv will be utterly useless.

Instead, the 87 poles and wire, which will enclose a six square mile radius of Hendon, Hampstead Garden Suburb, Golders Green and Cricklewood, will delineate a religious boundary of huge significance for Orthodox Jews.

Within its boundaries, activities normally forbidden on the Sabbath like carrying objects and pushing prams or wheelchairs will be allowed.

Although to some it may seem an irrelevance, the boundary has been at the centre of a highly controversial row in Barnet since it was first discussed back in 1987.

Supporters say eruvs already work successfully in the USA and Australia and will simply enable Orthodox Jews to live a more comfortable existence outside their homes with minimal impact on others.

Opponents, many of them Jewish, have described the boundary as an outdated idea which will create a ghetto-like atmosphere and lead to further concentration of the Orthodox community into a tiny eruv zone.

Supporters of the eruv won their biggest battle in June 1998, when Barnet Council granted the United Synagogue US Eruv Committee planning permission for their eruv.

Since then there have been a number of hold-ups including battles over the exact location of the poles.

But before any construction can begin, the US Eruv Committee must agree to a number of conditions set out in a licence drafted by Transport for London TfL. TfL and the eruv committee will not reveal what these conditions are.

Without it, poles and wires cannot be set up across TfL-owned highways. A similar licence was granted for its land by Barnet Council in August.

Edward Black, US Eruv Committee spokesman, said the committee has not yet reached a decision but expects a resolution shortly. He said: "We are moving quickly with TfL. There do not appear to be issues which pose particular concerns for us and we are confident everything will be in place during the first half of 2002.

"Some people do criticise the eruv but there is nothing religious about the actual poles and wire. Once it is established they will see their concerns are unfounded."

Elizabeth Segall, of the Eruv Boundary Opponents Committee, has opposed the scheme for more than ten years and believes the eruv is an infringement of human rights.

She explained: "Opposition to the eruv comes from all sections of Barnet's multicultural community and we oppose the proposal for a number of reasons.

"One of which is that the positioning of the 'gateways' would compel people with other beliefs to pass through these religious structures placed there to sanction some non-observances by eruv-believers one day a week."

The group believes the eruv could be in breach of the Human Rights Act and that news of the granting of its licence was withheld from them despite repeated requests for this information.

Cricklewood resident Lorna Noble, of Cricklewood Lane, says the wall of her house has been designated for one of the poles and has described how she feels:

"They want to put poles up on Finchley Road, Mortimer Road and Crewys Road and I've heard over an entrance to a nearby Baptist church but in Amsterdam they use canals, and not poles or wires for their Jewish boundary.

"There hasn't been any consultation with residents and people who are going to have to live with these poles outside their bedroom windows haven't been asked. Basically it's not right.

"I feel they Orthodox Jewish people should do something about their way of life.

"I'll have to go through a notional gateway. Why should my wall be used for a religious purpose which has got nothing to do with me?"

Even when it become a reality, the debate over the eruv, it seems, is set to continue.

December 18, 2001 17:55