‘New town’ poses even greater threat to Enfield Green Belt

We are working with Enfield RoadWatch, The Enfield Society and other groups in Enfield who are campaigning to save Enfield’s Green Belt.

Building on Green Belt won’t solve the housing crisis. It will mean losing beautiful, historic Enfield Chase and productive farmland. It will mean we neglect the regeneration needs of Enfield’s urban areas.

The following is reproduced from a recent Enfield RoadWatch bulletin.   

At the end of September at the Labour Party conference, the Government’s New Towns Taskforce announced its top three choices of locations to be developed during this parliament.

We were shocked to learn that one of them is what they are calling an expanded Crews Hill and Chase Park, where they hope to build at least 21,000 homes.  [Learn more in Dispatch]  We are shocked on multiple levels:

• Although we have been expecting some sort of proposal for Crews Hill – despite the many arguments we have already put forward why there shouldn’t be – there has never been a single rumour that Vicarage Farm and its adjacent fields [what they call Chase Park] would be included, nor all the land in between for a total of about 884 hectares, which is almost twice the amount of Green Belt that the Council is proposing to de-designate in their Local Plan.
• This announcement comes in the middle of the Local Plan Examination, with the Stage 3 hearings due to start on October 21. The Planning Inspector has been carefully examining all the site allocations – including Crews Hill and Chase Park – and the plan policies for their soundness and this move makes a mockery of the due process involved.   In their report, the TaskForce thanks the council for their collaboration, so it’s clear that they promoted our Green Belt for development and have been working on this in secret, in parallel with the Local Plan process.
• The TaskForce report gives rationales for the selection of each of the sites. The benefits and advantages attributed to Crews Hill and Chase Park are smoke and mirrors. It starts on page 36 of the report.

Poor quality Green Belt?  No!

The report repeatedly refers to Enfield’s much loved Green Belt as ‘poor quality’ and ‘lower quality greenfield’.  That’s a short-sighted view using an outdated land classification system.   Our Green Belt is Grade 3 agricultural – in most cases 3b, which is not protected – but most experts no longer consider this Agricultural Land Classification System [ALC] to be fit for use in planning decisions. Grade 3b can produce moderate crop yields, adding to food security, in addition to providing good grazing for livestock and grass for harvesting, all of which we see locally.  Our Green Belt also offers climate benefits such as carbon sequestration and flood management, as well as providing habitat for wildlife in our much nature-depleted country.  Poor?  Lower Quality?  No!

Unimportant nurseries, garden centres and golf courses?  No!

The report dismisses commercial nurseries, garden centres and Crews Hill Golf Course as unimportant and dispensable.  We disagree with them.

Let’s look at the nurseries and garden centres.  In 2024 the Royal Horticultural Society [RHS] reported that horticulture contributed £38 billion to the UK economy in 2023 and supported over 722,000 jobs. They estimate the industry could be worth £51.2 billion by 2050.  On a local level, Crews Hill has long been known as the ‘golden mile’ of garden centres, attracting visitors from way beyond Enfield. In addition to the many garden centres, there are a lot of small and mid-sized entrepreneurial businesses, between them employing many hundreds of people.  This area is definitely not unimportant or dispensable.

For more on Crews Hill:

• Boldness without respect: Crews Hill Business Deserve Better
• Crews Hill Business Owners Express Anger Over New Town Plans

Crews Hill Golf Course won’t be missed?  It will!

And then there is Crews Hill Golf Course.  This is a successful heritage course, with a large diverse membership, a long lease and responsibility for the care of a Site of Importance for Nature Conservation [SINC]  Along with The Plough pub, the golf course serves as the heart of the community.  Again, not unimportant and not dispensable.

The report goes on to laud the ‘connectivity’ of the area which local people will know is a complete exaggeration, given the country roads and infrequent train and bus services in Crews Hill and the distance from any public transport of the rest of the Green Belt.

Interestingly the report has no details at all about Vicarage Farm or the vague land in between the two named sites that they want to include.  Perhaps all that beautiful rolling countryside, the last remnant of the historic Enfield Chase, is just rolled into the ‘lower quality greenfield’ category.  Did the Taskforce even visit Enfield, or did they just accept what the Council told them?  We know the answer to that one!

While the Local Plan process allows for plenty of public input [and, from the Regulation 19 consultation onwards, even an impartial analysis of the public responses from the government Planning Inspector] the process proposed for New Towns is a travesty of democracy.  New legislation will allow the New Towns to be considered as critical infrastructure, each one under the control of a development corporation, which will be able to write its own rules.  Our voices will not be heard and that’s not right!

All this is not definite yet and it’s not happening tomorrow so we will continue the campaign with your help and hope we can still save Enfield’s Green Belt.

What can you do now?

We suggest voicing your opposition to your local MP [Use the link to find out who they are and their email address] and Joanne McCartney, your GLA [Greater London Authority] member.  They are all Labour.   This New Town development was suggested by a Labour Council to the Labour Government with the approval of the Labour Mayor of London. Whatever your personal politics, if you disagree with what they are proposing, let them know.  Say No! to the New Towns and Yes! to saving Enfield’s Green Belt.  For more information about what and how to write to your MP go here.

Thanks, as always for your support.  Together we are stronger.

Ian D’Souza

Chair of Enfield RoadWatch