Victory for Whitewebbs Park Campaigners

The High Court has quashed Tottenham Hotspur’s plans to develop part of Whitewebbs Park following a successful judicial review claim by Guardians of Whitewebbs CIC with help from the Public Interest Law Centre.

The claim succeeded because the council had breached transparency provisions relating to planning applications and had misled the planning committee about the ecology officer’s views.

Benny Hawksbee, Chair of Guardians of Whitewebbs, said: “There were clearly failures in assessing the value and biodiversity of Whitewebbs Park, and an emphasis on serving a football club over the local community, their wishes and their right to enjoy Whitewebbs Park in perpetuity.”

CPRE London has been a long-standing supporter of the campaign to protect Whitewebbs, and earlier this year included the park in a report highlighting more than fifty threatened parks and green spaces in London.

John Sadler, Operations Director of CPRE London, said: “This is a fantastic victory for everyone who cares about London’s green spaces. Many congratulations to Guardians of Whitewebbs and others for their tireless work on this case. London’s parks are vital for people and nature. They should always be robustly protected from development and commercialisation.”