Cafés at Trent, Oakwood, Town and Whitewebbs parks have all had a ‘notice of forfeiture’ attached to their doors, reports James Cracknell

Cafés in four borough parks have all been suddenly shut down by Enfield Council after the leaseholders were accused of breaching their contract with the authority.

The popular cafés at Town Park, Trent Park, Oakwood Park and Whitewebbs Park were all closed yesterday (Tuesday 13^th) when a “notice of forfeiture” was attached to their doors by Equivo Ltd, acting on behalf of the council.

The notices warned the leaseholders for each café, which have different names but are all owned by the same person, that “the landlord is entitled to repossess the premises and has now exercised their right following a breach of the lease […] Any person who attempts to enter these premises without express permission of the landlord may be liable to civil and/or criminal proceedings being brought against them”.

Ozgur Celebi is the owner of each of the businesses – Enfield Catering Ltd, Oakwood Catering Ltd, Town Catering Ltd and Trent Park Catering Ltd – that operate the four cafes. He could not be reached him for comment.

Sean Wilkinson, chair of the Friends of Whitewebbs Park, told the Dispatch: “These are important community resources. It’s all very well the council saying they haven’t paid the rent, but the council is responsible for the lease and ensuring a service is available for the general public.

“At Whitewebbs, the café provided a service that was valued by the park users. It contributed to the health and mental health of a large number of people in the community and I think the council has an obligation to ensure that the service is maintained.”

Enfield Council has been contacted for comment about the café closures and asked how long it will be before new leaseholders are put in place, but they have yet to provide a statement. However, an email sent by the council’s parks team to local stakeholders said: “This is a positive step towards providing catering options which align to the park and its users [by] offering suitable food and beverages, and operating at the higher tier of food hygiene and provision.

“[We] appreciate this will cause temporary frustration amongst our park users while appraisals are performed for the alternative options, however we are focused on an early resolution.”

Sean added that he felt sorry for the many workers who will likely have lost their jobs as a result of the closures. He said: “The people who have worked at Whitewebbs made a tremendous effort to make it a community café and there was a good relationship with the customers.”

Update (12.30pm):

An Enfield Council spokesperson said: “As a result of forfeiture of leases, Enfield Council has taken possession of the cafés at Oakwood, Enfield Town, Whitewebbs, and Trent parks and will look to find a new tenant as soon as possible to minimise disruption.

“We want all our parks to have good facilities so they can be enjoyed all year round, which is why by 2026, all our major parks will have café and toilet facilities.” 

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