The developer has yet to seek planning permission for development of the Green Belt site but has been accused of preparing the area for new homes regardless, reports Finn Logue

Comer Homes Vicarage Farm digger (credit Nikki Gee) — A Comer Homes digger pictured this week at Vicarage Farm (courtesy of Park Way residents)

Residents living near Vicarage Farm claim Comer Homes has begun preparing the site for housing development – including destroying a hedgerow – despite no plans yet being approved.

A yellow digger with “Comer Homes” written on it has been photographed on the farm this week churning up parts of a field.

It comes after the unauthorised removal of a hedgerow earlier this month which The Enfield Society suggested could be illegal.

However, Enfield Council investigated the site and ruled there was “not enough evidence” to demonstrate that the hedgerow was protected under the Hedgerow Regulations 1997, and that there was therefore no legal grounds to prosecute the landowner.

Vicarage Farm has long been owned by real estate developer Comer Homes, which has made its intention to build housing on the Green Belt land clear. The site is included in the council’s draft Enfield Local Plan document as part of the wider ‘Chase Park’ area, with 3,700 homes allocated in total, although the plan is yet to be adopted and is currently going through a public examination process.

Planning permission would also need to be obtained before Comer Homes could start construction work.

However, according to local resident Nikki Gee and others, the hedgerow removal and other activity this month suggests the process of preparing the site for homebuilding has begun.

Nikki, whose home backs on to Vicarage Farm, told the Dispatch: “Although many local residents opposed the development of the Green Belt, the local authority [Enfield Council] decided to continue with their vision of decimating this beautiful countryside.

“I am aware that this matter was brought to the attention of the planning enforcement team [on Wednesday 29th]. The residents witnessed, through the windows of their homes, the mindless destruction of hedges and trees. Photographs were shared by residents both during and after the event.”

The Enfield Society highlighted on its website that the removed hedgerow falls within a site of importance for nature and conservation (Sinc) and suggested the hedge had most likely been removed to create an “impenetrable barrier” to prevent trespassing.

The Dispatch has approached Comer Homes for comment on the removal of the hedgerow, but received no reply.

A council spokesperson said: “The council’s draft Local Plan sets out an expectation that ecological surveys and appropriate consents are secured in advance of any future removal of trees or hedgerows.”

Comer Homes is not new to planning controversy, after being forced to pay Greenwich Council £7.8million to avoid demolishing a block of housing claimed to have been “unlawful” in September 2023.

Vicarage Farm falls under Enfield’s designated Green Belt land, and has also been put forward as part of the government’s ‘new town’ proposals, alongside Crews Hill.

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