In response Enfield Council leader Ergin Erbil has invited the acclaimed actor to “learn more about the work we are doing”, reports James Cracknell

Whitewebbs Park and (inset) Dame Judi Dench (credit Caroline Bonarde Ucci via Wikimedia Commons)

National treasure Dame Judi Dench has called on Enfield Council and Tottenham Hotspur to cancel plans to carve up Whitewebbs Park.

The 91-year-old – widely considered one of Britain’s greatest actors – says it is “essential” to “protect people’s access to nature”.

Her comments were included in a press release published this week by the London branch of environmental campaign group Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE).

Dame Judi is backing CPRE London’s campaign to save scores of green spaces in the capital from being built on. These threats include parts of the Metropolitan Green Belt – and plans for thousands of homes at Crews Hill and ‘Chase Park’ in Enfield.

Last year Tottenham Hotspur Football Club won planning approval for its women’s and girls’ football academy at Whitewebbs, which is now set to be built on a 16-hectare area of the park’s former golf course – with large fences surrounding it.

Dame Judi said: “Staggeringly, 10% of public land in Britain has been lost since 1979. Whitewebbs Park in Enfield is one of the public parks currently under threat.”

She continued: “Spurs’ plans to develop the park involve cutting down 207 trees, including veteran and mature trees, and taking over most of the park for their elite private use.

“It is absolutely essential for us to protect these trees and people’s access to nature. CPRE London is assisting the fight to save Whitewebbs and other sites currently under threat and it is clear to me that it is more important than ever to protect our parks and green spaces, before it’s too late.”

CPRE London says that more than 50 parks and green spaces in London are under “serious threat from development and commercialisation”. A new report, Cashing-in on London’s Parks and Countryside, has this week been published by the campaign group.

Alice Roberts, from CPRE London, said: “In the past two years, we’ve faced two new challenges. Almost unbelievably, a legal judgement confirmed that councils have unfettered powers to sell parks. Elsewhere, parks are being turned into commercial event spaces. If you think London’s parks are protected, think again.

“Second, the UK government has caved in to lobbying to remove Green Belt protection, introducing a ‘grey belt’ policy enabling landowners to cash-in on protected countryside land they bought cheaply years ago, despite wide-scale availability of brownfield land in London, including a staggering 300,000 homes with planning permission [but] unbuilt.

“Councils are the custodians of public rights over parks. The law must be tightened so councils cannot treat them as financial assets to sell or rent when times are tough. We are also calling for an end to damaging ‘grey belt’ policy which is threatening Green Belt farmland.”

Approach for comment, Tottenham Hotspur pointed out that “our proposals for the former Whitewebbs Golf Course retain public access to Whitewebbs Park – circa 80% of the original site will remain publicly accessible”.

The Premier League club adds that “our proposals include plans to plant approximately 2,000 additional trees, 450 of which will be semi mature” and that, in contrast, “the trees being removed are category B, C and U trees”.

A spokesperson for campaign group Guaridans of Whitewebbs said they were “delighted” that Dame Judi had backed the campaign, while Carol Fisk, a local environmental campaigner with Enfield Road Watch, warned Enfield was now “a poster child for threats to green spaces”.

In response to Dame Judi, Enfield Council leader Ergin Erbil has invited her to “see our beautiful borough first-hand” and “to learn more about the work we are doing”.

He said: “We have great respect for Dame Judi Dench and share her strong commitment to protecting green spaces, trees and public access to nature. Enfield Council values its parks and historic trees highly, as do residents.”

He continued: “The proposed football academy would use 16 hectares of Whitewebbs Park, with the remaining 35 hectares remaining as woodland and open, public green space. The plans also include planting more than 2,000 new trees.

“The proposals include investment in biodiversity, improved facilities and long-term oversight of the site. The academy will provide high-quality football opportunities for women and girls, alongside benefits to the community and local schools.”

With regards the Green Belt, Cllr Erbil said: “It is important to stress that no decisions have been made by government on which new towns will go ahead. We will welcome a new town in Crews Hill so we can build family-sized affordable homes, council homes, health centres, leisure spaces, new public parks and improve transport with more trains and buses.”

No news is bad news

Independent news outlets like ours – reporting for the community without rich backers – are under threat of closure, turning British towns into news deserts.

The audiences they serve know less, understand less, and can do less.

If our coverage has helped you understand our community a little bit better, please consider supporting us with a monthly, yearly or one-off donation.

Choose the news. Don’t lose the news.

Monthly direct debit

Annual direct debit

£5 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else, £10 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else and a print copy posted to them each month. £50 annual supporters get a digital copy of each month's paper before anyone else.