But Tim Leaver was unable to offer any reassurances over how quickly the 10,000-homes target will be met at the Edmonton redevelopment zone, reports Joe Ives, Local Democracy Reporter

Work is progressing on the first homes to be built at the second phase of Meridian Water

The deputy leader of Enfield Council has admitted there’s no way of predicting how quickly the 10,000 homes planned for the Meridian Water housing and development project can be built.

Speaking at an overview and scrutiny meeting on Wednesday (11th), Tim Leaver described attempts to do so using the current underperforming building rate as overly simplistic.

At the meeting council officers revealed that an additional 274 homes would be built at the Edmonton redevelopment zone by the end of 2027, taking the total number to 575 – or just under 6% of the grand total promised.

Conservative councillor James Hockney asked if that meant there would be an average building rate of around 130 new homes a year until the 10,000-home target for Meridian Water was achieved.

A council officer admitted the local authority did not know what the rate would be but that it was hoped the recent move to invite private sector developers to help deliver the project would speed up the building rate.

Cllr Hockney didn’t find this particularly reassuring. He said: “Ambition and belief does not sound that set in stone.”

Cllr Leaver, who is also cabinet member for finance at the local authority, took issue with that remark and responded: “This doesn’t work like that.”

The deputy leader said the rate of construction cannot be predicted as it depends on many factors which could influence building rates, such as new development partners coming in and changes in technology or the economy.

Earlier in the meeting, Cllr Leaver warned against turning Meridian Water into a “political football,” but later said: “We didn’t foresee in 2016 that Liz Truss would destroy the economy. We didn’t see that the Tories would destroy the housing market.

“Taking one number and dividing it by another and saying that’s where we are, I mean it’s just Janet and John isn’t it?”

The project is also meant to deliver 6,000 jobs, many in light industry. Cllr Leaver said he had “no idea” where these particular jobs would come from because this, too, cannot be predicted yet.

“It could be one of the next phase of technology companies. It could be anything, we don’t know,” explained Cllr Leaver.

Nevertheless, he maintained that the Labour-led council is committed to seeing Meridian Water fulfil its ambition of deliver high-quality homes and jobs for local people at the numbers orginally planned for.

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