Developer Fairview New Homes is proposing to remove five “dead” oak trees which campaigners claim will “make it easier to build on”
Fresh fears are being raised about the fate of a Green Belt site in Enfield after a housing developer submitted plans to clear several “diseased/dead” trees.
Fairview New Homes is proposing to chop down and remove five oaks subject to tree protection orders (TPOs) from Glebe Fields, an area of Green Belt land in Enfield Road, near Oakwood, “to better enable the retained trees and hedgerows, as well as grazing land, to develop”. Fairview acquired a leasehold on the site from the Diocese of London in 2010.
However, two local councillors have objected to the plans, arguing there is not enough evidence presented to justify the tree removals, while local campaign group Enfield RoadWatch, which was established to protect the site and harbours hopes of creating a nature reserve there, has accused the site’s managers of “a lack of care for the larger oak trees” and raised fears the planning application could “make the area a little easier to build on”.
The land has already been earmarked for housing development by Enfield Council in its draft Local Plan, due to be adopted following a public inquiry next year, as part of wider plans to allow developers to build nearly 10,000 homes on de-designated Green Belt land in different parts of the borough.
An ecological survey of Glebe Fields was last year commissioned by Enfield RoadWatch and carried out by a chartered biologist who concluded the site held “a moderate to high likelihood” of hosting “a variety of bats, badger, hedgehog, breeding birds and various invertebrates”. He added it would “qualify as a site of local importance for nature conservation”.
Over the last decade the primary use of the land has been grazing horses, with the lack of human intervention allowing areas to “rewild naturally”, but Carol Fisk from Enfield RoadWatch has warned that “the proposed work [by Fairview] would remove a lot of the important vegetation”.
The planning application also follows Enfield RoadWatch’s submission of the site to the Greater London Authority’s local nature recovery strategy.
Conservative councillors Tom O’Halloran and Julian Sampson, both representing Oakwood ward, are opposing the application. Cllr O’Halloran said: “Cllr Sampson and I are concerned about the application to cut down five oak trees, subject to TPOs, in Glebe Fields.
“These trees are not at risk of collapse and their removal threatens biodiversity. An arboricultural report has not been submitted and the reason for their removal at this time is not clear. We have requested that this is brought before the planning committee.”
In Fairview’s planning statement, providing the reasons for removing the five oak trees, the company states: “Due to the condition of the trees it is recommend to remove all deadwood and decaying stems of the diseased/dead trees.
“Removal of scrub is proposed to better enable the retained trees and hedgerows, as well as grazing land, to develop.”
As well as the two Tory councillors and Enfield RoadWatch, The Enfield Society is also opposing the planning application.
Residents can read more and submit comments via the council’s planning portal and entering reference number 24/03061/TPO. The deadline for comments to be submitted is 5pm today (Wednesday 30th).
Fairview declined to comment.
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