Golf club hopes government will 'respect' planning inspector's view that site should be protected

Inspector ruled that most of Crews Hill Golf Course should be kept within the Green Belt and that Enfield Council “should consider” cancelling housing plans entirely, reports Joe Ives, Local Democracy Reporter

Crews Hill Golf Course is a designated site of importance for nature conservation

Crews Hill Golf Club has “warmly” welcomed recommendations made by a planning inspector this week to protect the Green Belt course.

On Monday (15th), government-appointed planning inspector Steven Lee told Enfield Council that most of Crews Hill Golf Course should be kept within the Green Belt and that the local authority “should consider” cancelling its planned allocation of 200 homes for the site.

Crews Hill Golf Course was designated as a ‘site of importance for nature conservation’ (Sinc) by the council in its most recent Sinc review.

Lee’s recommendations came as part of a long-awaited verdict on the council’s Local Plan, where he also told the council to cancel its plans to develop on the Green Belt in Hadley Wood – as well as restrict development proposals at a number of other sites.

Responding to Monday’s news, David Spring, the club’s general manager, said: “We warmly welcome the planning inspector’s recommendation that Crews Hill Golf Course should be kept within the Green Belt.

“As an independent, government-appointed inspector, his conclusion that the course holds real value as a nature conservation site carries significant weight, and it reflects what we and many local residents have said all along.”

The inspector’s findings will likely see the golf course removed from the council’s Local Plan. However, the government now has its own plans to build housing at Crews Hill.

The golf course, alongside large swathes of Green Belt land across Crews Hill and ‘Chase Park’, remain at risk from government-led proposals to build a 21,000-home ‘new town’ in the area.

A public consultation for the project, spearheaded by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), closed last month.

However, the fact that one of the government’s own planning inspectors has advised against developing on the site could prove to be a significant argument for excluding the golf course from the new town as well.

Last month’s local election boosted hopes that the new town plans could be scrapped entirely, as Enfield Labour, who backed the government’s proposals, lost their majority on 7th May – and have since been replaced by a minority Conservative administration which strongly oppose the scheme.

New council leader Alessandro Georgiou, in his first act in the job, wrote to housing minister Matthew Pennycook telling him the local authority had “formally withdrawn” its support for the plans.

Responding to the letter, an MHCLG spokesperson said: “Our landmark national new towns programme will restore the dream of homeownership for people across the country.

“We recently consulted with local people on the proposals and will respond in due course.”

This context tempered the response from Crews Hill Golf Club’s chair this week, who admitted that the planning inspector’s recommendations are “one step in a longer process, and that questions remain over the wider proposals for the area”.

Nevertheless, Spring said: “The inspector’s view that this land should remain Green Belt is an important and welcome one, and we hope it will be fully respected as those discussions continue.”

He added: “We’re grateful to our members and to everyone in the community who has supported the campaign to protect this green space.”

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