Campaigners opposing the bid by Tottenham Hotspur to build a women’s football academy on the park want the plans decided by the government rather than Enfield Council

Aerial view of the proposed training pitches on the northern half of the former Whitewebbs Park Golf Course (credit THFC)

Lawyers acting on behalf of the ‘Save Whitewebbs’ campaign have written to the government to ask for the Tottenham Hotspur planning application to be decided by the secretary of state.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has the power to ‘call in’ planning applications which it deems to be of “national significance” and can then hold a public inquiry to decide if such schemes should receive planning permission.

The plans by Tottenham Hotspur for a women’s football academy at Whitewebbs Park were submitted in April and are currently being reviewed by Enfield Council before issuing a recommendation to the planning committee, which must then vote to approve or reject permission.

Last month a legal appeal against a High Court judge’s verdict that the lease of the park by the council to Spurs was lawful was rejected, leaving the planning application as the realistic prospect of stopping the Premier League club from taking over half of the park.

The Public Interest Law Centre (PILC), which represented Friends of Whitewebbs Park chair Sean Wilkinson during his unsuccessful judicial review case at the start of the year, has now written to Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, who is the secretary of state for MHCLG, asking her to call in the planning application.

PILC describes it as a “crucial opportunity for the new government to consider the issue of the privatisation of public open space”. They say that Rayner could “set a clear precedent that local authorities cannot allow private development of public open space”.

Sean said: “It is particularly saddening that this has been achieved by the active assistance of a council committed to climate improvement, a healthy lifestyle for all, not just a select few, and to biodiversity. This council has massively subsidised a multi-billion dollar offshore corporation to attain its commercial objectives with land belonging to the people of Enfield.”

Enfield Council and Tottenham Hotspur have both declined to comment.

Last month, the “integrity” of Enfield’s planning committee was questioned by two senior Conservative members after a Labour councillor won planning approval for a dropped kerb, described as “unsafe” by council planning officers, thanks to the vote of Labour members of the committee.

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