Council leader Ergin Erbil is looking forward to building homes on Crews Hill Golf Course but Tory group leader Alessandro Georgiou is keen to protect the Green Belt

Enfield Labour leader Ergin Erbil (left) clashed with Enfield Conservatives leader Alessandro Georgiou (right)

The leaders of the Labour and Conservative groups at Enfield Civic Centre have clashed on social media over golf courses, housing and the Green Belt.

On X.com over the weekend Ergin Erbil, the leader of the council, offered opposition Tory leader Alessandro Georgiou “a front row seat” as “I turn your 18^th hole into someone’s living room”.

The jibe was a reference to the council’s desire to allocate hundreds of homes at Crews Hill Golf Course in its Enfield Local Plan, and Cllr Georgiou’s opposition to the plan.

The Green Belt site will also form a central part of the government’s ‘new town’ at Crews Hill announced at the end of September, with 21,000 homes planned across 884 hectares in total.

Cllr Erbil had earlier invited Cllr Georgiou to “join me when I put the first spade in the ground on your golf course”.

The golf course is in fact owned by Enfield Council, not Cllr Georgiou, and the council looks likely to generate many millions of pounds from its development as a housing site.

The public spat between the Labour and Conservative rivals appeared to start when Cllr Erbil called Cllr Georgiou “a clown” and asked him to “wake up”.

“We have a housing crisis caused by Tories. 500 homeless families in Enfield every month,” wrote Cllr Erbil.

“We’re going to build thousands of council family sized homes on golf courses. We’re fighting for a fairer Enfield.”

Cllr Georgiou responded: “OK darling calm down. You can cry about it when I take your job next May, save the Green Belt and save Enfield from 15 years of Labour destruction. I will build the homes Enfield needs for Enfield’s people, your career is finished and you know it.”

The argument culminated with Cllr Erbil’s “front row seat” post.

Other Conservative councillors commented in response to point out that fewer than 300 homes have been built so far at Meridian Water, from a target of 10,000.

Crews Hill Golf Club is one of the council-owned Green Belt sites earmarked for housing development in its draft Local Plan — Crews Hill Golf Course

The Labour and Conservative parties in Enfield are expected to fight a close battle for control of Enfield Civic Centre next year in the local election, scheduled for May. The Green Belt has already emerged as one of the key dividing lines between the two parties locally.

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