Green Belt areas of both Crews Hill and ‘Chase Park’ recommended for “accelerated” development with construction set to start in four years, reports James Cracknell

The government says it wants to help build 20,000 homes on Green Belt land in Enfield as part of its nationwide ‘new towns’ initiative – even offering “up-front funding” to make it happen.

Today (Sunday 28^th) saw confirmation that Crews Hill is among the twelve locations recommended by the government’s New Towns Taskforce for “accelerated” development, as reported by the Dispatch earlier this month.

However, the scale and scope of the project – also including Enfield Council’s other major Green Belt housing site known as ‘Chase Park’ – has caught many by surprise.

In its final report submitted to Housing Secretary Steve Reed this morning, the taskforce states: “The new town proposal in Enfield offers a unique opportunity to create a new, family-centred community within the Greater London boundary; leading the way in releasing poor-quality Green Belt land for sustainable, quality development.

“It has the potential for up to 21,000 homes, across circa 884 hectares, with an ambition for 50% of those homes to be affordable, helping to address London’s acute housing need.”

Enfield’s new town is recommended as among just three in the UK which could see “spades in the ground” by the end of the current parliament, before 2029.

However, in its response to the taskforce the government states that “no final decision has been made” on any of the proposed new towns, and that the council will need to continue with its existing Enfield Local Plan process, which envisages around 5,500 homes at Crews Hill and 3,700 at Chase Park, better known locally as Vicarage Farm.

The public examination of the draft plan is set to resume on Tuesday, 21^st October.

Notably, the size of area suggested by the taskforce for the Enfield new town is at least three times bigger than the combined size of the Crews Hill and Chase Park sites included in the council’s Local Plan. It is not clear which additional sites will be added to the much larger new town proposal.

The taskforce describes Crews Hill’s famous garden centres – employing several hundred people – as “low value land” and suggests a new town “could further improve both the quality and accessibility of open green space for existing and new residents”.

However, it also admits this “is not without challenges” as “land acquisition would be required on parts of the site at Crews Hill which are currently owned by multiple private owners”.

The council has previously acknowledged it would issue compulsory purchase orders to acquire some businesses, such as Thompsons of Crews Hill, if they refuse to move.

Regarding transport, the taskforce states that “train frequency at Crews Hill would need to be increased” with a potential to also “devolve” the Great Northern rail franchise, meaning it would be taken over by Transport for London.

The taskforce report mentions the possibility of creating a mayoral development corporation to ensure “partners work together to deliver to the new town place-making principles”, similar to the way the London 2012 Olympic Games was developed. It could mean the council losing its planning powers for the new town area.

Regarding the housing density of proposed new towns, the taskforce states: “Higher density does not mean high-rise development. It can be achieved through well-established and popular housing forms such as terraces and mansion blocks, which can maintain local character, and deliver attractive places and a high quality of life.”

Hundreds of homes will likely be built on Crews Hill Golf Course (credit James Cracknell/Enfield Dispatch)

Reacting to the news of Crews Hill and Chase Park being selected, council leader Ergin Erbil said he was “over the moon” and clarified that the new town would comprise “family homes, not tower blocks”.

He said: “This means affordable and council family-sized homes for local families. This means more investment into our borough. Investment to build homes, GP surgeries, new public parks, schools, shopping areas and so much more.

“The government is committed to building 1.5 million new homes, homes that people in Enfield desperately need. We’re delighted to be doing our part and joining the government in backing the builders, not the blockers.”

Cllr Erbil accused the opposition Conservatives in Enfield of “scaremongering” about the council’s housing plans and continued: “We are fully committed to keeping Enfield as one of the most beautiful boroughs in London and improving that status.

“Where we do develop Green Belt land we are committed to doing so as attractively and sustainably as possible, and we are committed to a 25% increase in green coverage by 2041.”

The new towns announcement has also been welcomed by Jonathan Seager, a policy delivery director at BusinessLDN, with Thamesmead in the south-east of the capital also among those recommended by the taskforce.

Jonathan said: “It’s positive to see the government earmarking two sites in London for the development of new towns […] London’s acute housing need, political frameworks and infrastructure potential make it the ideal place for getting shovels in the ground quickly.”

However, campaign group CPRE criticised the news. Chief executive Roger Mortlock said: “CPRE recognises that well-designed new towns with proper infrastructure have a role to play. Yet, with growing pressure on our finite land, all development, including new towns, should follow a brownfield-first approach, led by targets.

“Too many of these sites will needlessly see great swathes of countryside and the Green Belt lost to development while the list of brownfield sites grows.”

He added: “The focus in the taskforce’s report on urban regeneration, a new approach to housing density and affordable housing is welcome, but the definition of affordable needs rethinking and matching to local incomes if it is to tackle the housing crisis.”

Reece Fox, a Conservative councillor for Whitewebbs ward which includes Crews Hill, also offered a scathing verdict on the idea of building a new town on what is currently Green Belt land. He said: “This top-down approach – from Westminster – completely disregards the views of those who actually live here.

“Crews Hill sits within the Green Belt, and we must be absolutely clear: once the Green Belt is gone, it’s gone forever.”

Cllr Fox added: “I believe Enfield’s housing targets can and should be achieved by focusing on the many brownfield sites available across the borough, rather than sacrificing our countryside.”

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