Enfield Council’s draft Local Plan allocates 291 homes for the site known as ‘The Dell’ on the A10 near Turkey Street, reports James Cracknell

Enfield Council wants to allocate 291 homes at The Dell, opposite Enfield Crematorium

Access to a Green Belt site in Enfield where the council wants to allocate nearly 300 new homes is “unlikely to be safe or feasible” according to Transport for London (TfL).

Enfield Council wants to allow a developer to build 291 homes on a former gravel pit and landfill site beside the A10 dual carriageway, with the area currently comprising “vacant scrubland”.

Similar to its objections against other Metropolitan Green Belt sites where the council has allocated new housing in its draft Enfield Local Plan, however, TfL argues the land known as ‘The Dell’ opposite Enfield Crematorium would be unsuitable for residential development because of access difficulties.

Abandoned for many years and now behind a permanently locked gate, The Dell is owned by a company called Forty Leisure Ltd, which runs Jubilee Church, a Christian religious organisation based in Enfield for three decades but currently in need of a long-term, permanent home. The plan is to develop the four-hectare site for housing and use the profits made to fund a new church building.

When used as an industrial site, The Dell was accessed via a left turn from the A10’s northbound carriageway. But no vehicles travelling south along the road are able to use the junction and, in its submission to the Local Plan public examination hearings currently taking place at Enfield Civic Centre, TfL raised serious concerns about hundreds of new homes being accessed via a single left turning from a dual carriageway.

At a hearing session earlier this month, council barrister Matthew Reed KC admitted: “The ostensible reason that was given [by TfL for objecting] was, rather than something to do with potential delays on the network, it instead stated that it is unlikely to be safe or feasible. That is the reason for the issue.”

However, he added: “The council believes that one can have access, via a particular mechanism, on to the A10, and from the A10.”

Chris Cole, the council’s head of strategic transport planning, further elaborated on the issue and said: “The existing access from the A10 could be modified. The A10 is 40mph and it is therefore likely to require some considerable changes in order to make it safe and accessible. It becomes an engineering challenge, in order to prove that is possible.

“The A10 is a TfL route, it is not the council’s, we are not the highway authority for it, and therefore we need TfL’s approval to make those changes.”

Further discussion around the issue revealed that the council was “speaking directly” to TfL to try to find a resolution, with two adjacent residential roads suggested as possible alternative access points – although this might require “further land purchase”.

Steven Lee, the government-appointed planning inspector overseeing the Local Plan hearings, seemed unconvinced. He said: “I have got TfL, the highway authority, making an objection saying the [A10] access is unlikely to be suitable and there is no way of making it suitable, while the potential alternatives have not been worked up to a reasonable likelihood.”

Cole added: “I believe it can be made safe, but it does need to be done in conjunction with TfL.”

Lee, again, was unconvinced, and concluded: “It is a pretty fundamental problem. We have a site where the relevant highway authority is telling me that you can’t get in and is unlikely to be safe. It would be churlish of me […] to not have regard to that.”

The Dell was previously accessed via a left-only junction from the A10

Aside from access issues, the site would need to be decontaminated before it could be built on, something which the Environment Agency has said would require a “foundation work risk assessment” and may also need a permit “for reusing site materials or depositing waste for recovery activities”.

John West from The Enfield Society said he was concerned about the impact of any development on the London Loop footpath which is directly north of the site, as when walking from west to east The Dell provides “the last bit of Green Belt” before London Loop walkers leave Enfield and arrive in Essex.

While The Dell is technically a brownfield site because of its previous industrial use and does not provide any public access, West told the civic centre hearings on Thursday, 3^rd July, that “there is a lot of wildlife on it and it is actually quite an attractive site”.

Later on, however, Rebecca Raine, the council’s planning policy lead, dismissed The Dell’s ecological value as “not significant” and confirmed it was not a designated site of importance for nature conservation.

In terms of active travel and public transport, The Dell was described by Cole as being “well served” as there were two regular bus routes stopping on this part of the A10 and there were cycle routes both to the north and west, where the New River Path was recently upgraded for use by cyclists.

Towards the end of the debate, Barry Murphy, from DWD Planning which is acting on behalf of Jubilee Church, explained why the organisation was hoping to create a new home for itself at The Dell.

“It is a long-established community church,” said Murphy. “It has been in the area for over 30 years and it provides multiple services to the community, including a foodbank, debt centre, domestic abuse help, back-to-work help, and a fuel bank.

“It [Jubilee Church] is located currently at Cineworld [the cinema, also on the A10], which is a tenuous location because it is up for redevelopment. It is a high-value community church that needs relocation.”

Murphy added that he hoped the development of The Dell would be completed “within ten years”.

The Enfield Local Plan public examination resumes on Tuesday, 22^nd July, with a two-day discussion around another Green Belt site, Vicarage Farm, dubbed ‘Chase Park’ by the council. All sessions can be watched live via the council’s YouTube channel:
Visit youtube.com/@EnfieldCouncil

No news is bad news

Independent news outlets like ours – reporting for the community without rich backers – are under threat of closure, turning British towns into news deserts.

The audiences they serve know less, understand less, and can do less.

If our coverage has helped you understand our community a little bit better, please consider supporting us with a monthly, yearly or one-off donation.

Choose the news. Don’t lose the news.

Monthly direct debit

Annual direct debit

£5 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else, £10 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else and a print copy posted to them each month. £50 annual supporters get a digital copy of each month's paper before anyone else.