Almost half of the 31 homes planned for the vacant site are set to be designated as affordable, reports Grace Howarth, Local Democracy Reporter

Enfield Council’s planning committee has given the go-ahead to a 31-home residential development on vacant brownfield land in Palmers Green.

The six-storey scheme includes 14 affordable homes and is intended to be “car free” but has caused concern around the impact on local parking.

During a planning committee meeting on Tuesday (23rd), councillors voted to approve the plans for the site, which is in Palmerston Crescent near to the North Circular.

Six of the 31 homes will be three-bedroom, eleven are two-bed and 14 are one-bed.

The only parking proposed for the development is three wheelchair-accessible spaces. A vehicular access point is planned for the North Circular Road-end of Palmerston Crescent.

However, due to anticipated “parking pressures”, several local residents objected to the plans. 

According to the council’s report on the scheme, developer Crossier Properties Ltd will be providing a contribution towards the creation of a controlled parking zone (CPZ) in Palmerston Crescent and Elmdale Road to offset these pressures.

A CPZ is an area that only allows parking within certain hours and in designated parking bays.

Conservative planning committee member Lee Chamberlain questioned the “viability” of the scheme and said “inevitably” with car-free developments vehicles ended up being “pushed out” to other locations. 

Chris Cole, head of strategic transport policy and planning for Enfield, said the location had a public transport accessibility level (PTAL) rating of three but was “quite close” to four.

A PTAL rating measures a location’s connectivity to public transport, with zero being low access and six high.

In terms of the proposed CPZ, Chris said: “I can’t sit here and guarantee the CPZ will be in place […] I certainly agree it’s desirable.”

He added: “The exact boundaries of a CPZ will be designed carefully to make sure it doesn’t push cars on to the next street or the next one up.”

When asked about the timescale of implementing a CPZ, Chris said that it would be influenced by the developer but the council was conscious of providing  “maximum time” to allow for design and a public consultation. 

Karen Page, head of planning and building control at the council, added: “There is another argument that to buy a property knowing you’re not going to have access to an on-street parking space, would impact your decision-making in terms of whether you’re going to purchase.”

After the debate the plan was approved with ten committee members voting in favour and one abstaining. 

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