Curtain call for the Intimate: St Monica's Players say goodbye to the PG theatre's stage
Enfield's planning committee tonight voted to approve the plan to demolish St Monica's Large Hall (aka the Intimate Theatre) to make way for a new parish centre for the adjoining church plus six two-bed flats. There were seven votes for, one against and four absentions.
The planning application was discussed for nearly 90 minutes, the process being somewhat slowed down by its being carried out online. Three councillors stood out for the quality and breadth of their questions and their polite persistence in trying to get answers (though not always successfully): Cllrs Michael Rye (Conservative, Town ward), Daniel Anderson (Community First Group, Southgate Green), and Doug Taylor (Labour, Ponders End).
All three abstained, which didn't come as a great surprise, as from what they had said it was clear that they could see both sides of the finely balanced argument: on the one hand, the church's desire for a modern facility, providing greatly improved accessibility and more flexibility in internal layout; on the other hand, the Intimate's unique theatrical history, its well preserved interior fittings, the fact that there are no equivalent local venues for the types of amateur (though high class) companies that performed there - the Millfield and Dugdale both being very different, not least as regards affordability; and, last but not least, the affection in people's hearts for this local landmark.
The fourth abstainer was Cllr Jim Steven and the sole opposer Cllr Hass Yusuf. Most of the majority who voted for the application had spoken not a word during the discussion. It seems from what I read about an earlier meeting of the committee that this might not be unusual. To quote from an Enfield Dispatch report about the meeting which approved the construction of 26 different blocks of flats at Colosseum Retail Park (on the corner of the A10 and Southbury Road), five of them between 16 and 29 storeys:
The five councillors on the planning committee who voted against the scheme gave detailed reasons for their decision during the planning meeting, with one councillor describing the scheme as “somewhat bonkers”. However, it is unclear why five other councillors voted to approve the scheme, because they didn’t explain their reasons.
Committee chair Sinan Boztas, a Labour councillor, said that the committee had not previously approved developments with such low levels of affordable housing, so it is unclear why he then decided to vote it through. Four other councillors, also all Labour, voted in favour but did not speak at all during the three-hour discussion, so we do not know their reasons for approving the scheme.
So could it be that some members of the committee don't take much of an active interest in the discussions and just go along with what the planning officers recommend? I realise that I might be doing these councillors a grave disservice by suggesting that, and in fact there's evidence from later in tonight's meeting that it may not be the case, because the committee went on to vote against the construction of some tower blocks at Brimsdown despite contrary advice from planning officers. However, like the Colossal decision, in the view of the Better Homes for Enfield campaign, this decision was equally "bonkers":
HUGE INCONSISTENCY. Cllrs concerned about 16 storey height at Green St. but not 29 storeys at Colosseum Park. Green Street delivers more than 30% social rent housing, yet Colosseum Park just 8% yet. The committee approved Colosseum Park but refused Green Street. This is bonkers.
— BetterHomesEnfield (@BetterEnfield) November 3, 2020
But to come back to the fate of the Intimate. Something which came out very clearly was that the new facility, though presumably making a good parish centre, won't in any way plug the gap left by the disappearance of the theatre - which, let's not forget, was also a nicely sized venue for concerts and for public meetings. I would have liked to see the committee sending the church back to the drawing board with a request to do what the Theatres Trust suggested as their fallback option: replace the Intimate with a convenient modern building suitable for use as parish centre, halls and a medium sized theatre. It could be a handsome addition to the PG streetscape that the community could take pride in.
