Heritage and Conservation

This week's meeting of Enfield's Cabinet will be asked to approve proposals for changes to the procedures for processing applications for land or buildings to  be registered as Assets of Community Value. The concepts of "Asset of Community Value" and "Community Right to Bid" were introduced by the Localism Act 2011.  While the main principles are set out in the Act, local authorities have been left to devise their own procedures for assessing nominations.  External consultants.......

The campaign to turn part of the Trent Park Mansion into a museum has made some very significant progress towards its goal. The planning application submitted earlier this month by Berkeley Homes envisages most of the ground floor and basement being reserved for public use - a museum, cafeteria and rooms for hire. The museum would celebrate the mansion's notable role in WW2 intelligence collection and its previous history as an aristocratic residence. That Berkeley have eventually agreed to set.......

Following a comprehensive survey exercise covering the whole of the borough, in which many local residents took part, Enfield Council has now produced its revised draft list of items considered worthy of Local Listing.  There are 251 entries on the list, considerably fewer than volunteers nominated. Details of those not selected for the list will be preserved for future reference. There are a number in the Palmers Green area, for example the HSBC bank building, the finger post road sign.......

Southgate District Civic Trust have drawn attention to an application for planning permission to develop the site of the former Thomas Lipton Memorial Hostel. The Lipton Memorial Hostel occupied a mansion, Osidge, built in 1808 and later the home of tea and groceries magnate Thomas Lipton.  Lipton died in 1931, bequeathing his house to the Queen's Nursing Association.  At its opening in 1935 it provided accommodation for 14 retired nurses.  Additional buildings were later added,.......

Christ Church Southgate (Waterfall Road, just off Southgate Green) will be open for free guided tours on each Sunday in August between 2.30 and 6pm. The Lady Chapel contains windows designed by William Morris and wall paintings attributed to Philip Speakman Webb.The church is a grade II* listed building and is particularly noted for its windows, as recorded on the Historic England website: "Notable stained glass. The E and W windows are by Clayton and Bell. Other windows are a well-documented.......

The campaign group SAVE has launched an online petition aimed at halting the demolition of a group of buildings in Charing Cross Road, including the former Foyles bookshop.  The petition has so far been signed by nearly 5000 people. SAVE issued the following press release on 15th June. SAVE has today written to Greg Clark, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, requesting that he call in proposals to demolish a landmark site in the Soho Conservation Area for a.......

The company that owns the former university campus in Trent Park is hoping to create 245 new homes on the site.  It is willing for part of the historic mansion to be used as a museum, but campaigners are disappointed with the amount of space the company is willing to allocate to this purpose.  There will be a public meeting about the campaign for a museum on 16th June. The Emerging Masterplan Berkeley Homes revealed details of how their ideas for development of the former campus are.......

Southgate District Civic Trust (SDCT) is encouraging people to play a part in conserving and protecting our local war memorials as part of a project to commemorate the First World War. A free workshop in May aims to inspire people to survey and conserve our local war memorials.  SDCT want to ensure that by the end of the centenary of the First World War in 2018, as many of our war memorials as possible are in a good condition. Southgate District Civic Trust, along with Civic Voice,.......

The owners of the former university campus in Trent Park have published a response to the online petition which calls for the creation of a museum in the mansion and continued public access to the grounds of the former campus. The statement issued by the Berkeley Group can be read below.  It includes assurances that there will be a museum and that public access will be available not just to the grounds, but also - for the first time - to part of the mansion.  However, the statement.......

The Save Trent Park campaign has this week launched a new petition asking the owners of the mansion and former university site to set up a museum in the mansion to marks its vital top secret role during World War II. The campaign fears that the new owners, the Berkeley Group, intend to divide the mansion up into private apartments, which would prevent public access. The online petition, addressed to the Berkeley Group and to Enfield Council, the planning authority, is asking for the.......