A newly published report by a group campaigning for improvements to housing conditions in Enfield says that current plans for new housing on brownfield land at Meridian Water, Upper Edmonton, will not provide an adequate amount of "greenspace" for the 30,000 people that the council envisages living there.Enfield Council’s £6 billion redevelopment of Meridian Water will significantly reduce greenspace for local people.
Meridian Water is one of the largest redevelopment projects in London. Over the next 25 years, Enfield Council plans to build homes for 30,000 people on the 85-hectare brownfield site in Edmonton.
Our new report called ‘Meridian Water – Greenspace, Health, and Inequality’, shows how this redevelopment will have a detrimental impact on the existing local community’s greenspace provision.
There is already a shortage of greenspace in Upper Edmonton that is equivalent in size to 64 football pitches. Once Meridian Water is completed, the deficit of greenspace will increase to 152 football pitches.
Having limited greenspace will have serious consequences for the local community, including poorer mental and physical health and reduced quality of life for both children and adults.
The council recognises the benefits of greenspaces to disadvantaged groups in a recent report:
“… disadvantaged groups appear to gain a larger health benefit and have reduced socioeconomic-related inequalities in health when living in greener communities, so greenspace and a greener urban environment can also be used as an important tool in the drive to build a fairer Enfield”.
However, the council’s plans for Meridian Water will increase the number of people living in the area by 30,000 but will not deliver the greenspace needed to support this many people. This means there will be increased pressure on the small number of existing greenspaces in Upper Edmonton. This will not be beneficial to people living locally, especially those from disadvantaged groups.
Meridian Water is an opportunity to help address some of the inequalities that exist in Enfield, but this opportunity is being missed.
We think, at the very least, Enfield Council should promise local people that Meridian Water will not worsen the greenspace deficit in Upper Edmonton.
The report takes about 10 minutes to read and can be downloaded here:
