Meridian Water: Not enough greenspace for the planned population?

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greenspace health and inequalityA 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.

Meridian Water – Greenspace, Health, and Inequality has been published by Better Homes Enfield, whose motto is "Campaigning for affordable, safe and sustainable new homes in Enfield". The authors write that 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 - something which the council themselves have recognised. Their analysis shows that the existing shortage of greenspace in and around Upper Edmonton will actually be made worse and that a rising local population is likely to put too much stress on existing greenspace in the area, such as the towpath alongside the Lee Navigation.

Suggestions for tackling this problem include improving accessibility to some green areas nearby, such as the land surrounding the reservoirs, but the campaigners believe that the key would be to build homes for fewer people. The group reached the same conclusion in an earlier report, Less is More, calling for fewer, but larger, homes at Meridian Water, which they say are needed to relieve chronic overcrowding in Edmonton.

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:

meridian-water-greenspace-health-and-inequality

 

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