05 January 2024
In the last week of December 2023 James Cracknell, editor of Enfield Dispatch, posted a Twitter thread drawing together and commenting on 15 news reports on the personal impact of homelessness in the borough. It's a powerful plea to take action and also a powerful demonstration of the value of truly independent local newspapers.
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06 December 2023
Enfield Council has today published the draft version of its proposed Local Plan for the period 2024 to 2041. There now follows a 13-week period during which councillors will be able to discuss the draft with residents before it is formally put to the vote at a full council meeting on 6th March. The revised draft retains controversial proposals for extensive housebuilding on Green Belt land.
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08 September 2023
The campaign for a large new park to be created using currently unloved land surrounding the Banbury Reservoir is gathering pace. In addition to an ongoing survey seeking people's ideas, a 'community hub' meeting has been organised for Thursday 28th September.
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09 August 2023
Analysis of recently published inputs to the 2021 public consultation on the next Enfield Local Plan has revealed the scale of the ambitions of housing developers to build on extensive areas of land in the borough currently classified as Metropolitan Green Belt - but also among the submissions from developers there were some calling on the council to give preference to building on 'brownfield land', including sites in Palmers Green.
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02 January 2023
Why did seven Labour councillors ignore strongly expressed professional advice about risks to life and other serious deficiencies and vote against a motion to refuse planning permission for a new tower block in Brimsdown? Some information that might provide a clue has been unearthed by the borough's independent community newspaper, Enfield Dispatch, and is revealed in the lead front-page story in its December issue, published yesterday.
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09 November 2022
Local campaigners have notified Enfield Council that in their view the planned leasing of a large part of Whitewebbs Park to Tottenham Hotspur Football Club is unlawful. They have warned both the council and the football club that they intend to enforce the rights of the public to make use of the land for recreation and will take legal action if necessary.
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04 October 2022
Four years ago Haringey Council dropped a plan to totally reshape the centre of Wood Green, demolishing the Mall, library and Morrisons, and many other buildings, and creating new squares and a boulevard, with views over to Alexandra Palace. So shoppers and diners continue to contend with some of the worst aspects of 1960s and 1970s town planning. What could be done, on smaller scale, to improve Wood Green? Anabel Gregory has some ideas.
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24 September 2022
The debate about a petition demanding adequate debate about the new Enfield Local Plan has been rescheduled and will now be held at 7pm on Wednesday 12th October at a newly convened meeting of Enfield Council. Campaigners are asking supporters to fill the public gallery and, if available, any overspill capacity in the Civic Centre.
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08 September 2022
As a result of their success in collecting signatures supporting a petition calling for a debate on the draft local plan in full council, the coalition of local groups behind the campaign have been invited to make their case at the next meeting of Enfield Council, on Wednesday 21st September.
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31 August 2022
With one day remaining before the 1st September deadline for residents to sign the Debate Enfield's Local Plan petition, signatures have already considerably exceeded the number required to force a debate about the local plan in full council.
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15 June 2022
In a bid to 'force the local plan process into the daylight', civic sector societies and community organisations in the borough have joined forces to launch a petition calling on Enfield Council to provide for thorough discussion of the revised draft local plan before it is submitted to the official government inspector. The deadline for adding your name to the petition is 31st July.
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04 April 2022
A new report by CPRE London lists more than 60 parks and green spaces in the capital which it says are under threat. The list includes Green Belt land in Enfield and the former Whitewebbs golf course.
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25 November 2021
Architect's Journal has a detailed article about the hitches that Transport for London (TfL) has come up against as it tries to build new housing on tube car parks. Two of the controversial projects are not far from PG - at Arnos Grove and Cockfosters. If this is an issue that interests you, well worth reading because it is unusually thorough and looks at the issues from many different angles.
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10 November 2021
Overstretched local councils provide the safety net in our broken renting system. They step in when private renting fails to protect renters who are unfairly evicted from their homes, faced with homelessness or living in dangerous conditions. A register would help councils better enforce the law when things go wrong.
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09 September 2021
In the run-up to the end of the current consultation phase for the Enfield Local Plan (the deadline is Monday 13th September), the Enfield Society has published its response to Enfield Council's draft document. While welcoming some aspects, the Society completely rejects the idea of housing or other types of development being built on all but a very few small parts of the borough's Green Belt land. Another newly published response, from Enfield Climate Action Forum, voices similar criticisms from a primarily environmental sustainability perspective.
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05 August 2021
In line with the recommendations of the government's National Planning Policy Framework, Enfield Council has drawn up a draft Planning Enforcement Plan, which is currently out for consultation until 17th September. The plan will specify how the council will deal with breaches of planning regulations, developments that do not meet national and local polices, or a failure to comply with enforcement action taken by the council.
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04 August 2021
The July meeting of Enfield Climate Action Forum included presentations by Enfield Road Watch and Better Homes Enfield criticising Enfield Council's proposal to allow housing construction on Green Belt land.
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14 July 2021
With eight weeks remaining for residents to provide feedback on the draft Enfield Local Plan, two of the borough's civic groups have joined forces to campaign against the council's proposals to declassify several areas of green belt land in the borough to allow their use for large-scale housing developments. A third group says that the draft plan will not solve the borough's chronic shortage of family-sized and affordable homes.
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03 June 2021
Draft Enfield Local Plan documentation published this week confirms that the administration in the Civic Centre envisages large-scale housebuilding on Green Belt land at Crews Hill and to the east of Trent Park.
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02 June 2021
The summary description of planning application 21-01230-FUL relating to 88 Green Lanes N13 5UP gives little clue to its significance, but this is a key site for Palmers Green in terms of both its history and its location.
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