Although Enfield Council withdrew its support for the 21,000-home development at Crews Hill, the Mayor of London said the plans will continue.
Previously, the government identified Crews Hill and Chase Park in North London as one of seven potential new towns in its national programme.
However, Enfield Council has now pulled out of the programme following local elections earlier this month. The borough is now led by a Conservative minority administration which opposes development on the green belt.
Despite this, a spokesperson for Sadiq Khan said City Hall and the government would continue to develop the proposals regardless.
‘Crews Hill, and other sites in the borough, represent a significant opportunity to deliver sustainable, high-quality neighbourhoods, improve the quality of and access to nature and local green spaces, and tackle London’s acute housing crisis,’ they said.
‘Alongside the government we will continue to work closely with councillors in Enfield to further develop plans at Crews Hill, including proposals for extensive consultation with the local community.’
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), said the new towns programme would ‘restore the dream of home ownership’ across the country. The department added it would respond to its consultation on potential locations ‘in due course’.
Within its consultation document, the MHCLG said: ‘Crews Hill and Chase Park, Enfield provides an opportunity with high potential for land value capture through green belt release – delivering up to 21,000 homes in outer London, a region facing extremely high housing demand and low housing affordability.
‘The potential impacts on the natural landscape could be significant given the site’s greenfield status. These will be mitigated wherever possible through comprehensive masterplanning and consideration of how the Enfield Chase Landscape Recovery project could support mitigation and nature recovery.
‘Our view is that any remaining impacts would be outweighed by the need for housing delivery in London and low availability of land, especially as the existing greenfield land is low-quality agricultural use.’
City Hall and the government are now considering different ways to deliver the project. One option could involve removing control from the council and creating a development corporation led by the mayor, although this has not been confirmed.
Enfield Council leader Alessandro Georgiou wrote to housing minister Matthew Pennycook to confirm the authority was withdrawing from the programme.
He said the council’s focus ‘will shift away from destroying green spaces and toward maximising our urban potential’.
Both the Conservatives and the Green Party campaigned against the proposed new town during the local elections.
Image: London City Hall
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