Yesterday we revealed that many of Enfield’s parks and open spaces could be affected by the proposed new town, including Hilly Fields, Trent Park and Whitewebbs.

The proposals also bring major recreational land into the frame. This includes three golf courses, equestrian facilities and sports clubs.

But the new town proposal is not an isolated issue. It is part of a much wider pattern.

Enfield Council’s proposed new Local Plan shows that parks and recreational facilities in other parts of the borough are also at risk.

The Local Plan, which the council submitted to the Planning Inspectorate, proposes development affecting Church Street Recreation Ground.

This is an important local park in Edmonton (N9). It has well-used sports pitches and play equipment, as well as a central pathway lined with mature trees. A local campaign group and residents have objected to the council’s proposed development of this park. Its fate now rests with the Planning Inspector.

Figure 1 – Church Street Recreation Ground – under threat?

The council’s Local Plan also proposes development affecting Brimsdown Sports Club in EN3. The council has allowed this large sports site to fall into a dilapidated state, and it is currently fenced off from public use.

Figure 2 – Brimsdown Sports Club – left empty

Plans for Meridian Water held by the council suggest that Kenninghall Open Space in N18 could be considered for development.

Even new green space is not safe. The land occupied by the Community Garden at Meridian Water has been earmarked by the council as a site for a large new tower block.

And let’s not forget what has already happened.

Important open spaces have already been built on, including Ladysmith Open Space in Upper Edmonton.

Public access to Churchfield Recreation Ground (N9) is also an issue. The site now appears fenced off, and it is unclear whether the park’s sports pitches are genuinely open and welcoming to the public.

Figure 3 – Churchfield Recreation Ground – fenced off

The council wants housing growth without enough parks

The potential loss of existing parks and open spaces across the borough is a serious concern, but not the only one.

Enfield Council is also planning major housebuilding projects in parts of the borough, such as Upper Edmonton, that already have insufficient access to parks and green spaces.

Major council-backed projects such as Meridian Water and Joyce and Snells do not come close to providing the scale of green open space needed for the population growth being planned, let alone making up for existing shortages.

Figure 4 – Meridian Water shows why scale and quality matter

Yes, these schemes include some small new parks and open spaces.

But that is not the same as providing enough.

The issue is scale. If thousands more homes are planned in areas already short of green space, then new provision needs to be large enough, usable enough and well-connected enough to improve life for existing residents, as well as serve new ones.

That should make new development an opportunity to create new green spaces in communities that need them most. Indeed, that is what planning policy requires.

But that is not what is happening in Enfield.

Instead, the council appears to be putting thousands more people into areas that are already short of green space, without planning anything like enough new green space to match that growth.

That means existing parks and open spaces, which are already under pressure, will be placed under even greater strain.

The council is ignoring solutions for Edmonton

This is what makes the council’s failure to engage seriously with the idea of a new park for Edmonton so frustrating.

Upper Edmonton and the surrounding area need more access to good quality green space. Banbury Reservoir Park would offer a rare opportunity to create a major new park serving Edmonton, Enfield and Waltham Forest.

The new park would not solve every problem. But it would be a serious, practical step towards increasing access to nature and open space in one of the parts of the borough that needs it most.

Yet the council has not seriously engaged with that opportunity.

The contrast is stark. When parks, playing fields or open land can be used for development, they quickly find their way into plans and site allocations. But when there is a real opportunity to create a major new park for Edmonton, the council shows little interest.

The threat to parks and green spaces is hidden in plain sight

The threats to Enfield’s parks and green spaces are often buried in long, impenetrable planning documents.

But those documents reveal intentions. They show which places are being lined up for future development, which parks are being treated as expendable, and which opportunities to create new green space are being ignored.

Taken together, the pattern is hard to miss.

Enfield is planning for more homes and more people, while putting existing parks, playing fields, open spaces and countryside access under growing pressure.

The proposed new town is not an exception to this pattern. It is the clearest example of it.

Enfield does not have parks to spare. The council should be protecting the green spaces we already have, reopening parks and playing fields that have been fenced off, and creating new parks where communities need them most.