Proposed 21,000-home new town under threat following Labour defeat in Enfield

One of the government’s proposed new towns looks to be under threat as a result of Labour losing control of Enfield council in last week’s local elections.

Enfield’s local plan, which has yet to be adopted, designates Crews Hill for around 5,500 new homes, at least three schools and infrastructure including release of green belt land.

In March, the government included Crews Hill and Chase Park in the list of new towns it is proposing to back, saying a new town in the wider area could deliver 21,000 homes.

But Labour, which supported the development, lost its majority on the council in Thursday’s election.

The Conservatives are now the biggest group but six seats short of a majority, with the Green Party holding the balance of power as the second largest group.

Both parties, which are currently in negotiations about forming an administration, have pledged to oppose the new town.

The Enfield Conservative party’s manifesto said it would “immediately withdraw from the new town process” and scrap plans to build on the green belt at Crews Hill and Vicarage Farm.

It said its planning policy would shift to “high-quality family homes” as opposed to high-rise blocks.

Alessandro Georgiou, leader of the Conservative group on the council, told the Enfield Dispatch newspaper last week he would do “everything possible” to scrap the new town project. He said he would seek to withdraw the council’s expression of interest, which has led some to speculate Sadiq Khan may look to head this off by removing the scheme from council control into a development corporation.

The Enfield Green Party also said it would defend the green belt and oppose Crews Hill along with plans to build a Tottenham Hotspur football club training centre on Whitewebbs Park.

The rhetoric of the Green Party, which in broad terms backs community-led and council housing, may put it at odds with private developers.

In Waltham Forest, where the Greens won control of the council, the party pledged to “take steps to reduce developers using viability assessments to avoid delivering affordable housing” and to embed community-led housing in the local plan”.

In Hackney, which also saw a Green majority, the party said it would be “reviewing the council’s local plan for Hackney to the benefit of our communities, not private developers”.

And in Lewisham, the Greens ahead of their victory last week, said they would “take decisive action to deliver genuinely affordable homes, expand retrofit, improve housing standards and build a system that puts people before private profit”.