Green belt defenders: “opposition to new town was a defining feature of election”

Full text of the press release/letter to supporters issued by Action for Enfield's Future on 20th May

On May 7th, 77% of voters in Enfield voted for the parties that opposed Crews Hill and Chase Park New Town. After 4 successive wins, Enfield's Labour Council lost overall control, making the future of the New Town less certain and the Conservatives the biggest party both in seats and vote share, but without an overall majority. The Greens gained seats in Enfield for the first time, and with 5 seats taken from Labour they hold the balance of power.

The expectation is that, following Labour's defeat, the Greens will work constructively with the Conservatives on areas of common ground such as the future of Whitewebbs Park, currently on the brink of being leased to Tottenham Hotspur for a women and girls training ground, subject to a second judicial review. and opposition to Crews Hill and Chase Park New Town (CH&CP NT).

However local activists remain concerned to hold the new administration to account:

• Enfield RoadWatch has written both to Green and Conservative councillors wishing them well and reminding them of their manifesto promises.
• 3700+ residents from across Enfield and beyond will make their views of the Crews Hill and Chase Park New Town proposal clear to the Prime Minister in letters to be delivered to No 10 Downing Street at 12.30 on June 11th by supporters of Enfield RoadWatch who spearheaded the letter writing campaign.
• Enfield RoadWatch has provided comprehensive guidance to those who wish to participate in the New Towns Consultation which ran from 23 March to 19 May 2026. By the end of the consultation, 5731 had visited this website page, though Enfield RoadWatch has no data regarding the number that completed the consultation.
• Supporters of Enfield RoadWatch, The Enfield Society and Action for Enfield’s Future are being urged to attend Enfield new council’s AGM and Mayor-making on May 27^th at 7pm Enfield Civic Centre, Silver Street, Enfield, EN1 3XA
• Action for Enfield’s Future has written to both Greens and Conservatives asking that, as first steps in honouring their commitment, they
  • Publish the submission that Enfield Council made to the New Towns Taskforce, which has been withheld even from the London Assembly following an FOI, if necessary in redacted form.
  • Place a total embargo on the sale of any Green Belt Land in Enfield before the Government takes its New Towns proposals through the necessary national legislative stages.

On 30 April, in a letter copied to local MPs, Action for Enfield’s Future, Enfield RoadWatch, The Enfield Society, Enfield Climate Action Forum, Hadley Wood Neighbourhood Planning Forum joined Better Homes Enfield in submitting a formal complaint to MHCLG about the conduct of the New Towns Draft Programme consultation, specifically in relation to CH&CP NT. In the light of the complaint, the supporters sought an extension of the consultation.

Local MPs, Feryal Clark (Enfield North) and Bambos Charalambous (Southgate and Wood Green) supported the request to extend the consultation based on the evidence provided.

AfEF and others received a response from MHCLG to the complaint on the last day of the consultation, 19^th May. It said:

Response to 'Formal complaint: New Towns Draft Programme consultation —Crews Hill and Chase Park'

Dear [name redacted]

Letter sent on behalf of:
Action for Enfield's Future, Better Homes Enfield, Enfield Road Watch, Enfield Climate Action Forum, The Enfield Society and Hadley Wood Neighbourhood Planning Forum

Thank you for your letter of 30 April 2026, sent on behalf of the organisations listed above. We welcome the views of Individuals and organisations on our proposed approach to new towns, and are grateful for your engagement.

Your letter is described as a formal complaint to the New Towns Draft Programme consultation (Crews Hill and Chase Park). You have asked for your complaint to be considered separately to any substantive consultation responses. We thank you for your letter and have been considering the points made and will respond separately to those points in due course.

However, we will not be extending the consultation period. Thank you for the consultation responses that have been made within this period.

We thank you again for your letter and look forward to your continued engagement. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with any further queries.

[sender's name and post redacted]
New Towns Unit
Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government 3rd Floor, Fry Building, 2 Marsham Street, London SW1P 40F

AfEF was not surprised by the rejection of our request, even though our MPs felt the request had been reasonable.

The sequence of events confirms that a consultation period of just 58 days about a programme of such magnitude is inadequate, particularly when it covers the Easter Holidays, parliamentary recess, a bank holiday and a very significant national election.

This consultation was also contrary to the Cabinet Office Principles of Consultation 2018 sections A (avoid lengthy documents – the SEA is 600+ page long), C (consultations should be informative), E (consultations should last for a proportionate amount of time), F (consultations should be targeted), G (Consultations should take account of the groups being consulted), K (Consultation exercises should not generally be launched during local or national election periods.) More than half of the requirements appear to have been breached.

AfEF sought the help of their elected members, in good faith, providing them with a thorough, evidence-based complaint about the consultation process to justify their request for an extension. Given the weight of correspondence received by elected members, the MPs themselves barely had time to respond, their requests reaching the ministry a day before the closure of the consultation.

AfEF notes that the New Towns Unit at MHCLG has “been considering the points made and will respond separately to those points in due course” and we look forward to their response because we also asked MHCLG to publish the key evidence people needed to respond properly to the consultation and to do more to engage the communities most affected, as well as extend the consultation.

Crews Hill and Chase Park proposed New Town was a defining feature of the election in Enfield and around 1000 residents turned out at Crews Hill on the National Day of Action for Nature Parks and Green Spaces especially to sign the letter, and again at Enfield Town a week later to sign the letter in person. 2000 letters were signed in little over a week, some on-line.