by Mira Glavardanov, Enfield Socialist Party
Green belt land around Enfield, north London, has been approved for a new town of up to 21,000 homes. There is strong local opposition that rests on many real problems about this project. On Saturday 18 April, there was a ‘letter to the PM signing’ event in which candidates for the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) participated.
land but no council houses — Photo: TheFrog001/CC
It is true that Enfield has a huge housing crisis. Around 6,000 households are on the council house waiting list, living in temporary accommodation that costs Enfield Council around £60 million a year. But the answer to that is not to build unaffordable houses on precious greenfield land, or anywhere else for that matter. The answer is to build council homes, especially on public land. But that is not the plan for the new town.
Enfield Council has already been involved in a huge project of promised 10,000 homes, at Meridian Water, a brownfield site and council-owned land. Socialist Party members have been active in a campaign that demands 100% council homes at social rent there, that would more than house those on the waiting list.
In the council plans there are no social-rent homes available at Meridian Water. It is the same for the new town. Yet the council’s argument for the necessity of both projects is ‘the housing crisis’. It looks like it’s a perpetual excuse for the council in order to reward private developers with opportunities to make massive profits while never actually solving the problem.
The green belt area called Crews Hill is home to several garden centres, open green spaces, food-growing land, all part of the local economy and leisure. With the new town, many jobs will be lost, together with access to green spaces, biodiversity and food.
Enfield Council is Labour-led and eagerly signed up to the project. Completely opportunistically, local Tories campaign against the project and to “save the nature” for local people. As if Tories are known for care about ordinary people or nature and their opposition to privatisation and private profits! But it is the Labour council that provides them with ample opportunity for opportunism. It is a big issue in this year’s local elections.
We are opposed to the project as an excuse for developers’ profits. We say, build council housing on many available brownfield sites in the borough (there are about 700 sites which could accommodate 40,000 homes, according to Better Homes Enfield, a housing campaign group), stop privatisation of land, keep green spaces open for all!