Enfield Council has been accused of “not listening” to residents after agreeing to hand over Whitewebbs Park Golf Course to Tottenham Hotspur.
The council has confirmed that it would award a 25-year lease for the now-closed municipal course to Spurs, if the football club’s proposals win planning permission – prompting a backlash from those who want to “retain 100% access” to the whole of Whitewebbs.
The Premier League outfit want to turn the northern part of the golf course into a football academy for its women’s and girls’ teams, comprising up to eight pitches. The plans would see the southern part of the course turned into parkland which – according to a report published by the council last week – would be “fully accessible by the public”.
Sean Wilkinson, chairman of Friends of Whitewebbs Park, said: “I have serious concerns about this – not just what they are doing for the park but for the financial basis of this deal. Whoever has negotiated this should be seriously considering their position. It looks appalling for the park.”
Mr Wilkinson said the financial benefits to the council – an initial premium of £500,000 followed by £75,000 yearly rent from year six to 25 – were “non-existent” compared to what the club could afford. He also warned Spurs had no experience of running a public park.
The council report states that the public previously had no right of access to the majority of the golf course. But Mr Wilkinson accused the council of “misrepresenting” Whitewebbs, pointing out people regularly used the course for recreation and dog walking even when it was still open.
He claimed when Middlesex County Council and Enfield Urban District Council bought Whitewebbs in 1931, their intention was for it to revert to open space for the enjoyment of the people after it had been used as a golf course.
A major factor behind the council’s decision to lease out the course was financial, with leaders claiming it had lost £1.1million on Whitewebbs over a five-year period. But Mr Wilkinson and others have disputed the figures the civic centre produced to justify the golf course’s closure.
The plan to lease out Whitewebbs Park Golf Course was a key issue in a by-election campaign that took place in Chase ward earlier this year. The election saw the Conservative candidate Andrew Thorp win a seat from Labour after pledging to campaign to protect Whitewebbs.
Cllr Thorp said: “I am deeply disappointed that the council has decided to push ahead with this course of action and offer the lease to Spurs. This is another example of the council not not listening to residents and not representing residents’ views.
“While the process to look at options has been ongoing, residents have been consistent in their objections to this plan. They want to retain 100 per cent access to the park – and that will not be the case.”
A council spokesperson said: “The preferred proposals for Whitewebbs Park Golf Course were announced in June, following an evaluation of bids.
“Tottenham Hotspur’s proposal was the highest scoring against the criteria set out by the council and has demonstrated a commitment to embrace and support the council’s vision for the Whitewebbs Park Golf Course site – which was developed in partnership with local stakeholders after extensive local engagement.
“This decision to grant a lease to Tottenham Hotspur Football Club for part of the Whitewebbs Park Golf Course site, subject to planning permission, would enhance public access, improve maintenance of woodland and open areas, and provide welfare facilities and refreshments.
“The proposals also include a new women’s and girls’ football academy and a sports turf academy, both of which will provide opportunities for the next generation.
“The council’s commitment to invest £100,000 a year extra into grassroots sport for young people, if the proposals are approved, was well publicised in June and has not changed. The additional investment into grassroots sports for young people has been enthusiastically received by residents across the borough.”
A Tottenham Hotspur spokesperson said in a statement that its bid was “based on the combination of a strong financial offer in the form of a lease and premium payments, enhanced public access through improvements to footpaths and bridleways, restoration of part of the former golf course to recreate parkland, redevelopment of the southern clubhouse to form new food and beverage facilities open to the public, and the creation of a new women and girls football academy centred on the restoration and conversion of the northern clubhouse, thereby creating a national first situated here in Enfield”.
They added: “The club’s bid was evaluated against published criteria which included bidders’ experience in comparable leisure uses, business plan and financial standing. As the council report notes, the club also scored highest in these categories as well as scoring the highest overall. The club has already developed one of the world’s leading and award-winning sports facilities next door to Whitewebbs Park.
“The club is looking forward to working closely with all stakeholders to develop its proposals into a planning application next year.”
Totally agree nuclear is the only way to provide energy for the uk population.. the likes of Germany & Poland are shrinking in real terms so comparisons to them are largely pointless. Electricity at present is expensive to produce & everyone advocating it is yet to say where the government is going to get the 25 million+ per year it gets from fuel duties off petrol & diesel…once electricity is the new goto. I wouldnt be surprised if in say 5 years time they decide on an alternative fuel source.
Well there are already 15 grass pitches where 4 are dedicated to the first team. Plus the artificial ones.. Do they really need another 8?… How many do you think they need? Pro clubs can run with 5 or 6.. Especially when the main pitch is looked after so well (retractable ground etc).
or you could look into it yourself.
“man on” indeed 😉
Evidence of what?
Something like that, probably.
Quite!
They’re not bothered about saving the planet, and it’s an insult to the people that are.
You only need to hear people like Boris going on about cycle lanes and “the gween economy” to know the whole this is a complete virtue signalling sham. For people like him to con their way into power and then embolden the corporations even more…
Evidence, please.
How many pitches should they have then?
The same practices he employed in Patagonia,look it up.
I know mate, it still shocks me he’s continuing. More money for when they sell of course. Eight pitches though! And I don’t play golf but it will be noise and that’s no good for them. Like snooker they need quiet surroundings. But now they’ll have 30 or 40 women all shouting.. ‘Square’ ‘keepers ball’ ‘man on’.
The stealth by which they have achieved this is stunning and frightening. The average Joe stands no chance against Uncle Joe. The colossal c***
Excellent post. Shame the media narrative isn’t as on-point about the falsehoods being bandied around as ‘saving the planet.’
They knew the rich history of THFC legitimized them. Makes the destruction of the club so much worse to watch.
Thanks for shining a light on this H. Ballina Hotspur makes some great point. People need to see.
Enic cheap PR exercise. Rope the women’s game in there. Land grabbing and more stuff other than the team to spend money on. F off Levy.
Denying the aether at all costs
The football club was the foot in the door, entry point of the parasite if you like. Will only consume more of the area
Amazing the Victorian’s didn’t kill us all off years ago
If every car in the UK was taken off the road tomorrow it would have zero impact on climate change. Probably a reasonably modest impact if you did it globally.
The only way to impact on climate change in the timeframe that we have to actually reverse it or make any actual difference, will be to go multilaterally nuclear globally.
The Scandinavians are not stupid and they are very focused on environmental issues, they’ve gone completely nuclear because it’s the only clean power that will deliver the levels of energy we need, in the timeframe we have.
You can dream about wind farms, no cars on the road and hippy stuff like that, but that kind of technology will not be ready to deliver for our energy needs for many many decades. By which time we will have lost the battle to save the environment.
If you’ve been gullible enough to get sucked in by the narrative that’s your problem.
The corporations that make cars are pushing the electric thing to make the current stock obsolete by guess what? Manufacturing billions of new cars, and burning fossil fuels to manufacture them. All about making money, and very little to do with reversing climate change.
Also, these low traffic zones, (to which I suspect you are referring) or private roads created in the name of emissions have been proven to cause funneling of traffic which increases congestion and makes air quality even worse. Traffic needs to keep flowing and to disperse. Just because some selfish residents associations have got their way and the councils are woke enough to not question it doesn’t make it right.
Several of them in London are now starting to be pulled by councils once they’ve done their research into the emissions impact it’s actually having. Anyone with a shred of common sense could’ve predicted that outcome.
So people like you need to do their homework before trying to be a smart arse…
Green agenda running tandom with convid for pursuit of total control.
Monopoly. The reason why they got involved with Tottenham. Not for football.
ENIC : F$@@#%& the community since 2001.
Maybe sort the real team out before a facilities splurge for the woman…which is a financial black hole cos there’s little commercial interest in it.
Anything other than the football team.
O
Clearly you haven’t read the news that the planet is in a spot of trouble – but then your car is far more important.
Wow….. Some people just don’t know when to stop… The women need eight pitches do they.. Fcuk me I thought the land buying was finally all over.
Typical speculators mate.
This is more an issue with the shysters in the council than Levy, Plus it must be nice for Enic to talk to people who have twice the debt.
Now ENIC own or have a say in every land barring a couple of plots of land in the Whitewebbs area. So I’ll take it they have a say in the Toby Carvery up the lane to now.
They now own the land the old Whitewebbs football club had. Now the training ground. Bull’s cross park and part of that land was own by St. Ignatius college. Myddleton house and the grounds surrounding it. I know they tried buying Capel Manor kennels a few years ago which is across the road from the training ground.
They can afford to this, and pay off the local council for green belt land. But won’t invest in the squad properly. I know there has been a lot of under handingness regarding all the land Spurs have bought in the Whitewebbs and Forty hall area
I don’t see this as a particularly massive crime, whenever anyone wants to build something it generally gets opposed one way or another. I’m the first to criticize Levy but I’m not sure this is particularly outrageous.
I mean it’s a pleasant enough area of green-belt just within gobbing distance of the M25 but it’s not like carving up the Lake District or the New Forest.
I do get slightly weary of these busy bodies pushing this ‘green space’ and green agenda constantly, regardless of the context.
These are the same people that want cycle lanes that hardly get used and selfishly get their neighborhood closed off to traffic because they don’t like cars passing through it at rush hour.
I’m sorry, if you live close to a big city then preservation is important but this nauseating and endless ‘green’ thing as an excuse to stop certain things and also force other stuff on people, to no good effect has to stop…