Planning Process

Reproduced from www.enfield.gov.uk with the their kind permission.

The redevelopment of Enfield Town Centre has been a long standing Council objective as evidenced through the policies contained in the Council's Unitary Development Plan and following the completion of Palace Gardens Shopping Centre (Phase 1).

In 1993 the Council appointed consultants to advise the Council on a Strategy for Enfield Town. This review was completed in March 1994 in a report entitled "Enfield Town Strategic Review". The Council decided that it wished to consult as widely as possible before proceeding further. As a result, a public consultation exercise was undertaken from November 1995 to the end of January 1996. The chief component of this exercise was an explanatory leaflet entitled "Enfield Town…Which way now?" which summarised the proposals the consultants had put forward. During November 1995 a public display was mounted in the Civic Centre.

Following the return of over 500 questionnaires, together with letters, an analysis was undertaken. It showed an overwhelming public support for the preferred redevelopment option.

The culmination of consultation on the options for Enfield Town led ultimately to the submissions of an outline planning application for the redevelopment of two key sites in May 2001. The application sought approval for retail, leisure and a library and cultural facility together with car parking, servicing, alterations to the existing highway, including the permanent stopping up of Sydney Road (between Cecil Road and Church Street) and an extension to Genotin Road to link to London Road, landscaping and other ancillary work (TP/00/0977).

Letters were sent to 8000 properties in and around the Town Centre notifying them of the receipt of this application and inviting comments thereon. The application was publicised in the local press and copies of the submitted plans were available for inspection at the Civic Centre and all the Borough Libraries.

To supplement the normal consultation arrangements, a Planning Panel was held in July 2000 when residents/businesses within and around the Town Centre, local groups and those who had raised concerns about the proposed development were invited to attend a presentation by the developer/architects and ask questions of them. The Panel was Chaired and attended by Councillors and the comments made at the meeting were minuted and fed into the Planning Committee report.

The outline application was reported to the Council's Planning Committee in December 2000 when Members resolved to grant planning permission subject to completion of the associated legal agreements. These were completed in April 2001 and the planning permission was subsequently issued.

Following the grant of outline permission, a Focus Group was established in order to progress the design of the scheme and address areas of concern about the detailed design that that had been highlighted at the outline stage. The Focus Group comprised representatives of, amongst others, the Enfield Preservation Society, the Federation of Enfield Residents, the Western Enfield Residents Association, Enfield Parochial Charity, the Traders Associations, Enfield Disablement Association and a shopper. The Group met on five separate occasions. It was Chaired by Cllr. Del Goddard and was attended by Officers of the Council and the Enfield Retail Ltd team (the developer).

The detailed design of the proposed buildings was submitted for approval in August 2001. Letters were sent to the occupiers of approximately 4000 properties in and around the Town Centre. Again the details were publicised in the local press. Copies of the plans were available for inspection at the Civic Centre and in all the Borough Libraries. In addition, the applicant provided a portakabin within the Town Centre car park for a weekend in September when the plans were available for inspection and representatives of the development team were on hand to answer questions.

A further Planning Panel was held in November 2001 when members of the public were invited to attend a presentation by the developer and his architects and pose any questions they had about the scheme.

The detailed application was considered by the Council's Planning Committee in December 2001 when the details were approved.

Since then, the Council has been through a Compulsory Purchase Order Inquiry and a Road Closure Order Inquiry. Decisions are awaited from the relevant Inspectors in respect of each.

A number of matters of detail remain outstanding, including the phasing of construction, which cannot be fixed in the absence of confirmation of the Orders referred to above. However, it is anticipated that if the above orders are confirmed preliminary works will commence on site in the autumn.
 

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