This page contains resources and links for all the issues that face Whitewebbs Park and public open spaces in general.
These are some of the many organisations are working to preserve and protect open spaces and public access to them.
CPRE – the countryside charity cpre.org.uk This is the organisation that has been providing the campaign for Whitewebbs with support, practical help and advice. They are supporting similar campaigns throughout the country.
Fields in Trust https://www.fieldsintrust.org/ Fields in Trust champions and supports our parks and green spaces by protecting them for people to enjoy in perpetuity. Because once lost, they are lost forever.
Enfield RoadWatch – https://enfieldroadwatch.co.uk/ a well established local group that campaigns for the Green Belt in Enfield and has been a partner with CPRE in campaigning for Whitewebbs
Open Spaces Society oss.org.uk
Legal
Friends of Whitewebbs along with CPPRE and ERW have sought legal advice on the lawfulness of Enfield’s action in trying to dispose of a large proportion of Whitewebbs Park by lease.
Arguments are complex and require skilled and experienced lawyers to interpret them. Various courses of action are open to us including judicial review.
Every case is different so precedents have to be looked at in detail.
This links to a readable account of the judicial review process: https://publiclawproject.org.uk/content/uploads/2019/02/Intro-to-JR-Guide-1.pdf
Planning
The next step that Spurs /ENIC will be taking is to submit a planning application to the Council. Once the application is submitted we have 21 days to submit objections There is normally a huge amount of documentation to plough through but there are relatively few grounds for objection. If you want to know more about objecting I recommend this book:
How to object to a planning application or planning appeal by Christian Leigh. It is available from Amazon
There are several YouTube videos on UK planning issues – I would suggest looking at those by planning consultants who are targeting developers, they illustrate what we are up against. e.g. NextPhase
The Tooting Bec Common planning appeal is interesting from our point of view but it is important to read the planning inspectors decision report, not just the newspaper headlines which over simplify the story. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1122005/COM_3263104_Tooting_Bec_Common_Decision.docx
Enfield’s Planning and building control web site
This where planning applications are published. This is the link https://planningandbuildingcontrol.enfield.gov.uk/online-applications/search.do?action=weeklyList
You can search the weekly or monthly list if you know the rough date of the application. Choose the ward from the dropdown list and select a date. If you want a Spurs related search type Hotspur Way in the property tab. Select the application and the documents tab. Select the documents you want to download. For any Spurs application expect to see very detailed and professional documentation
an example https://planningandbuildingcontrol.enfield.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=RO2NJ9JNIGE00
Environmental
There are a huge number of resources on all matters environmental There are some excellent YouTube videos on the rewilding debate and rewilding in practice, the debate on tree planting, carbon credits, woodland management, meadows, water quality and all sorts of wildlife. Unfortunately there are also a lot of poorly researched and biased ones as well.
Registered stakeholders for Whitewebbs have informative web sites and include:
The Woodland Trust https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk
North London and South Herts Ramblers Association
https://www.ramblers.org.uk/north-london-south-herts
RSPB NW London RSPB
https://group.rspb.org.uk/nwlondon/about-us/
Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust
https://www.hertswildlifetrust.org.uk
Butterfly Conservation Hertfordshire and Middlesex
https://www.hertsmiddx-butterflies.org.uk
Other environmental organisations with an interest in the park include
The Forestry Commission https://www.forestryengland.uk/ (good for activity resorces)
https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/ (for in depth info)
Herts and Middx Bat Group https://hmbg.org.uk/
Registering environmental data
For reasons best known to itself Enfield Council has neglected the reporting of wildlife data for Whitewebbs Park.
Tree information is pretty good for London and Enfield. Not every tree is listed in the database but we can search here
Perhaps the biggest store of environmental data for London is the GIGL web site -Greenspace information for Greater London. https://www.gigl.org.uk/
Data can be submitted on a one off basis by individuals and on a larger scale by recognised groups. It is a mine of information and is used by planning authorities. It is a fairly straightforward process to report sightings.
Trees
There is a database of trees in London with an interactive map for most of the common species. Go to https://www.treetalk.co.uk/ Click “take me to the trees” to see the map and have fun zooming in on your street and the local parks. It does not show all the trees in woodland areas.
Ancient and notable trees – a registry maintained by the Woodland Trust
we have been registering the oldest and largest trees in Whitewebbs Park. Again, this is a pretty straightforward process and well worth doing. https://ati.woodlandtrust.org.uk/
Database of London Trees
There is a database of trees in all London Boroughs, including Enfield. Data collection and recording across boroughs is not consistent and there is no guarantee that the data is complete. If you have some basic spreadsheet skills you can download the database in csv format and analyse the data. It shows over 75,500 of Enfield’s trees. How complete the list is I don’t know. The whole list was updated in 2020/1.
https://www.data.gov.uk/dataset/df223a81-879f-46a0-88db-4417069ea8c4/local-authority-maintained-trees
