Society submits letter of objection to LBE on Whitewebbs Lease

In mid December the Council published a formal notice of its intention to lease Whitewebbs for twenty-five years to Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. The Society has reservations about the proposals, most notably the inclusion of large parts of the woodland area to the west which appear of no relevance to Spurs, whose main interest is in creating a women’s football training area on part of the former golf course
The Notice is a legal formality which the Council is required to publish. No precise details of the Lease or the use of the land has accompanied the Notice. It is difficult to make a judgement on the lease without more information, and this has fuelled campaigning by community groups as it appears consistent with the Council’s past track-record of not being open with residents.

The Society’s view is that the Council’s financial situation is such that disposal of the land is inevitable, and given that the proposal from Spurs seems an acceptable option. We reserve our position, however, until the terms of the lease are made public and a detailed planning application is submitted when, hopefully, this will become clearer.

Legal position

Enfield Roadwatch (ERW), CPRE-London and the Friends of Whitewebbs have sought legal opinion, to test the legal status of the land and whether the Council can lease it out. A letter was sent to LBE in November. You can read the letter on ERW’s website. The Council has responded to the letter and this is a continuing matter.

Our objections to the lease

Although our view is that the Spurs option is an acceptable outcome, we have submitted a letter of objection. This includes our point about the woodland as well as a series of requirements which we want to see as part of any lease, for example:

  • The part of the Property to be enclosed for the Women’s Academy will be strictly as shown in the thfc proposal,
  • The remainder of the Property will not be fenced except where there is existing fencing, and will be accessible to the public and “free to roam” at any reasonable time. Access will be available at all points where this is currently the case,
  • The part of the former golf course not enclosed for the Academy will be maintained as open grassland in the style of a country estate. The Woodland (if included in the Lease) to be managed as a whole with the woodland which is to be retained by the Council, with the objective of protecting and enhancing the whole as a biodiverse woodland environment,
  • The Council and THFC will cooperate to have the access paths designated as rights of way.

    You may find our letter of objection to the Council here.

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