Agenda and minutes

Dogan Erdo?an from the Alevi Federation gave the blessing and Gulay Dalkilic translated this blessing.

There was no business transacted under this item.

Welcome to the meeting councillors and a special welcome also to the members of the public we have in the gallery and in the conference room who have come to observe the debate tonight on the Enfield Local Plan submission.

This is an important document, and I am pleased to see so many members of the public showing an interest in it. I think it might be helpful for me to explain what the process will be for the debate this evening so that members of the public know what to expect.

First, we will deal with some preliminary matters. We will have some tributes and then members will need to declare any interests they have in the business being transacted this evening. After that, we will move on to the main item of business – the Local Plan.

The first speaker from each side of the Chamber normally has 5 minutes to speak but given the special nature of this meeting, I am expecting a Procedural Motion to be moved requesting slightly longer and I will probably allow them to speak for up to 10 minutes each. Other councillors will then be invited to speak for up to 3 minutes each. At the end, there will be a final response by the Opposition for 5 minutes and then a final summing up from the Cabinet member for 5 minutes. We will then go to the vote.

Now it is important that everyone in the chamber who is invited to speak is allowed to do so without interruption. Councillors have been elected to represent their communities and they must be allowed to speak and express their views here tonight. There will be different views expressed and there will inevitably be some disagreement, but all councillors must be allowed to express their views and be heard.

I appreciate that there may be some of you who have come tonight hoping that you too may be able to speak on the Local Plan, but I am afraid that will not be possible as we do not have deputations at Council meetings. Some of you will already have approached your councillor and I am sure that they will be able to put across the different views they have heard over the past few weeks and months.

However, you will have an opportunity to make your views known and your views will be taken into account. The documents which we are considering tonight are on the Council’s website and I would strongly urge you to read those documents if you have not done so already. The proposal before us is essentially to agree the documents to go out for formal consultation for a minimum of 6 weeks and, during that period, you will be able to submit feedback to your councillors or to the Planning Inspector directly. So, your voices will be heard.

Moving back to the business for tonight, may I remind councillors, I will not tolerate any interruptions or shouting or  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Maria Alexandrou, Alev Cazimoglu, Lee Chamberlain, Guney Dogan, Chris Joannides, Gina Needs, and Ahmet Oykener.

To receive and agree the minutes of the previous meeting of Council held on Thursday 22 February 2024 as a correct record.(To Follow).

It was AGREED that the minutes of the Council meeting held on 22 February 2024 would be finalised and taken to the next meeting of Council which would take place on 15 May 2024.

Members of the Council are invited to identify any disclosable pecuniary, other pecuniary or non-pecuniary interests relevant to the items on the agenda.

The Mayor acknowledged that Councillors had received written advice on declarations of interest from the Monitoring Officer prior to the meeting in relation to the Local Plan.

The following Councillors declared non-pecuniary interests in the following items:

Item 5 – Cllr Joanne Laban who has a family member who is a member at an Enfield golf club.

Item 5 – Cllr Sabri Ozaydin who is a director of Housing Gateway Limited.

Item 5 -  Cllr Doug Taylor who is a director of Energetik, season ticket holder at THFC and member of an Enfield golf club.

Item 5 – Cllr David Skelton who is a member of the Levelling Up Advisory Council at Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

Item 5 – Cllr Andy Milne who is along with two family members a season ticket holder at THFC.

Item 5 – Cllr Savva who is a season ticket holder at THFC.

Item 5 – Cllr Dey who has a relative who is a season ticket holder at THFC.

A procedural motion was moved by Cllr Sabri Ozaydin and seconded by Cllr Ergin Erbil to allow the Mover of the Motion and the first Opposition speaker to speak for up to 10 minutes and that the final Opposition response to the debate and the right of reply should be given up to 5 minutes and was AGREED.

Council is asked to agree the Local Plan.

Cllr Nesil Caliskan moved, and Cllr Ergin Erbil seconded, the report.

The Leader stated that the Local Plan has been through six years of consultation, exploration and engagement and sets out the future intentions for the borough and how this will be achieved. The aim being to make Enfield a greener, vibrant, and well-connected borough where its young people will have a place of their own to call home.

In 2019, there was a 12-week consultation exceeding the minimum statutory requirement with local groups and the draft plan was agreed in 2021. Since then, the administration has honoured their commitment to deliver a pre-publication period that has allowed residents and councillors to read the final plan before it goes out to an additional statutory consultation and a review by the National Planning Inspector before it can be implemented.

By 2041, the population of Enfield will have grown by more than 50,000 people as people are living longer, and our young people today will have families of their own. If the demand for housing continues to rise without adequate housing being available, people will be forced to move out of the borough; additionally overpriced and overcrowded housing was becoming more prominent. The Local Plan allows the Council to control how this growth in the borough will occur.

The Leader acknowledged that there is no easy way to deal with the housing crisis as even if every brownfield site were exhausted, there would still not be enough supply to meet targets. The loss of green belt land will be compensated by major landscape restoration and a new country park which will improve public access in Enfield Chase, with a commitment to a 25% increase in green coverage by 2041. By using a limited amount of green belt which would be namely; disused carparks, garden centres and golf courses, would equate to adequate space to build affordable family homes which will see the sites better utilised to address the national housing crisis. The Crews Hill site will enable  5000 new homes to be built whilst Chase Park will have 3700 new homes built with both sites gaining crucial infrastructure, being close to transport links and access to gardens and public spaces with opportunities to walk and cycle through connected habitats and landscape corridors.

The Administration has provided a clear steer to officers that the Council must have a Local Plan that meets housing needs. The process to produce this plan has been meticulously detailed with an immense level of dedication and will produce a plan that is technically sound. The Leader expressed concerns by not having an up-to-date Local Plan leaves the Council open to the risk of developers putting in planning applications anywhere in the borough which will be agreed by the National Inspector due to the current framework being out of date.

The Leader expressed thanks to the Planning department, officers, elected members and residents who contributed and were involved with the development of the Local Plan.

The Opposition expressed concerns  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

To note the agreed date of the next Council meeting:

Wednesday 15 May 2024 at 7pm

The date of the next meeting was NOTED as Wednesday 15 May 2024, which will be the Annual Council meeting.