Local residents reject Spurs football plans to create “green and biodiverse” spaces | London

The expansion of women's football has been targeted against public green spaces and a redeveloped golf course in a growing dispute between Tottenham Hotspur Football club and local residents.

The club is expected to submit a planning application to build a “world-leading” women's football academy with an all-weather pitch, floodlights and a “turf academy” on a site at Whitewebs Park a few miles from their stadium to the north London.

But suggestions – in a park area rich in wildlife and mature trees – is categorically opposed by many local residents who do not want to see a section of public green space built up and surrounded by a 2-meter fence.

The 97-hectare (240-acre) Whitewebs Park lies between two ancient forests and at home up to 80 species of birds and at least nine species of bats, as well as crested newts and badgers. It is also thought to be the best butterfly spot in North London, with 29 species, including the rare brown, purple emperor and white butterflies.

Anfield council has faced a high court challenge over its decision to hand Spurs a 25-year lease. Spurs will pay just £2 million for the 53-acre park, which they will develop and manage. Thirty-five of those acres will remain publicly accessible, but 18 acres will house the new Women's and Girls' Academy and Sports Turf Academy.

Campaigners say Spurs' proposed blockade is not legal. They are will also object the terms of the board's deal with the football club, which is owned by Enic International Limited, a multi-billion dollar investment company based in the Bahamas.

Pratik Sampat, a local resident and treasurer of the village Friends of Whitewebbs Park, said: “I've been a Spurs fan all my life and I love the club, but what they're doing is just crazy. This is an extremely beautiful natural space – clean, green and diverse. It has a real heartbeat and blends in with the ancient woodland and other green spaces in Enfield. This is simply not the kind of space that we should build up with plastic platforms.”

A judicial review of the council's decision to lease more than half of Whiteabbes Park to Spur was successfully brought by another resident, Sean Wilkinson. But before a judicial review can be heard at the High Court in February, Anfield council – with Spurs on the “interested party” list on its side – is appealing against a court decision to grant the campaigners a “restriction of costs” order which protects individuals from exorbitant legal costs in environmental justice cases.

If Anfield and Spurs' challenge is successful, it means Wilkinson could be liable for thousands of pounds in legal costs, putting the pensioner's legal challenge in jeopardy.

“The OAP takes on a £3bn offshore company – there's a touch of David and Goliath about it, doesn't it?” Wilkinson said. “The problem of cost containment is frightening. This is a matter of national importance that deserves cost containment and should not depend on the financial power of very large corporations.”

Groups opposed to the development include Enfield RoadWatch and CPRE London, which believe the lease is illegal because it restricts public access to the public park. It said if Spurs fenced off the Whiteabbes site, it would open up other public parks across the country to similar privatisation.

Alice Roberts of CPRE London said: “We are fundamentally concerned about the rights of the public and the fact that it is up to the public to protect those rights. Obviously, this is a public park. Councils are supposed to hold this land in trust for the public, but it seems that sometimes they see it as an asset that they can just sell off.”

Over the years, part of Whitewebbs was turned over to the golf course, which was open to all until it finally closed in 2021, with the council saying it was losing money. Since then, the track has been reconstructed, and the park and its paths are popular with walkers, cyclists and horse riders.

The new academy will have fenced facilities that limit public access; it will consist of a women's academy and a specialist turf academy, which Spurs say will provide employment and training opportunities for staff involved in sports turf, horticulture and horticulture.

The remaining 66% of the leased space will remain open to the public, with Spurs promising to restore the former golf course into a historic park, renovate the pond and build a new cafe and meeting space. The club says they will remove 102 old trees and plant 3,000 new ones, upgrade footpaths and create a birdwatching platform and 'biodiversity corridor'.

But local residents argue that the council should be getting much more money from the rent. Wilkinson said: “Obviously there are alternative plots of land that Spurs could go for, but it would probably cost them £20m, while we have the council effectively subsidizing a multi-billion dollar offshore company. The reasons for this council are unclear to me.”

Campaigners have written to the Government to overturn Anfield Council's finding that there was no need for an environmental impact assessment for the park's development before Spurs submit a full planning application next year.

A spokesman for Enfield Council said: “The lease of part of Whitewebs Park should bring significant benefits to the local community, including the protection and enhancement of the park and woodland, further investment in a new on-site cafe, toilets and other facilities, as well as maintaining open public access to more than 80% of the park area is for all residents.”

When asked about Wilkinson's comment that he felt “intimidated” by the attempt to remove “expenses protection” from his legal challenge, a council spokesman said: “Enfield Council is confident that due legal processes were followed at all times and procedures that led to the award of the lease in Whitewebbs and expects to succeed in the defense of the claim. In the circumstances, as a publicly funded body, it is right and proper for the council to take all reasonable steps to enable it to recover legal costs.'

Spurs declined to comment on the court challenge or their future planning application.

Sampat was recently given a tour of Spurs' current training facilities and said none of the 14 pitches were in use during his visit on Thursday afternoon. “This is already one of the best facilities in the world. There is already a mass women's institution. The desire to create the world's best training ground for women's football is great, but this is not the place for it.''