Topic analysis

Enfield council withdraws from government’s new towns programme

The newly Conservative-led Enfield Council in north London has withdrawn from the UK national government's new towns programme, scrapping plans to build 21,000 homes on local green belt land at Crews Hill and Chase Park. The decision is a significant blow to the Labour national government's flagship goal of building 1.5 million homes over the current parliamentary term, and follows local opposition to the green belt development as well as a Conservative campaign promise to halt the project if elected, with the council now prioritizing brownfield development and town centre regeneration.