Planned residential high-rise redevelopment of Cockfosters Car Park

FROM CLARA & THE SAVE COCKFOSTERS CAMPAIGN - TIME CRITICAL

Our thanks to residents who braved the onset of winter and came along to the Public Meeting at Christ Church, Cockfosters. We are sorry that Enfield’s aggressive timetable required us to arrange this meeting in such a hurry. We also thank our friends at Christ Church for their help. 

We are also very appreciative of the attendance of Bambos Charalambous MP, Cllr Alessandro Georgiou from Cockfosters Ward and Cllr Simon Radford from East Barnet Ward. We are confident they will share the events from the meeting with their colleagues in Enfield and Barnet.

The reaction and sentiment of those Enfield and Barnet residents who filled the Church was as we expected - if not more so. The overwhelming majority had not been notified of the public consultation on the proposed variation of the Planning Application for the redevelopment of the Cockfosters Station Car Park. This disrespect and lack of regard for residents is nothing new. However, this project will impact many residents across the Cockfosters area and also the users of the station.

ENFIELD PLANNING CONSULTATION - COMMENTING ON THE PROPOSAL

Enfield has insisted that all consultation comments are received by a hard and fast deadline of Sunday 23 November. 

This dogmatic approach is unusual and not in keeping with their normal practice of accepting input in good faith until the date when the officers report to the Planning Committee is prepared: The whole approach is lip-service and at odds with the comments in the letter to residents - if they deigned to send it to you.

As we explained at the meeting, you should make your representations on the Enfield Planning Portal. Please use this direct link: https://planningandbuildingcontrol.enfield.gov.uk/online-applications/centralDistribution.do?caseType=Application&keyVal=T44A3ZJNJWL00

(the reference number 25/03547/VAR is the variation application which is open for comments and is associated to the original planning application 21/02517/FUL)

In making your objections, you may care to raise the following in your own words:

• The fundamental change in the scheme from Build To Rent to Build for Sale. 

• The increased scale of the development in terms of increase in population, on top of the intervening development of 226 flats at the adjacent Blackhorse Tower.

• The overbearing nature of the development because of the increases in height and massing.

• The adverse impact on the outlook and ecology of the adjacent Park, Park Cemetery and Green Belt.

• Additional load on infrastructure and services in the immediate area and in the wider area in terms of schools, NHS capacity, hospitals etc. Intervening developments have added to these issues.

• Parking, transport and roads. The existing main road is already the subject of continued regular traffic jams and nearby residential roads are already subject to parking near capacity. As the northern terminus of a major tubeline these traffic issues will remain.

• The access to the site will be greatly constrained. The belated inclusion of a small drop-off zone within the campus is impractical.

• Concerns over the quality and safety of the development: Small high-rise homes, lack of amenity and recreational space.

• The safety and security of the public spaces. The previous police consultation raised this.

• The inadequacy of the s106 agreement concluded in 2023.

• The lack of transparency in the consultation process.

WRITING TO THE CEO OF ENFIELD COUNCIL

Additionally, we would encourage you to write to the Chief Executive Officer of Enfield Council registering your objections:

1. The unreasonable timetable and process for this consultation; 

2. The selective and undemocratic process of communication to both those who had objected to the previous plans and those who in the roads that will be affected;

3. The decision by Enfield to handle this as a variation to the existing scheme, whereas the process should more correctly be handled as a new application.

We suggest your emails or letters are addressed to: Perry.Scott@enfield.gov.uk with copies to, Brett.Leahy@enfield.gov.uk Executive Director, Communities and Environment

Where you are able and willing to, please can you blind copy (bcc) CLARA so that we can keep our own tally of the objections being raised: CLARA email: clara.cockfosters@gmail.com

Let's make our voices heard! 

With thanks

CLARA

The variations to the approved design are on Enfield Council's planning portal:

25/03547/VAR - Variation of condition 02, 41 and 42 of Ref: 21/02517/FUL (as amended by 25/03161/NMA) to allow 22 additional residential units, alterations to unit mix, amendments to ground floor landscaping, second stair core to all 4 buildings and increase in height to range between 6 and 15 storeys.

https://planningandbuildingcontrol.enfield.gov.uk/online-applications/centralDistribution.do?caseType=Application&keyVal=T44A3ZJNJWL00

They request that all comments are received by Sunday 23rd November 2025

Here is CLARA's request that the planning application is ‘called-in’ by the Secretary of State for his own determination.
The arguments we might make at this stage are similar to the points we made in our submission:

Here is the response that the Secretary of State decided not to call in this application.
"He is satisfied that the application should be determined at a local level."

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