STORY
Enfield Council’s new Conservative leader has said he will refuse to sign a lease allowing Tottenham Hotspur to build a women’s training facility on Whitewebbs Park. Alessandro Georgiou, who now leads a minority Conservative administration, said at the council’s annual meeting that he wanted to preserve the park for future generations.
The previous Labour administration granted planning permission last year for a women’s and girls’ football
academy on a 16-hectare part of the former golf course, including fenced-off areas. However, former council leader Ergin Erbil did not formally complete the 25-year lease before Labour lost its majority in this month’s election.
The Conservatives had pledged during the campaign to block the scheme and now appear able to prevent it from proceeding. The proposed lease would have been worth £2 million to the council, while campaigners against the development have argued that public access to nature should take priority.