'We've built a family'

The garden centre 'golden mile' that could be sacrificed to create new town

- Joanna Partridge

On the fringes of north London is an area of garden centres, green spaces and winding country lanes that feel a world away from the capital’s urban sprawl.

Tucked just inside the M25, Crews Hill near Enfield has been home to a cluster of horticultural businesses for decades, nicknamed the “golden mile”.

Many of these small, family-run businesses - selling plants, fencing and paving - fear they will be closed down and forced to move if the government selects Crews Hill and nearby Chase Park as one of its next generation of new towns.

This part of Enfield’s green belt is among a dozen locations across England recommended by the new towns taskforce. The housing secretary, Steve Reed, identified Crews Hill as one of the most promising sites, alongside the village of Tempsford in Bedfordshire and Leeds South Bank.

With figures released yesterday showing housebuilding mired in the deepest slump since the start of the pandemic, the project’s significance to Labour’s goal of building 1.5m homes during this parliament has only increased.

Across 884 hectares (2,184 acres), Crews Hill is home to just 500 people plus the garden centres, and also has a golf course, hospital and railway station.

Proponents for the plan to develop 21,000 homes, with a target for 50% to be affordable, say it would provide much-needed housing for families and workers in the capital and would also deliver local services including shops, schools and doctors’ surgeries. There would also be improved transport links into central London, beyond the current four trains an hour at peak times.

Ministers will decide on the location of new towns this spring. The programme has been criticised by planners behind postwar new towns, including Milton Keynes, for a lack of ambition and insufficient commitment to social housing.

Opponents have also raised concerns over strains on existing infrastructure during construction.