Spurs face battle over new training facility as council leader vows to stop plans

The newly-elected leader of Enfield Council has vowed to stop Tottenham Hotspur Football Club (THFC) building a women’s training facility on Whitewebbs Park.

At this week’s annual council meeting on Wednesday (28th), the leader of the new minority Conservative administration, Alessandro Georgiou, said he would refuse to sign a lease to the Premier League football club in order to preserve Whitewebbs “for the enjoyment of future generations”.

Planning permission for a new women’s and girls’ football academy had been granted last year by the outgoing Labour administration, with THFC proposing to build on a 16-hectare area of the park’s former golf course – with large fences surrounding it.

However, former council leader and Spurs fan Ergin Erbil failed to formally sign off on a 25-year lease of the park to THFC prior to this month’s election, when Labour lost their majority.

This gave the Conservatives an opportunity to block the plans, as they had vowed to do in their election manifesto.

THFC were approached regarding the new council leader’s announcement, but the North London club declined to comment.

Earlier this year, actor Dame Judi Dench backed the campaign against Spurs’ development at Whitewebbs, saying it was “essential” to “protect people’s access to nature”.

No party achieved an outright majority at the local election on Thursday, 7th May. However, with 31 councillors, the Conservatives had the most of any party, paving the way for them to form a minority administration at the full council meeting. 

Labour came in second, with 27. The Green Party, making their first gains in the borough, won five seats. 

The traditional centre-right party and rapidly growing left-wing Greens don’t agree on much, especially when it comes to social and economic policy.