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The Enfield Society
In accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 1993 and the Statement of Recommended Practice issued by the Charity Commissioners, the members of the Management Committee of the Society present the following information for the year ended 31 December 2008.
The object of the Society is the conservation and enhancement of the civic and natural environments of the London Borough of Enfield and its immediate surrounding area ("the area of interest"), for the public benefit.
To further this object the Society will seek to:
Other clauses in our Memorandum of Association are taken from the Charity Commission's Model Memorandum of Association. Our Memorandum of Association is available for inspection, by appointment, at Jubilee Hall and copies can also be obtained on request, in return for a small donation.
The governing body of the Society, known as the Management Committee, consists of not less than six nor more than eighteen members. The Honorary Secretary and Honorary Treasurer are ex-officio members and up to three members may be co-opted to serve on the Management Committee. At every annual general meeting one third of Committee members retire and may be re-elected. A new member may be appointed to the Management Committee following a unanimous decision of the Committee members.
Members of the Management Committee have legal responsibility as directors of the Society as a company and as trustees of the Society as a charity. All Committee members must be members of the Society. The current membership of the Management Committee is given on our contacts page.The Society ended the year with an increase in total funds of £28,244; this was partly due to a substantial contribution from Tottenham Hotspur Football Club (Spurs) towards our legal costs incurred in opposing their development plans. We also received combined legacies of £550 from the late Alan Garrett and Wally Woodfield.
Gift Aid income tax claims continue to rise as the majority of new members sign the declaration which helps us to increase our revenue at no cost to themselves. Bank interest was at a reasonable level but will be a lot lower in 2009 on account of greatly reduced rates of interest.
Expenditure included £1,050 on trees for Jubilee Park, Edmonton and £9,594 in costs for the campaign against Spurs.
The donations of £8,969 from members to help oppose the Spurs' development proposals have been transferred into a Restricted Fund designated Green Belt Defence.
There were some Management Committee changes during 2008: we were very sorry to lose Janet McQueen and Peter Mackey; Dave Cockle was co-opted in January and formally appointed at the Annual General Meeting; we were delighted to appoint Richard Stones as our Honorary Secretary in August and he was co-opted onto the Management Committee; Pat Atkins asked to be replaced as Membership Secretary, after 15 years outstanding service, and we were very fortunate that Olive Sharman agreed to take on this responsibility and to be co-opted onto the Committee.
The Tottenham Hotspur Football Club (Spurs) development proposals continued to be a major concern throughout the year. Spurs had received planning permission in November 2007 for an Academy and First Team Training Centre, mostly on Council owned Green Belt farmland at Bulls Cross. The Society had strongly opposed this application, but decided not to legally challenge the planning consent; however we carried forward throughout the year the possibility of seeking a Judicial Review of the proposed 99 year lease to be granted to Spurs by the Council. In February 2008 one of our members lodged a formal appeal against the Council’s refusal to accept his claim that a footpath existed across the land to be leased to Spurs. This appeal and its possible consequences might not have been resolved for a very long time ahead, and Spurs would not sign the Council lease with the appeal outstanding. To overcome this impasse Spurs offered to construct at their expense an alternative route which Enfield Council agreed to designate as a public footpath. This proposal, together with other concessions, was acceptable to all parties and was the basis of a legal agreement, under which the Society agreed not to pursue a Judicial Review of the proposed lease, and the footpath appeal was to be formally withdrawn. This agreement was eventually signed in January 2009.
Other Society matters in 2008 are covered in the following reports from our Groups.
Architecture and Planning Group continued to monitor planning applications, and with a new Group member we are able to pay more attention to Bush Hill Park and the Southbury Road area. Among many observations by the Group we welcomed the plans for a doctor’s surgery with flats over for the Merryhills Library site in Enfield Road.
Conservation. The main event of the past year has been the designation of four new conservation areas including Grange Park and The Crescent, Hertford Road. With this, as part of the Conservation Area Review, have come proposals to modify the boundaries of existing conservation areas. Of particular concern to us is the prospect of losing more than half of the Highlands Conservation Area to which so much care and attention was devoted during its long process of redevelopment. Major developments in conservation areas which concerned us in 2008 include the Evangelical Free Church in Cecil Road, the car park site in Silver Street and the Rialto site in Enfield Town.
Edmonton Group. The main concern during the past year was the state of some of the parks inEdmonton, such as Kenninghall and Montagu Open Spaces, which appear neglected and unattractive and therefore little used. The Group opposed the use of the former as a cleaning station for Council vehicles and were glad when the proposal was abandoned. A successful joint meeting with the Edmonton Hundred Historical Society on the history of the North Middlesex Hospital was held in the Charity School Hall, Church Street, and the Society subsequently made a donation to the appeal for improvements to this Grade II listed building. The Group also took part in the Festival of Life in Pymmes Park in June and is supporting the provision of a refreshment facility in that park.
Footpaths and Open Spaces Group. During 2008 the Group had a busy year organising 53 walks and outings, which took place mainly on Saturdays (25), Wednesdays (19) and Mondays (7). Although the majority were day walks with a lunch break, there were 17 morning or afternoon only walks of about 2.5/3.0 hours in duration. Provided people were selective, hopefully there will have been alternatives to suit most abilities with walks varying from about three to 11 miles, and time frames that ranged from only a couple of hours to about 7.5 hours. Within the programme were 14 walks and/or visits to interesting parts of both central and outer London, including the City/East End, Regent’s Canal, River Thames, Hampton Court, Royal Parks, St Pancras International Station and Hampstead Heath. We do not forget our local area though, and throughout the year there were 9 walks in and around Enfield’s countryside and a short evening walk in July. Further away, walks were organised in the Chilterns, the North Downs, the Colne Valley, Epping Forest, near the RSPB site at Sandy and throughout Hertfordshire. Continuing a popular theme over recent years of walks being based upon Village Open Gardens and similar events, we visited the Benington Flower Festival in June. All walks are open to members, friends and the public (from where the Society gains new members) and, with an average attendance of over 20 persons, and one as high as 52, the total number participating exceeded 1,200. We are grateful to those leaders who organise these walks and visits – without whom, they would not be possible.
Publicity Group organised heritage walks around Enfield Town, Southgate and Enfield Lock as well as supporting coach outings to National Trust properties Nymans Gardens and Standen House in West Sussex in June, and to Ipswich and Framlingham Castle in September. The party for new members held in March attracted a good turnout. The twice monthly meetings at Jubilee Hall, offering a variety of topics, continued to draw strong support. Our stall at the New River Festival in June and at the Autumn Show in September attracted much attention, and at both events we signed up a number of new members. During the year we commenced regular columns in the Enfield Advertiser and the Enfield Echo. We placed posters advertising the Society in the Enfield Town Post Office and in all the Borough libraries. First Stop in the Central Library continues to offer our membership application forms and copies of TES News. Society information has been added to the community notice board at Enfield Chase Station and will be included in other station notice boards when these are provided.
Records and Research Group continued to organise, maintain and develop the Society’s collections of archives, books, pictures and photographs. Several enquiries were dealt with, and some preliminary work was done towards completing a survey of public monuments and sculptures in Enfield, started by the Conservation Advisory Group some time ago. This project is currently in abeyance while waiting for the Public Monuments and Sculpture Association to obtain resources to update the software used for their database where the data will be stored. The Enfield Society electronic discussion list continues to host lively, though spasmodic, exchanges of messages of which there were 243 in 2008, and the Web site has been updated regularly. The four quarterly issues of the Society’s illustrated newsletter were compiled and edited, incorporating contributions from many members of the Society.
Trees Group. The three replacement cherry trees for Lyndhurst Gardens sponsored by the Group have been planted. Work is in hand to clear the allotment tree nursery situated off Trentwoodside. The Group has expressed concern about the current Council policy towards trees in conservation areas and preserved trees. We perceive a reluctance to create new Tree Preservation Orders and are still waiting for the appointment of a planning officer with specific responsibilities for tree matters.
The financial review part of the annual report was circulated to members with the Summer 2009 issue of TES news.
| Last updated 2010-04-11 21:00 |
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