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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 2007.
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 year of 2007 was a milestone in the long history of the Society; after 71 years as Enfield Preservation Society our members approved the change of name to The Enfield Society. This was formally approved at the AGM in June when a revised Memorandum of Association was also agreed, bringing up to date our object and aims.
Throughout the year we continued to oppose the proposal by Tottenham Hotspur Football Club (Spurs) to develop an academy and training facility on 23.4 hectares of the Green Belt at Bulls Cross; the major part of this land is agricultural farmland within the Council owned Forty Hall Estate. Spurs appealed against the Council's refusal to grant planning permission and we decided that we should be separately represented at the public inquiry, especially since the Planning Officer had recommended approval. Through our London solicitors we instructed a barrister to represent the Society and our members responded magnificently to our appeal for donations to help meet the anticipated substantial costs involved. Spurs submitted another planning application in August and subsequently withdrew their appeal. The replacement application included an additional area of sports pitches and other slight improvements but still placed the 127,018 sq.ft. academy/training facility building on the Council farmland. Despite strong opposition from the Society, Ward Councillors and many other groups and individuals, planning permission was granted on 12th November 2007. Our request to have the application called in was turned down by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.
Throughout the year the Groups have continued with their various activities which have generally been well supported.
Architecture and Planning Group continued its essential work of monitoring the most important planning applications in key areas of the Borough. Comments and observations on a number of these applications were forwarded to the appropriate Planning Officer at the Civic Centre, some of which were taken into account in the Officer's written report to the Planning Committee.
Civic Environment Group continued to operate primarily as an integral part of the Enfield Civic Environment Group representing a number of amenity groups in the Borough. A major activity was the formulation of a strategy for Enfield Town associated with a review of the Council's Core Strategy and the Enfield Town Area Action Plan.
Conservation. Following the adoption last year of the Management Proposals for conservation areas, the past year has unfortunately seen no progress on Phase II of the Conservation Area Review, at least as far as anything being in the public domain. We were informed that following the “characterisation study” of the Borough, the Paul Drury Partnership had identified prospective new conservation areas and that a decision had been made on which should be designated; that decision has yet to be disclosed. The consultation on the Enfield Town Area Action Plan was followed by others, including North East Enfield. We tried to keep up with our on-line comments but it became very onerous. The long running story of Truro House continued; the latest application for “enabling” residential development was turned down on the grounds of poor design; the applicant appealed but subsequently withdrew the appeal. We gave evidence to the Chase Farm Public Inquiry on the grounds that the extensive redevelopment of the staff accommodation was premature in the absence of a proper site strategy and also because of the mediocre design of the housing constructed to date on part of the site.
Edmonton Group. The Group continued to press for improvements to parks and open spaces in their part of the Borough and the Society funded the planting of trees in Jubilee Park. Some members also worked with Enfield Conservation Volunteers on projects in Tatem and Jubilee Parks.
Footpaths and Open Spaces Group. During 2007 the Group had a busy year organising 57 walks and outings; the main days on which activities took place were – Saturdays (21), Wednesdays (22) and Mondays (9). Within the varied programme were 13 walks and/or visits to interesting parts of central London, including a Roman/Norman site, Regent's Canal, Royal Parks, HMS Belfast, Canary Wharf and the newly opened St Pancras International Station. Throughout the year some walks included parts of Enfield's countryside and two short Summer walks were organised in June and July. Continuing a popular theme over recent years were walks based upon Village Open Gardens and similar events. Apart from seeing the Datchworth Church Flower Festival, on two Summer Sundays we joined in events at Little Berkhamstead and Braughing villages which also helped to increase the charity funds those open days were raising. A coach walk was organised in May in the delightful scenery around Chiddingstone and Penshurst, followed by an excellent evening meal in Royal Tunbridge Wells. These events 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 some as high as 40, the total number participating exceeds 1,200. We are grateful to those leaders who organise these walks and visits – without whom they would not be possible.
Publicity Group organised three new heritage walks, around Forty Hill, Edmonton and Winchmore Hill, and a well supported coach outing to Leamington Spa and Kenilworth Castle A very successful party for new members was held in March. The twice monthly meetings at Jubilee Hall offered a variety of topics and were well attended. Our stall at the Autumn Show in the Town Park attracted a lot of attention and we enrolled a number of new members over the two days. A new publication “Heritage Walks in the London Borough of Enfield” was launched in January and has sold well. Re-designed badges and T-shirts were produced to take account of the change of name of the Society.
Records and Research Group did further work on the Society's collection of photographs, retrieving many from old exhibition panels and storing large format prints in acid-free boxes. Enquiries are dealt with regularly, some of them via the Society's electronic discussion list. This list now has 76 members and 200 messages were sent in 2007, providing an interesting forum for discussion of all manner of topics concerning Enfield, and allowing participation from far flung parts of the world. The Web site was moved to a new host where it is easier to maintain, and electronic versions of our quarterly TES News continued to be added.
Trees Group. Efforts were made during the year to reactivate the Group. Starting with a most informative discussion meeting in September with Andy Robinson, Enfield's Highways Arboricultural Officer, the Group has held regular meetings, concentrating at first on learning about the subject through monitoring applications for work to protected trees and trees in conservation areas. Next is the wish to get started on the planned tree nursery, once problems regarding the status of the plot at Trentwoodside are sorted out.
The financial review part of the annual report was circulated to members with the Summer 2008 issue of EPS news.
| Last updated 2008-11-13 16:23 |
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