FAQ

Enfield Council is developing exciting plans for the future of Enfield Town. Through the Enfield Town Liveable Neighbourhoods project, we are looking to enhance the vibrancy of the Town Centre, whilst respecting its unique character. The vision for the future of Enfield Town has been developed in collaboration with the local community.

We have worked closely with key stakeholders in Enfield Town to ensure the voices of residents, school students, disabled people, business owners and residents’ groups are represented throughout the life of the project. You can find more including proposed plans in the Document Library on the right-hand side of the project page

Due to the complexity of the project and funding availability, Enfield Council has decided to deliver the project in phases, anticipated over several years. Funding is fully in place to enable the delivery of Phase 1 of the Enfield Town LN project, through a combination of Transport for London (TfL) funding and Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) funding aligned to the project. Discussions are ongoing with TfL and further funding is anticipated in 2025 to enable progression of a second major phase.  Phases will be delivered as 'stand-alone' projects to deliver independent benefits.

Four phases of community engagement have taken place so far during the design development process as outlined below.

• Phase 1 (October – November 2019): during this phase the Council provided residents and businesses with an opportunity to share their ideas for the future of Enfield Town. Their ideas informed the five Design Principles that shaped the early plans for improvements to Enfield Town.
• Phase 2 (October – November 2020): feedback was gathered by the Council on the proposed plan, and four of the public spaces in Enfield Town were co-designed with the community.
• Phase 3 (May – July 2021): the Council presented the proposed designs for the public realm spaces that had been co-designed during Phase 2. The Council also ran targeted engagement with key stakeholders to inform the concept design.
• Phase 4 (July – October 2022): From 27 July to 9 October 2022, the Council gathered feedback on the proposed plan, ideas for the name of the public space, and design suggestions for the sensory garden proposed to be delivered in the Library Green. 

During the first phase of engagement with the community, we asked people what they want to see in the future for Enfield Town. Based on our conversations with the local community, the Enfield Town Design Principles were established. The proposals have been designed to align closely with the Enfield Town Design Principles, which are:

• Enfield Town is safe for all
• Enfield Town has a vibrant economy
• Enfield Town is a great place to be
• Enfield Town offers transport choices
• Enfield Town celebrates its heritage. 

If you would like to know more about the design principles, please follow this link.

The Enfield Town Liveable Neighbourhoods (LN) project is an ambitious plan for our Town Centre. The Council is looking to deliver the project in phases as funding becomes available.

Some of the key features of the proposed Enfield Town Liveable Neighbourhoods plan are:

• A better experience when arriving at Enfield Town Station and entering the Town Centre
• An improved connection between the Market Square and the shopping centre entrance
• An upgraded link between the Library Green and Enfield Town Park
• A new public square at the junction of Little Park Gardens and Church Street (outside Nationwide Building Society)
• A more vibrant public space on ‘Fountain Island’
• Improved greening across the town centre
• Improved and new pedestrian crossings throughout the Town Centre
• Wider footways in some locations 
• Safer cycling options and connecting the Town Centre with nearby cycle routes. 
• Improved bus stop accessibility 
• Revised parking and loading restrictions to support the proposed changes
• Dedicated Blue Badge disabled parking bays throughout the Town Centre

Improved safety, including improved CCTV and proposed 20 mph speed limit on all roads in the Town Centre.

We have engaged on the above proposals that have been developed and revised them over time taking into account feedback gathered during the engagement with the community to date. The full Enfield Town LN proposals engaged on in Summer 2022, including the information boards, transport technical summary, engagement summary reports and more, can be found in the Document Library. 

The Enfield Town LN project will be delivered in phases, anticipated over several years. 

Currently, we are implementing Phase 1 of the project.

Please see Why are you taking a phased approach to deliver the Enfield Town Liveable Neighbourhood project? question for further details. 

There are also other exciting projects taking place within the Enfield Town area.  A Stroll Through Enfield Town mural has been recently installed. You can find more information about this project in the News Feed on the project page.

This is an ambitious plan for our Town Centre and the Council. Therefore, the Council is looking to deliver the project in phases as funding becomes available.

Funding is fully in place to enable delivery of Phase 1 of the Enfield Town LN project, through a combination of Transport for London (TfL) funding and CIL funding aligned to the project. Discussions are ongoing with TfL and further funding is anticipated in 2025 to enable progression of a second major phase.  Phases will be delivered as 'stand-alone' projects to deliver independent benefits.

Below is a summary of the interventions proposed as part of Phase 1 of the Enfield Town LN project:

• Closure of the eastern end of Little Park Gardens at its junction with Church Street to create a new public square. 
• Changes to how traffic will operate on Little Park Gardens to facilitate the road closure 
• Changes to how traffic operates at the Church Street / Cecil Road / Little Park Gardens junction (straight ahead from Cecil Road will now be permitted for general traffic) 
• New signalised crossing at the junction of Church Street / Sarnesfield Road 
• Relocation of the crossing point on Cecil Road and upgrading it to being a signalised toucan crossing 
• Implementation of diagonal path linking the two new crossing points on Church Street / Sarnesfield Road junction and on Cecil Road 
• Changes to waiting and loading along Sarnesfield Road 
• Changes to waiting and loading on Church Street between Sarnesfield Road and Little Park Gardens 
• Introduction of a motorcycle parking on Burleigh Way 
• Changes to waiting and loading within the Phase 1 project area.

Phase 1 prioritises creating a more vibrant and pedestrian-friendly town centre while still accommodating essential parking needs. While some on-street parking spaces will be repurposed, new options like dedicated motorcycle and disabled bays are being proposed. 

Further details can be found on the map detailing the traffic order proposals as well as in the notice and written traffic orders available in the Document Library on the project page.

Whichever way you arrive to Enfield Town, once people arrive there everyone becomes a pedestrian. For you this may mean moving through the town by foot, or with the assistance of a wheelchair, walking stick, mobility device, with a pram or young children, individually or in groups. Improving the Town Centre for pedestrians has been our key priority when developing the proposed plan for Enfield Town. Some of the ways we have looked to improve accessibility as part of the Phase 1 of the Enfield Town LN project are through the:

• Introduction of 10 dedicated disabled bays
• Widening footways to enable people to safely pass by each other
• Provision of additional seating and places to rest throughout the Town Centre. As part of Phase 1 we will provide new seating in the proposed new public square and near the Town Park entrance.

Emergency services will be able to travel through Enfield Town as they do currently, and we do not anticipate any significant impact to their journey times by the proposed plan. Access to Little Park Gardens will be maintained from the west, and general traffic will now be allowed to travel north from Cecil Road. All the emergency services have been engaged in the design process to date and this collaboration will continue as the project is developed.

We are looking to:

• Introduce a new public square at the junction of Little Park Gardens and Church Street (near Nationwide Building Society); and 
• Improve the connection between the new public realm square created at the most eastern end of the Little Park Garden and Town Park

New art and design works are also being proposed to be implemented within the new public realm square. These elements will represent and be inspired by the Saddlers Mill Stream and encourage incidental play within the square.

Proposals for the wider Enfield Town LN project have been presented in the earlier phases of community engagement. More information on the public spaces across the Enfield Town LN project can be found on the information boards in the Document Library section (notably “2022 Community engagement”) of the project page.

Allowing general traffic northbound from Cecil Road into Little Park Gardens is unlikely to result in significant results in the network. It is estimated that this volume will be less than 80 vehicles per hour. 

The proposed signal crossing at the Church Street/Sarnesfield Road junction is unlikely to result in significant delays to eastbound traffic on Church Street and will improve safety for pedestrians at this location

The Council is working directly with the Old Enfield Charitable Trust, the site owners, to explore plans for the future of the Market Square. However, Phase 1 of the project does not involve any proposals to improve the Market Square.

This is an ambitious plan for Enfield Town Centre and the Council have already secured more than £7m to enable change to happen. To deliver the complete project, including changes to pedestrian crossings and other transport elements, the project will need additional investment from Transport for London (TfL). At the moment, we have secured funds to deliver Phase 1 and funding for the following faces is still being discussed.

The Enfield Town LN project is led by Enfield Council, it is not being delivered by a private entity.  Planning applications for development in Enfield Town are separate to the LN project and are reviewed by planning officers. Where planning applications involve works to landscaping and public realm, the applicants and officers work together to aim for a consistency of design approach and a complementary palette of materials throughout the public realm.

If you need this letter in an alternative format (including audio) and/or language, please email journeysandplaces@enfield.gov.uk, call 020 8132 1789, or write to us at ATTN Journeys and Places, Enfield Council, Silver St, Enfield, EN1 3XA.  The project page can be translated into your preferred language. Visit https://letstalk.enfield.gov.uk/accessibility for more information on obtaining information in other formats.

Following the statutory consultation for Phase 1 of the Enfield Town Liveable Neighbourhood project, held in February and March 2024, and the Key Decision report (KD 5482) to implement the project, Enfield Council is proposing the installation of a raised table to slow down the traffic on Cecil Road. Statutory Consultation on this proposal has now closed, and decision was made to implemented the raised table.