FAQ

Enfield Council is in the process of developing exciting plans for the future of Enfield Town. We want to create a vibrant major town centre, whilst respecting the town’s unique character. The vision for the future of Enfield Town is being developed in collaboration with the local community.

Let’s Talk Enfield Town is an opportunity for the community to share ideas and help shape the future vision for Enfield Town. Let's Talk Enfield Town will involve of a series of surveys, pop-up events, and community workshops. We are also working closely with key stakeholders in Enfield Town to ensure the voices of people with disabilities, business owners and residents groups are represented in the consultation.

The detailed proposed plan can be viewed in the document library. Some of the key features of the proposed plan are:

• Enhancement of the Market Square in collaboration with the Old Enfield Charitable Trust and St Andrew’s Church
• 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’
• 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
• 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
• 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 

View the information boards and transport technical summary in the documents library for further details about what is being proposed.

Yes, a number of options were considered in the development on the Enfield Town project.

These included removing the one-way system with two-way working on Cecil Road, to significantly reduce traffic on Church Street.

Alternative options were considered that permitted buses eastbound on Church Street, or allowed buses to run in both directions on Church Street.

Following consideration, these options were not taken forward owing to the  impact on traffic, resulting in increased journey times for buses and general traffic and queuing, resulting in increased delays through the town centre.

It should be noted that if there was two-way general traffic on Cecil Road and two-way buses on Church Street there would also be insufficient space for any protected cycle infrastructure through the town centre.

In addition, these options formed part of a previous public consultation and were not generally supported.

As a result of the option testing, proposed that has been considered in more detail retains the existing one-way system.

The journey time results presented in transport technical information (found in the document library on the right hand side of the project page) slides assume a 7-13% reduction in motor traffic compared to 2019 traffic levels during the peak hours.

It is anticipated that this traffic reduction will be generated as a result on the following, that has been seen on similar schemes of this nature across London:

• People have changed their travel patterns as a result of COVID, for example, more people work from home more regularly.
• People will choose to travel at different times of the day.
• People will link their trips. Rather than going to the shops and back, or work and back they will combine trips reducing the overall number of vehicles on the road.
• People will choose to travel by different mode – bus, walk, cycle.
• People on longer trips will choose other strategic routes such as the A10 or the A406.
• In the short term, some reassignment is expected onto local roads but this will be monitored and mitigation put in place to minimise the impact, or prevent additional traffic on residential roads.

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, access to St Andrew’s Road will be maintained from the north and south, and access to the New River Loop Car Park will be maintained off Southbury Road. All the emergency services have been fully engaged in the design process to date and this collaboration will continue as the project is developed.

The Council is working directly with the Old Enfield Charitable Trust, the site owners, to explore plans for the future of the Market Square. This focuses on what the Market Square will look like on non-market days and what other activities might be taking place on the Market Square. The proposals have been designed to align closely with the Enfield Town Design Principles. The Market Square will continue to host the market in Enfield Town which is a key part of the Town Centre’s history and heritage, as well as a well-loved market by the community.

Both the Council and the Old Enfield Charitable Trust are excited about the potential for this space and continue to collaborate as part of an ongoing design process.

In addition to the proposed changes in the Market Square area, as part of the Enfield Town project we are looking to make changes to the following four public spaces in the Town Centre:

• The Library Green and Town Park entrance
• Fountain Island
• Enfield Town Station Plaza
• A proposed new public square at the junction of Little Park Gardens and Church Street (near Nationwide Building Society).

These proposals have been presented earlier in 2021 and now form part of the wider proposals being presented. More information on the public spaces can be found on the information boards in the Documents section of the project page.

Whichever way you arrive to Enfield Town, once you’re 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 in Enfield Town are by:

• Increasing the number of dedicated disabled bays in Enfield Town from one to 16
• Widening footways to enable people to safely pass by each other
• Improving accessibility at bus stops, allowing passengers to board and alight safely and conveniently.
• Provision of additional seating and places to rest throughout the town centre.

In order to prioritise pedestrians and people with disabilities, these plans propose the removal of much of the current on-street parking provision in the Town Centre. It is proposed that a total of 32 on-street pay-for-parking bays are removed from Church Street, The Town, Cecil Road, Colman Parade and Little Park Gardens. This has enabled us to widen footways and introduce 15 additional (to a total of 16) dedicated disabled parking bays across Enfield Town on London Road, Church Street, Sarnesfield Road, Little Park Gardens and Sydney Road. There are also an additional 78 disabled bays in dedicated car parks around the town centre.

8 resident bays are also being removed from Little Park Gardens to accommodate the new westbound cycle lane to improve the connection from Enfield Grammar School, and one electric bay on Coleman Parade will be relocated, within the local area, with the exact location to be confirmed at the next stage of design.

Whilst we recognise that on-street pay-for-parking is considered convenient for some people, we believe that the town centre can become a much safer and more attractive place by removing this. Significant capacity is available in car parks around the town centre. The removal of the 32 on-street pay-for-parking bays equates to a reduction of approximately 2.8% in the overall pay-for-parking capacity. Increasing footways and dedicating on-street provision to blue badge holders is considered to be the best use of this public space.

More information about the proposed parking and loading changes can be found in the transport technical information which can also be found in the documents section, on the right hand side of the project page.

This is an ambitious plan for our town centre and the Council have already secured more than £5m 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).

More certainty on funding from TfL is expected in Autumn 2022. Once this is known the Council can look to make decisions on the overall scope of the project. This would involve a formal approval process which would include a statutory consultation.

The consultation will include a final opportunity where anyone can object or make representations to the proposed traffic orders associated with the project. The statutory consultation is likely to occur in 2023. Should the project be approved, construction is anticipated in 2024.

You can take part in the survey by Sunday 25th September 2022 to:

• Tell us how you think the proposed plan responds to the Enfield Town Design Principles
• Tell us what you would like to see in the sensory garden in the Library Green
• Enter the new public space name competition. Share your suggestions via the survey for your chance to win £300 to spend locally in Enfield!

You can take part in the survey via one of the following ways:

• Online via the survey on the project page (link below)
• Via a paper survey available at Enfield Town library or upon request

Chat to us about the sensory garden in the Library Green during one of the following drop-in sessions:

• Library Green sensory garden drop-in session on Tuesday 9 August from 10am –1pm
• Library Green sensory garden drop-in session on Saturday 10 September from 10am –1pm

 Hear more about the project at one of the following:

• Online webinar on Tuesday 2nd August from 6pm –7.30pm. The link to join the webinar is https://tinyurl.com/EnfieldTownwebinar
• Fountain Island pop-up session on Sunday 31 July from 12pm –6pm
• Market Square pop-up session on Friday 9 September from 1pm –4pmSensory garden drop-in at the Library Green on Tuesday 9 August 2022 from 10am – 1pm
• Sensory garden drop-in at the Library Green on Saturday 10 September 2022 from 10am – 1pm
• See the exhibition of the proposed plan at the Enfield Town Library (until Sunday 25^th September 2022)

If you would like any of the materials in another format or language, or know someone who would, please contact us at healthystreets@enfield.gov.uk

By suggesting a name for the proposed new public space (via the survey), you could win £300 to spend locally in Enfield. The winning name will be selected by the Cabinet Member for Public Spaces, Culture and Local Economy.  

You can take the survey by 25th September 2022 via the project page at https://letstalk.enfield.gov.uk/EnfieldTown, by going to the Surveys & Forms tab of the project page. You can also visit Enfield Town library for a paper copy or request a paper copy by contacting as by email healthystreets@enfield.gov.uk, phone 020 8132 1789, or writing to us at ATTN Healthy Streets, Enfield Council, Silver St, Enfield, EN1 3XA.

By submitting a name or names for the proposed new public space at the junction of Little Park Gardens and Church Street (near Nationwide Building Society) via the Enfield Town Survey and Competition 2022 at https://letstalk.enfield.gov.uk, plus including your name and email or phone number, you consent to being entered into the competition to win £300 to spend locally in Enfield. The submission has to be made by 25th September 2022. This includes any paper copies sent to us. Each suggested name will be considered as 1 entry to the competition.

The winning name will be selected by the Cabinet Member for Public Spaces, Culture and Local Economy from the names entered. The winner will be contacted via the contact details they provided in the survey by the end of September. The £300 prize will be provided in the form of a Love2Shop voucher, via email.

Deutsche Bank (DWS) the owners of Palace Gardens & Exchange Shopping Centre, are working on their own plans for investment in the centre. In 2021 they ran community engagement on outline proposals which included a 26-storey residential tower but, following feedback from the public and planners, are currently revisiting those plans.

While DWS potential development of the shopping centre is separate to the Enfield Town project (which focuses on improvements to highways and the surrounding public spaces in the wider town centre area) their design & planning team intend to work closely with the Council, to ensure consistency of design approach and a complementary palettes of materials throughout the public realm.

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