Join our campaign to save Whitewebbs Park, a naturally rewilded public park in Enfield, North London from development by Tottenham Hotspur Football Club (THFC) for its new training ground.

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Brief History

The 240 acre Park, comprising grassland and ancient woodland, was bought by Enfield Council in 1931 for the public. It is Green Belt land held in Public Trust on a lease term of 999 years. The Park (grassland section) was used since the 1930s as a public golf course. Enfield Council began a tendering process in 2019 to lease the golf course area. This resulted in THFC being selected as the preferred bidder in 2021. The golf course was formally closed in 2021. The lease stated that if the golf course was to close, it would revert to public use. Since its closure, everyone has continued to enjoy this beautiful Park. There has been minimal maintenance, which has meant the old golf course has been naturally rewilding ever since. The current established, thriving, ecosystem provides a stunning mosaic of grassland, scrub and woodland habitats and is home to an astonishing array of flora and fauna, which includes rare and protected species. Now, THFC wants to expand its commercial football training centre for elite players into the rewilded grassland section, and build a new road through a portion of the ancient woodland near Whitewebbs Lake*, which would irremediably destroy the historic character of the Park and the vital, present nature, and take away a long standing space dedicated to the public. And this all comes in a time where we are losing so much publicly accessible open space, with an ever growing population, and during the threatening loom of climate change and species decline. Enfield Council are backing THFC's proposals in spite of the overwhelming public opposition.

* This road proposal was amended at the 11th February 2025 planning committee meeting to be pedestrian access only. The ancient woodland would still be damaged, and THFC has historically pushed through significant amendments after the main developments were approved, such as its hotel and women's training centre on its existing site.

Our Video

This short, 5 minute video addresses Tottenham Hotspur's claims.

Number Crunching

Whitewebbs, Spurs and Enfield Council.

NEXT EVENT: Nature Walk September 2025

Guardians of Whitewebbs Community Nature Walk - Saturday, 27th September 2025 at 11am. Meet at the café, Beggars Hollow, Whitewebbs Park, EN2 9JW.

Please join us for our next family friendly community nature walk in Whitewebbs Park, led by experts Benny Hawksbee and Russell Miller. It will also be attended by other members of the Guardians committee. This walk's focus is on ivy bees. Ivy bees first arrived in the UK in 2001. They are a harmless and ecologically important pollinator. Whitewebbs has a huge breeding population - mostly found on the former golf sand bunkers. September is a key month for these bees, as the ivy is in flower.

Since the public golf course’s closure in 2021, the Park has been naturally rewilding, and the public has continued to enjoy this beautiful green space. The ecosystem provides a mosaic of grassland, scrub and woodland habitats and is home to an array of flora and fauna, which includes rare and protected species. Our walks invite you to witness firsthand and learn about the thriving biodiversity that has emerged. As well as a celebration of nature's ability to heal and flourish when given space, this event is a lovely opportunity for community members and nature lovers to connect. We can't wait to see you there!

This space is currently under threat from Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, which plans to build another training centre. ️ Now is the time to get involved!

Directions: we have noticed that Google Maps can take you on a MUCH longer route than is necessary. Please, especially when coming by public transport, enter your destination as "Beggars Hollow, Enfield, EN2 9AJ". This short road will take you to Whitewebbs Café, where this event will start. This means that you can take the most direct route.

Legal Challenge Update - We've Hit Our Target

Poster by Sam Gracie Tillbrook and Alison Gracie

We are blown away by your support for, and donations to, our Crowdjustice fundraiser - we are now able to mount a fresh legal challenge to save Whitewebbs Park! We are challenging Enfield Council’s decision to grant planning permission to THFC. Reading your powerful comments on the CrowdJustice page has been moving and inspiring! We hit our initial target of £20,000 in just ten days! So we want to say:

Thank You!
Thanks to you, this deer's home, and the habitat of so many other species, is closer to being saved:

Legal Update
By way of a brief update, this £20,000 is the minimum we need to proceed, but we encourage you to donate to the stretch target of £30,000 to cover full legal costs.

We have already sent a letter before claim (also known as a letter before action) and we expect Enfield Council to respond to this soon. We will consider its response; then, unless it concedes, we will urgently issue the grounds to the court at the beginning of September. Subsequently, we hope the court will grant us permission to proceed with the case, and we will continue to a full hearing.

Given that most of the legal case must remain confidential, we are unable to share more detailed information until after we issue the grounds to the court (and potentially not until we hear from the judge regarding whether we can proceed). Please note we are working extremely hard in the background with our expert legal team, solicitor Harriet Child (Public Interest Law Centre), and barrister Alex Shattock (Landmark Chambers). We will keep you all informed as we progress with the case.

Photo: Enfield Dispatch

New Enfield Dispatch Article
Thanks to James Cracknell from the Enfield Dispatch for covering our legal challenge fundraiser “Crowdfunder launched to pay for fresh Whitewebbs legal challenge”.

Flyers and Posters
We are also highly thankful to the community for putting up well over 50 posters around the local area and helping to distribute over 3000 flyers to local residents! The flyers have a poster on one side, encouraging people to stick them up in their window. We are so pleased to see many of these in people’s windows - just walk around streets near Hilly Fields to see the kind of support for Whitewebbs on display.

Video
Sam Gracie Tillbrook has put together another video, where members of the community who helped distribute flyers share why they want to save Whitewebbs. You can watch it here.

Collage: Sam Gracie Tillbrook

Video credits: Editing: Sam Gracie Tillbrook |  Music: Avid Beats - PROUD | Featured speakers and filming: Sam Gracie Tillbrook, Tim Dell, Melisa Zulu, Frances Howard, Liam Hannon, Angie Harrington, Brian Armistead

Special Thanks: Poster and flyer designs: Sam Gracie Tillbrook, Alison Gracie, Enfield Dispatch, Colin Pressland. | Everyone who helped flyer: Alison, Andrew, Andrew T., Angie, Brgitta, Brian, Frances, Ian, Jackie, Jenny, John, Jude, Liam, Margaret, Melisa, Nicola, Paul, Ryan, Sam, Sue.

Thanks to Tim Dell, owner of Hanging Around Gallery, for making this display in his shop window!

Social Media
We are also hugely grateful for your shares and support on social media. Please keep posting and sharing, as it all helps our campaign reach more people.

Legal Challenge Posters

Sam Gracie Tillbrook has made three different posters using images by Colin Pressland and Alison Gracie. You can choose from these to put one up in your window (or feel free to put up all 3)! Just download them here and print them out (if you don’t have a printer, you can visit your local library). Please also encourage your neighbours and friends to do so too.

In the folder, we have included versions of the poster both with and without QR codes and links. The posters without are best to put up in your window, because people won't be able to read the small text or scan the QR codes from a distance. The posters with the QR codes are for putting up around your local area, especially if you have a laminator.

Open Meeting

The Guardians of Whitewebbs organised an open meeting, held on 6th August, in advance of launching the legal challenge. It had a great turn out, with over 80 people attending, and we spoke to many residents about our next steps to Save Whitewebbs. Thank you so much for coming. And we are very grateful to St Luke’s Church for hosting us, and to all who helped organise and publicise the event.

Photo: Kitty Clarke

Mayor Approves Devastating Whitewebbs Development

On 14th July 2025, the Mayor of London declined to intervene in Spurs' planned development of Whitewebbs Park in Enfield, North London. Spurs seek to build an elite 10 pitch women's training academy, adjacent to its 17 pitch men's training centre. The development, which would result in a consequential loss of public and biodiverse green space, now looks set to go ahead despite strong opposition, both from locals and from people across the country. The decision not to direct refusal of permission comes in spite of over 1200 representations made to the Mayor (see document below), plus more sent to the Council (these were provided to the Mayor).

Please read our press release and the decision notice, both embedded below.

Mayor's Decision Protest Video by Jo Syz

Protest outside City Hall in London on 14th July 2025.

Whitewebbs Park: What Does It Mean to You?

An exciting new series celebrating the community's love of Whitewebbs! We can't let this beautiful public green space be destroyed by Spurs and Enfield Council. Please join in - details in the poster below! We can't wait to hear about your stories!

The Series:

Number 1 by Sharon Drew (April 2025) | Number 2 by Caroline Day (April 2025) | Number 3 by Mavis & Hamish (May 2025 | Number 4 by Zak Philip Music (June 2025) | Number 5 by Liam Hannon (July 2025) | Number 6 by Geraldine Ahmed (July 2025) | Number 7 by Jeffrey Duckett (July 2025) | Number 8 by Melisa Zulu (August 2025) | Number 9 by Jackie Evans (August 2025) | Number 10 by Helen Clews (August 2025) | Number 11 by Helen Clews (August 2025) | Number 12 by Janet Hatherley, Enfield Poets (August 2025)

Whitewebbs Oak Felling

As you will have seen on the national media, a shocking decimation of a nationally significant oak tree took place on 3rd April 2025, in the Southwestern edge of the Whitewebbs Toby Carvery car park. We now know this action was ordered by the Toby Carvery, but are uncertain of the motives. The Guardians of Whitewebbs are pursuing the case, and have found strong links between the Toby Carvery and Tottenham Hotspur Football Club (Odyzean Ltd, a subsidiary of ENIC (Spurs) owns 56.61% of the shares in Mitchells and Butlers PLC, which owns the Toby Carvery). Stay up to date with the latest news by signing up to our newsletter, WhatsApp groups and following our Instagram.

Whitewebbs Oak Protest 20th April 2025

Also see:

The illegal felling of the Whitewebbs Oak

Email the Enfield MPs Regarding the Whitewebbs Oak

Members of Parliament can raise issues and are elected to represent their constituents. Please ask what your MP is doing to get to the bottom of the Whitewebbs Oak scandal, and request that they ask the police to fully investigate; raise the matter with the Minister for Nature in the House of Commons; and encourage Enfield Council to begin an expedited survey to identify Tree Protection Orders for all suitable Whitewebbs Park and Wood trees, thus protecting them for the future. Try to include a personal touch to your letter, and explain how you feel about the Whitewebbs Oak felling.

Sign Our Petition Demanding:

Thank you so much for nearly 50,000 signatures as of 14th May 2025!

A taster of our walks...

Our 19th October nature walk, tree shrine making and seed scattering event:

Planning Committee Protest

11th February 2025

News Interview

Brydie Monaghan from London Live Speaks to Guardians of Whitewebbs Members Sam Gracie Tillbrook and Ed Allnutt, broadcast on 13th January 2025.

Edited by: Brydie Monaghan for London Live. | Featuring footage copyright by: Sam Gracie Tillbrook, Ed Allnutt, Jo Syz, Acro Aviator, Colin Pressland and Alison Gracie. | Events featured in additional footage: Green Sketching with Sharon Drew and the Nature Walk and Tree Shrine Making with Benny Hawksbee and Melisa Zulu.

Vision

Our aim is for Whitewebbs Park to become a designated nature reserve, while staying fully publicly accessible, to ensure protection for future generations.

We would like to see the Park continue to be a central hub for residents and visitors to enjoy the beauty of nature and to be a beacon for biodiversity in London.

Our vision is to continue to build an inclusive community focussed on rewilding; environmental and wildlife education; mindfulness and collaborative activities (outdoor crafts, gardening, nature walks, retreats, eco-therapy, sustainable sports).

Current Aims

We are campaigning to save the Park from development. Please join us - we'd love to have you on board. And please sign up - we have regular events, and it will be great to have you there.

Photo by Alison Gracie

Thank you so much! 

Much love from the Guardians of Whitewebbs!

Photos from the Community

Send in your photos for a chance to be featured on our Instagram: sam@avidbeats.com

Disclaimer: We welcome your thoughts but are not responsible for content not posted by the official "Guardians of Whitewebbs" accounts (Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp Groups, Website). We do not support illegal or harmful activities, and please report any such content to us to seek removal.