Great news for Enfield – Transport for London announced yesterday that it’s won Liveable Neighbourhood funding!


An image from the TfL Liveable Neighbourhoods announcement

Enfield was one of 11 successful boroughs for this year’s Liveable Neighbourhood funding. Liveable Neighbourhoods are the successor to Boris Johnson’s Mini Hollands, and have a similar aim of boosting walking and cycling, reducing traffic and make areas healthier and more ‘liveable’. Enfield Council’s successful bid won the borough £6 million to improve Enfield Town centre.

The TfL announcement says, “Investment in Enfield Town Centre will focus on Church Street, reducing traffic dominance by narrowing the carriageway, connecting Market Square and the shopping centre and making it safer to walk to the train station. Junctions will be redesigned to be safer for pedestrians and cyclists and segregated cycle tracks built on Cecil Road, connecting with existing routes built as part of Enfield’s mini-Holland programme. Little Park Gardens and Town Park will be revitalised and new 20mph speed limits will reduce danger while sustainable drainage on roads will help to reduce flood risk in the area.”

As Better Streets for Enfield, we congratulate Enfield Council on its success in bidding for Liveable Neighbourhood funding from Transport for London.

We believe that transforming Enfield Town into a genuinely Liveable Neighbourhood will help reverse the downturn in the shopping centres, most of all in Church Street, where the noise, fumes and danger from fast traffic has become a deterrent to shoppers. There is growing evidence that people arriving on foot, by public transport and on bikes – and a low-traffic environment – are the real key to successful town centres. 

While we welcome the ideas in the bid that we’ve seen so far, we believe that the best design would take cars off Church Street altogether. This would create a stress-free place for shoppers and give easy access by bike to shops, cafes and restaurants. With this in mind, we look forward to working with the council and the public during the consultation phase towards the boldest possible vision for Enfield Town, to make it into the healthy and vibrant centre that we all wish for.