Planners back a seven-bedroom house with gym and outdoor pool on garden land behind Seaforth Gardens, beside Grovelands Park. Councillors decide on 13 October.

Council planners are recommending approval for a seven-bedroom house with a gym and an outdoor swimming pool on garden land behind Seaforth Gardens in Winchmore Hill. The plot backs onto Grovelands Park.

The application drew 62 objections and one letter of support. Enfield’s Planning Committee will decide it at 7pm on Tuesday 13 October. (Enfield Council committee report, 25/03706/FUL)

A house of this size would normally be decided by officers alone. It is going to committee because Councillor Maria Alexandrou asked for it to be, citing the level of local interest. It was due before councillors in July but was deferred so the Gardens Trust could comment on the effect on the park. The Trust replied that it did not wish to comment.

What is proposed

The site is about 2,429 square metres of former garden, once part of 3 Seaforth Gardens and the rear garden of 35 Broad Walk. It used to hold a tennis court and a shed and is now grass. It would be reached along a private lane between 1 and 3 Seaforth Gardens, which narrows to 3.09 metres at the entrance.

The report describes:

  • a two-storey detached house with a flat green roof
  • seven bedrooms, a gym and a single garage with storage
  • an outdoor swimming pool
  • about 674 square metres of floorspace and 794 square metres of private garden
  • a building about 6 metres high, 38.7 metres wide and 17.7 metres deep
  • a new manual gate on the access lane

Two trees on the site, a yew and an apple, would be felled. The council’s tree officer rated both as low value and did not object.

Three houses were refused here in 2020

This is not the first attempt to build on the land. In 2020 the council refused an application for three detached houses on the same plot. It gave five reasons, including overdevelopment, harm to the area’s character, missing tree information and the narrow access. A planning inspector dismissed the appeal in November 2021, and a second application for three houses was withdrawn.

Officers say the new design overcomes those objections. The flat roof makes the house much lower than the pitched roofs of the refused scheme, and the green roof is meant to blend into the park behind it. The report says the site cannot be seen from the open parkland of Grovelands. The park itself is a Grade II* registered park and garden, though the plot sits outside it.

What objectors said

The report summarises the objections. They include the MP Kate Osamor. Among the points raised:

  • the access lane is too narrow and unsafe, including for fire engines
  • the house is too big for a garden plot and out of keeping with the street
  • loss of green space, trees and wildlife next to the park
  • flood risk, given flooding problems in Grovelands Park
  • overlooking, loss of light and construction noise
  • the earlier three-house scheme was dismissed on appeal

Officers answer that a fire engine can now be shown turning in front of the house, that separation distances protect neighbours’ light and privacy, and that ecology and construction can be controlled by condition.

Why officers say yes

The report leans on housing supply. Enfield cannot show a five-year supply of land for new homes, measured against the buffer the national rules require. In that position, the 2026 national planning framework says development in built-up areas should be approved unless the harm “substantially” outweighs the benefits. Officers give positive weight to one extra family home on that basis.

There are 24 proposed conditions, among them a construction management plan, tree protection, replacement planting and a cap on water use. One condition would require an updated drainage plan. The council’s drainage engineers had objected that the information submitted was not enough.

The report says the house is a self-build. That makes it exempt from the Community Infrastructure Levy, the charge on new floorspace that pays for local infrastructure, subject to the council’s exemption process. It is also exempt from the rule to deliver a 10% biodiversity net gain, unless it stops being a self-build.

What it means for you

If you live nearby, the decision is on Tuesday. The meeting is public, and the agenda and papers are on the council’s website. Councillors can follow the recommendation, refuse, or defer again.

If you objected, the neighbour consultation ran from 25 November to 5 December 2025. The council’s planning portal holds the full file under reference 25/03706/FUL.

If you follow planning in the borough, our Enfield planning news page tracks the bigger decisions. We will report the outcome.