Crews Hill at a Crossroads: Homes, Green Belt, Jobs and the Value of What Already Exists

Update — 3 September 2026: This article has been checked against the final National Planning Policy Framework published on 17 August 2026 and Enfield Council's formal withdrawal from the New Town process on 28 May 2026. We have also clarified wording about visitor behaviour so that the article distinguishes documented fact from our analysis of how the Crews Hill business cluster works. Sources: GOV.UK — National Planning Policy Framework; Enfield Council — withdrawal from the New Town process. The directory total has also been refreshed to 131 genuine records following the Welcome to Crews Hill Businesses Directory CMS verification audit carried out on 3 September 2026.

There is no question that London needs more homes.

Housing is expensive, families are struggling and people need somewhere affordable to live. We understand that completely.

But good planning cannot only be about asking how many homes can be built.

It also has to ask:

• What is already here?

• What would be lost?

• Would the end result genuinely be better for Enfield?

That is the question now facing Crews Hill.

Where things currently stand

In March 2026, the Government included Crews Hill and Chase Park in its draft New Towns Programme, with the potential for up to 21,000 new homes across the wider area.

That does not mean 21,000 homes have planning permission, and the final boundaries have not been settled.

Enfield Council has since formally withdrawn its support for the New Town programme. The council says it wants to focus on a brownfield-first approach, including the regeneration of existing town centres and the use of underused land.

Central government, however, has not withdrawn Crews Hill from its proposals.

So the future remains uncertain.

On 17 August 2026, there was another important change.

The Government published a revised National Planning Policy Framework, giving much stronger support to housing around well-connected railway stations. Crews Hill has its own station, so naturally this has raised concern locally.

The rules are not as simple as drawing an 800-metre circle around every station, and Crews Hill does not automatically meet every test. But there is no doubt that national planning policy has shifted further in favour of development around transport links.

Photo by Peter Trimming (geograph.org.uk, CC BY-SA 2.0)

Green Belt is not empty land

One of the things that concerns us most is the way Crews Hill can sometimes be spoken about as though it is simply land waiting to be developed.

It isn’t.

The Green Belt here includes:

• Nurseries

• Horticultural land

• Fields

• Woodland

• Recreation

• Businesses

• Open space

The Government’s own planning policy still says the purpose of Green Belt is to prevent urban sprawl by keeping land permanently open.

And in Crews Hill, the Green Belt and the local economy have grown together.

The open landscape helped create the horticultural industry.

The horticultural industry brought visitors.

The visitors supported businesses.

The businesses created jobs.

That is how Crews Hill became what it is today.

It is not an empty space on a map. It is a living, working area with a history, an identity and a community built around its landscape.

There is already a successful economy here

This is perhaps the part of the debate that concerns us most.

Crews Hill is not waiting for an economy to arrive.

It already has one.

Welcome to Crews Hill has verified 131 genuine business, organisation and community records in the directory, as checked on 3 September 2026.

Those businesses employ people.

Not just shop staff, but drivers, installers, growers, office workers, landscapers, warehouse staff, café workers, tradespeople and many others.

Some estimates put employment across Crews Hill at several hundred people, with others suggesting the number could be closer to 1,000.

But remarkably, there does not appear to be a full independent audit of exactly how many people currently earn their living here.

Surely that should happen before decisions are made that could fundamentally change the area.

The jobs here are not theoretical.

People rely on them today.

They pay mortgages and rent, support families and spend money in the local economy. At a time when so many households are already struggling, that matters enormously.

Every business owner, whether running a nursery, café, garden centre, specialist shop or local service, has built something that contributes to Crews Hill’s identity and economy.

Those businesses should be properly understood before their future is decided.

Crews Hill brings people into Enfield

Crews Hill is also unusual because it is a destination.

People travel here from across London, Hertfordshire and beyond to visit the garden centres, nurseries, specialist retailers, cafés and other businesses.

That means money is being brought into Enfield.

Visitors rarely come to just one business. They may buy plants, visit another garden centre, have lunch, buy garden furniture, visit a specialist shop or arrange work with a local company.

That spending spreads through the area.

In many ways, Crews Hill operates like a specialist high street — just one built around horticulture, gardens, outdoor living and independent businesses rather than rows of conventional shops.

That economic value should not be overlooked.

Photo: Cattlegate Road looking towards Crews Hill station (geograph.org.uk, CC BY-SA 2.0)

Crews Hill’s appeal is not simply that there is land available.

Its appeal comes from what is already there.

The combination of open space, specialist businesses, experience, atmosphere and the reason people choose to make the journey.

That is not something that can automatically be recreated by building roads, houses and a new shopping area.

What about jobs from the New Town?

A development of up to 21,000 homes would undoubtedly create jobs.

There would be construction work.

And over time there would be schools, shops, services, healthcare and other employment too.

But there is currently no published Crews Hill-specific figure showing how many permanent jobs the completed New Town would create.

So it would be wrong to claim that it would definitely create more jobs than exist today.

It would also be wrong to say with certainty that it would create fewer.

We simply do not know yet.

And that is exactly why the existing economy needs to be properly counted first.

When people assess the economic benefit of a New Town, the question should not simply be:

How many new jobs will be created?

It should be:

How many new jobs will be created after the jobs and businesses displaced have been taken into account?

That is the figure that really matters.

A headline figure for new employment does not tell the whole story if existing businesses have been forced to close, relocate or operate somewhere that no longer works for them.

For example, if 800 existing jobs were lost and 1,200 new jobs were created, the real increase would not be 1,200 jobs. It would be a net gain of 400.

That example is not intended to suggest those are the actual figures for Crews Hill. It simply shows why the net-jobs question matters.

Until the current number of jobs in Crews Hill is properly understood, nobody can honestly answer it.

We are losing too many successful local economies already

Across Britain, high streets are struggling.

Independent businesses are closing.

Town centres are trying desperately to bring visitors back.

Huge amounts of money are being spent trying to regenerate places and recreate the kind of local economy that once existed naturally.

Crews Hill has somehow managed to keep one.

That should matter.

It has survived generations of change.

It has survived:

• Recessions

• The rise of internet shopping

• Changing consumer habits

• The pandemic

Businesses here have adapted again and again.

Surely that should be something to promote and champion, not something we overlook because the land underneath it could accommodate housing.

Once a successful cluster of independent businesses disappears, it is incredibly difficult to recreate.

You cannot simply move the whole character of an area somewhere else and expect the same result.

The landscape matters.

The businesses matter.

The visitors matter.

The local knowledge matters.

They are all part of the same picture.

This should not be homes versus Green Belt

We do not believe this debate should become anti-housing versus pro-housing.

That is too simplistic.

Enfield needs homes.

But Enfield also needs jobs, businesses, green space and places with their own identity.

There should be room in the conversation for all of those things.

Before major decisions are made, we believe some very basic questions need answering:

• How many businesses would be affected?

• How many people currently work in Crews Hill?

• How many businesses could realistically relocate and remain viable?

• How much visitor spending does Crews Hill bring into Enfield?

• What would the true net gain in permanent jobs actually be?

• Could more housing be delivered on brownfield and underused urban land first?

• If suitable brownfield land remains available across the borough, how should that be weighed against Green Belt release here?

• Could any future development protect the strongest parts of Crews Hill’s Green Belt, business community and destination economy rather than sweeping them away?

These are not unreasonable questions.

They are essential questions.

The need for housing should not mean the value of existing jobs, businesses and open space is brushed aside.

Equally, protecting what already exists should not mean refusing to discuss how Enfield can meet its housing needs.

The conversation just needs to be more thoughtful than that.

Our view

Welcome to Crews Hill was created to celebrate and promote this remarkable part of Enfield.

We understand the need for housing.

We are not pretending that pressure does not exist.

It does.

Families need homes.

Young people need a chance to stay in the areas they know.

And affordability is a real issue.

But we also believe that when something is already working, we should be extremely careful before dismantling it.

Crews Hill has spent generations building an economy that attracts people from far and wide.

It supports independent businesses.

It provides jobs.

It brings money into Enfield.

And its Green Belt setting is a huge part of what makes the area special.

At a time when so many high streets and local economies are struggling, Crews Hill should be recognised for what it has managed to preserve.

Not dismissed as if it were simply empty land with no wider value.

New homes matter.

But so do jobs.

So do businesses.

So does green space.

So does local identity.

And so do the people whose livelihoods already depend on this area.

Before we decide what Crews Hill could become, we should first make sure we properly understand — and properly value — what Crews Hill already is.

We will continue to follow developments, share factual updates and celebrate the businesses, people, heritage and landscape that make Crews Hill unique.

And in the meantime, the best way to support Crews Hill is simply to use it.

Visit. Shop locally. Have lunch. Explore the nurseries and garden centres. Support the independent businesses. Enjoy the open spaces. Tell other people what you found.

Every visit helps demonstrate that Crews Hill is not an empty area waiting for a purpose.

It already has one.