Vital Forum Meeting & Vote

Unless we get people volunteering to manage and run the Forum, we will be forced to close as a Trust and charity.

We need new people to run the Forum – otherwise we will not be able to continue.

We are holding an Extraordinary General Meeting on 29 October (see details on p16 of the new Forum Focus) where we will vote on the motion: ‘that this Forum will close on 31 March 2025 as a Trust as designated by the Charities Commission’.

More details in the October/November edition of Forum Focus just out. It should be with you over the next couple of days. As always, it is on this site and you can read it here.

Local Voices Needed

Now is the time to get involved if you want to influence the final version of Enfield Council’s New Local Plan!

Enfield, a borough with a rich history and a vibrant community, is at a pivotal moment. The decisions made today will reverberate for generations. Enter the New Local Plan, a blueprint that will guide Enfield’s development, housing, and environment until 2041.

The clock is ticking. We have just a month to make our voices heard. This is your chance to influence the future, to advocate for homes, green spaces, and sustainable growth.

Before the Local Plan debate at the Full Council meeting on March 6, 2024, our elected representatives should reach out to their constituents. They should discuss aspirations for homes, the environment, and the delicate balance between progress and preservation. It’s a crucial conversation – one that bridges the gap between policy and people.

We encourage members to contact their ward councillors to request a ward forum where the plans can be discussed. A summary of proposals for each ward can be accessed here. Just click on the links in the document to see your councillors’ contact details.

In 2021, the draft Local Plan emerged and received 7,267 written responses. The need for additional housing, and affordable housing, was undeniable, but so were concerns about deliverability, the lack of infrastructure to support the growth proposed, the number of tall buildings proposed and the release of Green Belt land.

The revised plan is targeting 35,000 new homes by 2041. That’s a staggering leap from the draft proposal in 2021. These numbers are far in excess of London Plan targets and would mean one new home for every four existing ones. Building these homes would require building on green belt land, roughly 40 times the size of Enfield Town Park, justifying residents’ concerns about the sufficiency of infrastructure such as roads, schools, primary healthcare, and green space for health, leisure, and well-being.

Enfield is not alone – the Council should consider its strategic role within London, as directed by the Mayor through the London Plan, whereby each borough, including Enfield, has a role to play and a housing target to reach. The London Plan targets can be met without building homes on green belt land. Furthermore, data provided by EnCaf indicates that, far from being balanced, consultees’ support for releasing green belt land for housing development is very limited indeed.

Enfield stands at a crossroads. Let’s ensure that our legacy is one of foresight, compassion, and sustainable growth. Together, we’ll build a future that honours our past and embraces the promise of tomorrow. A web search on “Enfield’s New Local Plan” links to the relevant page on the Council’s website. Appendix C (parts 1, 2 and 3) at the bottom of the page reveals detailed site allocations.

Living with Arthritis

On 26th April, Leah Boylan of Arthritis Action gave us a talk on living with arthritis. She described techniques for managing the huge range of conditions known as arthritis. She also described some of the resources on their website that are open to all. The site is at https://www.arthritisaction.org.uk/.

Here is a recording of her talk on our YouTube channel:

The December/January Forum Focus is out now

Topics covered this month include what to do to keep safe from Covid over the winter, how the Forum is working with other organisations to help older people understand the challenges related to climate change, and the suspension of the pension triple lock. Plus, all our regular news of activities and events open to members.

Christine Whetstone RIP

We are all mourning the loss of a friend and colleague who contributed so much to the Forum and to the community in Enfield more widely.

Our excellent Chair, Christine Whetstone died last month and will be greatly missed and mourned by the Forum and all the many other organisations she played a vital role in from the Writing Group she ran for us to much acclaim, the work she did for the local Youth Offending Team and her tireless contributions to Amnesty International.

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Annual General Meeting + Light-hearted survey on censorship – Tuesday 29th June

We will hold a short AGM at 10.30am, including presentation of the annual report and accounts for 2020 – 2021, election of Executive Committee Members and any other business that members wish to raise.

Then we will be treated to Peter and Christine Padwick giving us a light-hearted survey of banning and censorship over the past 100 years or so with pictures, songs & anecdotes touching on George Formby, Reith and the BBC, cricket, Marilyn Monroe, Sooty, G.B. Shaw, Donald McGill, the Crazy Gang, Dr.Crippen, Alfred Hitchcock, Eartha Kitt, Thomas Hardy, Henry Hall, adverts, Frank Sinatra, D.H. Lawrence, Max Miller, George Gershwin and much more along the way.

To join the meeting and talk, use the following link at 10:30 on Tuesday:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89012632769

Monty Meth RIP

It is with great sadness that the Enfield Over 50s Forum announces that the borough has lost one of its most well-known champions. Leader of the Forum for more than twenty years, Monty Meth celebrated his ninety-fifth birthday earlier this month but sadly passed away on 14 March. Although his health deteriorated of late, his mind and incisiveness remained as sharp as ever until the end.

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