In a passionate plea to safeguard the city’s parks and green spaces, acclaimed actress Dame Judi Dench has joined forces with local campaign groups to fight against the alarming threat of development encroaching on London’s public lands.
Dench, a long-time advocate for the preservation of trees and nature, has spoken out about the urgent need to protect these vital green spaces “before it’s too late.” Her call to action comes as a new report by CPRE London reveals that more than 50 of the city’s parks are at risk of being lost to private interests.
The Oscar-winning actor, who plants a tree for each of her close friends and relatives who have passed away, has described her beloved trees as part of her “extended family,” saying, “It’s something living that goes on. You don’t remember them and stop; you remember them and the memory goes on and gets more wonderful.”
Dench’s concerns are echoed by the findings of the CPRE London report, which identified at least nine parks, eight playing fields, and eight nature reserves that are currently under threat. Among them is Whitewebb’s Park in Enfield, where a 450-year-old oak tree was controversially felled last year, and where Tottenham Hotspur football club plans to develop the site, cutting down 207 trees in the process.
“Staggeringly, 10% of public land in Britain has been lost since 1979,” Dench lamented. “Whitewebb’s Park in Enfield is one of the public parks currently under threat. There, a 450-year-old oak tree was brutally butchered and Spurs’ plans to develop the park involve cutting down 207 trees, including veteran and mature trees, and taking over most of the park for their elite private use.”
The actress has thrown her support behind a local campaign group that has initiated a judicial review to challenge Enfield Council’s decision to lease the land to the football club. Similar battles have been fought across the city, including a long-running dispute over plans by the All England Lawn Tennis Club to build a new stadium, 10 private buildings, and 38 tennis courts on a previously public area of Wimbledon Park.
Alice Roberts, the head of campaigns at CPRE London, warns that the threats to London’s green spaces are twofold. “In the past two years, we’ve faced two new challenges. Almost unbelievably, a legal judgment confirmed that councils have unfettered powers to sell parks. Elsewhere, parks are being turned into commercial event spaces. If you think London’s parks are protected, think again.”
Furthermore, the UK government has reportedly “caved in to lobbying to remove green belt protection, introducing a ‘grey belt’ policy enabling landowners to cash in on protected countryside land they bought cheaply years ago, despite wide-scale availability of brownfield land in London, including a staggering 300,000 homes with planning permission unbuilt.”
Dench’s passionate call to action, coupled with the alarming findings of the CPRE London report, serves as a wake-up call to the public and policymakers alike. As the beloved actress eloquently stated, “It is more important than ever to protect our parks and green spaces before it’s too late.”
