Springwatch star Chris Packham has hit out at Tottenham Hotspur bosses over what he claims are "absolutely bonkers" plans to turn part of a public wildlife park into "grotesque" football fields.
Spurs want to develop part of Whitewebbs Park, in Enfield, north London, to turn it into a women's football academy. But Packham says: "They'll be no football on a dead planet….what we are up against is the bloated monster that is the football Premier League with its unfortunate economic might. This is another case of David versus Goliath.”
The land is home to 80 species of bird as well as bats, great-crested newts, badgers and butterflies. A judge ruled in favour of Spurs after local resident Sean Wilkinson took them to court - with Wilkinson now trying to urgently raise £20,000 to appeal the court’s decision.
And Packham is backing his fight, blasting: “What's the score at the moment? Tottenham: 1, Planet; , Nil. That's it isn't it.”
He added: “If they've done without the astro turf and pitches up until this point then why do they need it there now? We are going to lose so much valuable space for what are essentially football pitches. We are losing that acid rich grassland to a small group of people behind fences who kick a ball around. It's absolutely nonsensical.”
He said that the world was in the grip of a climate emergency…and that green spaces such as this was crucial for people’s mental health. Chris added: “This is at a time where we are conscious of the fact we need to protect every last square of greenery, particularly in cities where it has multiple values. It's not just about nature conservation, it's about people's mental health and access to nature for people who are living in a crowded urban environment. It's absolutely bonkers and Spurs are totally disconnected from reality.”
Chris said how his recent London march called Restore Nature Now had more than 100,000 people attend. “Frankly, nature needs to come first. If they need new pitches, put them somewhere where it doesn't matter. Whitewebbs Park matters. So, you can't have it. That's the point we should be at. The reality is that we can't afford to lose anymore green spaces in our cities, they keep the cities cool. You only need a map to look at the world, to see that many parts of it are cooking.”
Spurs have said that The Women’s and Girls’ Training facility will only take up around 18 per cent of the Whitewebbs site, with the club pledging to restore the former golf course to historic parkland, repair a pond and build a new cafe and meeting area. Spurs say they are planting 3,000 new trees, as well as upgrading fingootpaths and creating a birdwatching platform and "biodiversity corridor". They say that nine pitches have been proposed, of which only one will be astro-turf.