Policy information sourced from Enfield Development Managament Document (DMD)

DMD 43 Tall Buildings

1. Tall buildings will not be acceptable in areas classified as inappropriate.

Areas inappropriate for tall buildings include those:

  • within and adjacent to the Green Belt;
  • within the boundary or in the immediate vicinity of, or along views to, or from:
    • Conservation areas;
    • Nationally or locally listed buildings;
    • Scheduled or locally listed ancient monuments; and
    • Nationally or locally registered historic parks and gardens.

2. There will be a presumption against tall buildings in sensitive areas, with the onus being on the developer to demonstrate how the proposal avoids the negative impacts associated with the sensitive classification. Areas likely to be sensitive to tall buildings include:

  • Locations where development would infringe upon or detract from important local views;
  • Ridges or other areas of high ground where they would have a significant impact on the horizon;
  • Locations where existing development is of good quality, and is relatively homogeneous in scale, grain and height, contributing to a strong sense of place (including the areas described as Residential Perimeter Blocks in the Enfield Characterisation Study, 2011).

3. Applications for tall buildings in areas meeting the appropriate criteria may be acceptable in principle. The actual suitability of a proposal will always depend on the context of the site and details of the proposed building. Locations that may be appropriate for tall buildings are areas outside of those described above and which:

  • Have good access to public transport, and/or;
  • Contain existing and appropriate clusters of tall buildings, and/or;
  • Are within designated town centres, activity hubs or regeneration areas

In the majority of cases more than one or all of the above criteria will need to be met, depending on the proposal.

4. Further and more detailed urban design analysis will need to be undertaken in all cases to examine the suitability of individual sites. In addition to the requirements set out in policy 7.7 of the London Plan (2011), proposals will only be permitted if all of the following criteria are met. Development must:

  • Provide a landmark signifying a civic function or location/area of importance and interest and/or add to the legibility of the area;
  • Provide adequate amenity space for all residential units;
  • Not have a negative impact on existing important and highly visible structures (including other tall buildings);
  • Take account of the cumulative impact of tall buildings (including consideration of extant permissions);
  • Exhibit high standards of sustainable design and construction and architectural quality, the latter to include consideration of scale, form, massing, proportion and silhouette, facing materials, night-time appearance and relationship to other structures with particular attention to the design of the base and top of the building;
  • Contribute to the physical and visual permeability of the site and wider area, aiding legibility and movement;
  • Contribute positively to the public realm through the relationship to the surrounding environment and, where appropriate, through the provision of high quality public space;
  • Not harm the amenity of properties in the vicinity through shadowing and overlooking.

5. There are a number of existing tall buildings that are inappropriate to their context. Any proposal for redevelopment of these sites must result in a significant reduction in the negative impact on the surrounding area and a net improvement to the quality of the development. Proposals for replacement tall buildings should seek to comply with the criteria set out in part 4 of this policy. A reduction in height must be achieved for any replacement buildings located in inappropriate locations.

6. The requirements of Policy 7.7 of the London Plan (2011) and those detailed in part 4 of this policy should be explicitly addressed in the applicant’s Design and Access Statement, which should include a detailed urban design analysis of the proposal showing how it responds to, and impacts upon, its context. Applicants will be required to submit accurate visual representations of the proposal as seen from the surrounding area, including from agreed points within important local views. Visual representations will need to accurately display the appearance of the building in a number of conditions (e.g. daytime, night time and in different seasons and atmospheric conditions). Visual representations should be prepared in line with the advice given in part 3 and Appendix C of the London View Management Framework SPG (Mayor of London, 2012).

This policy should be read in conjunction with Core Strategy policy 30

For more information please see the Development Managament Document (DMD)