Residents had unsuccessfully challenged Enfield council in court over club’s plan to build pitches on rewilded area rich in bats and newts

A women’s football academy will be built over public green space and a rewilded former golf course after Enfield council approved controversial plans by Tottenham Hotspur football club.

The council, which handed Spurs a 25-year lease for 53 hectares (130 acres) of Whitewebbs Park in north London, has backed plans for all-weather pitches, floodlights and a “turf academy” on green belt parkland rich in bats, newts and mature trees. In exchange Spurs will pay the council £2m.