A community group has launched its own bid to renovate a Palmers Green landmark into a community centre, museum and café.

The plan to turn the Grade II* listed Broomfield House, which currently sits surrounded by scaffolding and out of use, into a thriving community hub have been put forward by the Friends of Broomfield Park and the Broomfield House Trust.

They want Enfield Council to abandon its plan to renovate the building into 18 flats for sheltered housing after years of wrangling over funding between the council, Government and Mayor of London.

Secretary of the Friends group, Laki Marangos, said: “The council still believes that the only viable way to restore the house is to fund it by selling the housing units within the first floor and the whole of the stable yard. “By doing so the council would also relinquish ongoing management responsibility of the whole estate to a housing agency.

“Working with these schools and other community groups, an on-site learning opportunity can be created jointly around these restored assets.”

The groups want to restore the building and include a museum focusing on local history, create exhibition space and community rooms for hire, with a café on the ground floor.

The old stable yard would be developed by a not-for-profit trust to create studio spaces for local artists and a community vegetable garden.

Mr Marangos added: “With the council’s support a destination attraction can be created that will bring visitors to Palmers Green, offer them a wonderful day out in Broomfield Park and increase foot traffic in the shops on our high street.”

The future of the scheme was put in doubt last summer when nearly £6m of funding from the Greater London Authority was axed during the Government's funding review.

The council has held talks with the Heritage Lottery Fund to source funding, but the project has been stalled for years while guarantees and promises of cash have been broken.