Residents oppose plans plans for Travellers' pitches on Green Acres, Oxhey Lane - Watford

From the Watford Observer

Residents in Carpenders Park said "the whole area will be changed for the worse forever" if planning permission for a Travellers' pitch on Green Belt land was granted.

The application, for Green Acres, Oxhey Lane, would see the land changed from horse keeping and stables to a residential caravan site for six families, each with two caravans.

The stable, which is currently at the rear of the lane and screened by a fence and hedge, would be converted into six day rooms, each with bathroom facilities.

In the plans, the application said Three Rivers District Council intended to provide 15 pitches between 2006-2011, and has only provided 12, and aims to add another 12 by 2021.

One neighbour, from Carpenders Avenue, said: "This application must be denied. We already have travellers on Oxhey Lane.

"This is Green Belt land and this is not in keeping with that remit. There will be a huge negative response to this application and I hope this will be enough to stop this proposal."

Another, in Greenfield Avenue, said: "We object to this development on the grounds that this change of use from open fields farmland will spoil the natural face of the area.

"Six families in 12 caravans? We know it will not stop at this. This application must be refused on the grounds the whole area will be changed for the worse forever."