Objections delay Parkfields decision

2:29pm Wednesday 5th September 2001

The borough council could be forced to defend its decision to sell Green Belt parkland to Elstree Golf Club at a public inquiry, it emerged this week.

Hertsmere Borough Council has applied for Government permission to sell 62 acres of Green Belt-protected land at Parkfields and Medburn, in Elstree.

But the Government Office for the East of England this week said it had postponed making a decision on the application, after receiving objections.

The office will either grant permission or call a public inquiry, to give both the council and the objectors the chance to express their views.

A spokesperson said: "We have had quite a few objections from the public, and further information from the council has been requested."

The council's plan to sell off the land has worried many people who walk in the Parkfields area and are concerned about public access. Last year the golf club put forward a plan to build a second 18-hole golf course on some of the land.

However, the council claims it is unlikely that the sale of the land would result in any inconvenience for the people who walk there.

Elstree Golf Club was given the option to buy the two pieces of land in the lease it agreed with the borough council back in 1990.

Anyone who would like to comment on the proposed sale can still write to The Government Office for the East of England, Heron House, 49 to 53 Goldington Road, Bedford, MK40 3LL.

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