We are a group of indviduals and families who are dedicated to the protection of the wonderful piece of green space behind the Meadway (Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire) from potential development.
We are currently preparing for the Village Green application which will be heard by the local County Council in early 2016. A previous application in 1998 failed on a minor legal technicality, so we are raising money to hire an enviornmental barrister to represent the group and help us try and successfully win our case for Village Green Status. This status would give the land the protection it needs from any potential future development. The environmental barrister we hope to employ to help us, is confident of a good outcome.
The land has been used and enjoyed for centuries by the local people (not just for recreational or grazing purposes but a whole variety of uses) and visitors to the area using the New River pathways. It is not only a truly beautiful asthetically pleasing area to those that use it, it has also been designated as a Community Open Space and Wildlife site by the Borough Council on their local Borough Plan. It has always been privately owned, but has been given the staus of a Community Open Space and Wildlife Site due to its coninued recreational use and Wildlife importance. The previous owner Thames Water sold it following failed attempts to obtain development permission. The community raised a good deal of money to try and buy the land but was sadly outbid at auction. The current owner opposes the Village Green application, has made representations against this, and has refused a grant of a considerable sum of money from a local wildlife charity – offered to pay for maintenance and environmental management of the site. The community continue to attempt to maintain areas of the site to prevent it from falling into ruin, but in some areas the land has become overgrown ; we would be so very sad should the site become so very mismanaged that it potentially looses its Community Open Space and Wildlife Status, which could in turn potentially make it easier for an application for development to be successful. Which is why we wish to further protect the land with a Village Green Status.
We have a website with more information at www.spitalbrookvillagegreen.co.uk where you can see more photos, newsletters and newspaper articles and more detail behind the history and fund raising attempt.
Any support you can provide would be much appreciated, this really is a beautiful space enjoyed by so many people and we need your help to preserve it.