Council breaches its own planning permission at Meadow Park

Temporary permission to operate the former tennis and basketball courts at Meadow Park as a car park ran out as far back as September 2019.

An opposition councillor in Borehamwood says she is "angry and disappointed" that the council has "not adhered to the planning laws that it expects its residents to adhere by".

The council were granted permission in 2017 to change the use of the courts, off Brook Road, into a car park, for a period of up to two years, despite more than 100 objections from members of the public.

The 62-space car park was deemed necessary due to the expansion of the nearby BBC Studioworks, with annual permits sold to drivers.

Pictured is the courts on Friday, which only had permission to operate as a car park up until September 2019

The approval granted in 2017 determined that the space could only be used as a car park for two years - up until September 2019 - but three-and-half years on it was still being operated, illegally, as a public car park - until it was closed on Friday.

A council spokesperson confirmed to the Times today: "Our officers closed the car park on the tennis courts site in Meadow Park as soon as we became aware we were not compliant with planning permission."

A fence has been placed across the entrance to the site, with the existing basketball hoops off-limits too, as per the current coronavirus guidelines.

The space has now been shut off to drivers

Three months after the temporary permission ran out in September 2019, the council applied to discharge a condition from the 2017 application, which meant the council no longer had to revert the space back to its original state as a sports court within three months of it ceasing to operate as a car park.

This condition was successfully discharged by a planning officer in February 2020, but the discharge of this condition did not grant an extended permission for the space to be operated as a car park.

The breach of planning permission was uncovered by Labour Cowley Hill councillor Michelle Vince, who fought the original application to turn the courts into a car park.

Cllr Michelle Vince inside the space that has been illegally operating as a car park for around a year-and-a-half

She believes that campaigners' concerns back in 2017 were "proven correct".

2017 story: Campaigners fight plans to turn basketball and tennis court into car park

Cllr Vince said: "There were 109 objections to this being turned into a car park. People didn't want to be stripped of another asset because they were unsure about getting the land back after two years.

"This has proven the council couldn't be trusted. We were hoodwinked into one of our assets being snatched away.

"We expect residents to abide by the planning laws. Residents that don’t abide suffer enforcement action, often at their own cost. Hertsmere should be abiding by those laws. They are not above the law."

A council spokesperson said "it has always been the council’s intention" to bring the courts back into use but plans were "significantly delayed due to Covid".

They added that the council's Executive committee are scheduled to discuss "ambitious" plans tomorrow for more "significant" investment in Meadow Park, adding it is on course to resurface the park's courts and multi-use games areas this year.

Cllr Vince standing by a pay and display sign in the car park, which has now been closed to the public

While current public health regulations mean sports courts must be closed, Cllr Vince is concerned that this space could have been used for sport and activity during the pandemic.

She said: "We were limited on what people could do. This was a much-needed free space for our residents that we were deprived of over the pandemic because it was still operating as a car park. We need this area more than ever."

The councillor added she is "massively concerned" that drivers have been paying to park in a car park without planning permission and said she will be taking these concerns to the council.