An update and summary of the group’s activities to date and the background behind why they have been necessary.
Please see our mission statement for more details.
The current owner exchanged contracts with a Land Agent in August 2022. The completion date was set on the Top Contract as 18th November or sooner. That final date is looming, and we are still campaigning on behalf of the local community to protect and preserve the woodland for future generations without it falling into the hands of multiple faceless speculators with no interest in maintaining and improving the habitat.
Since August 2022 this woodland has been offered for sale through various auction houses and in various plot sizes. On some occasions the gavel has gone down as ‘SOLD’, however as the whole woodland is still up for auction (with two different auction houses), we can presume no actual sale has completed. Land Registry still shows the current owner to be as it was before all this action started. It is currently being marketed as a 3.1 acre woodland by Barnard Marcus with a guide price of £200,000 (auction date 16th November), Barney Auctioneers is marketing the whole site with a guide price of £250,000 (auction date 17th November) and Future Property Auctions is marketing one plot (approx. ¼ acre) with a guide price of £25,000 (ending 10th November).
We believe that if the Land Agent does not ‘sell on’ the woodland they will not complete on the purchase from the current owner. Their contract stipulates that any money paid to the current owner will come from the proceeds of onward sales. This might mean that as of 18th November the woodland is back in the hands of the current owner, and we are back to square one.
The Bishops Stortford Town Council and others confirmed they have offered to purchase the woodland (removing the liability of proprietorship from the current owner) for a sum of £40,000 (the value as amenity land). This has been and remains refused as ‘not enough’ by the owner or their agents.
We started this Action Group to ensure the voice of the woodlands was heard loud and clear. We pledged to do this by building this website, creating content to keep interested parties up to date. We opened a Facebook Group and to complement these we had some signs printed highlighting some of the reasons why these woodlands should not be considered as ‘fair game’ for speculative developers. We started up a crowdfunding campaign to pay for the costs associated with the campaign. To date we have raised around £850, which has been spent on land searches, sign printing and administration and postage costs.
Signs have been placed around the woodland and in the immediate vicinity. However, sadly some individuals believe it is their right to remove these stating the owner and their family feel intimidated by the message on them and the number of them on display.
We do not agree with their summation of the signs. Our signs are entirely factual stating:
‘Thorley Lane East woodland is not for development. It is: in green belt; has a tree preservation order over the entire site; is protected in the neighbourhood Plan; and is not accessible from the road as the surrounding ditch is not included in the purchase’.
The removal of somewhere in the region of 140 x A3 signs and approximately 20 x A1 signs shows the extent of criminal damage and theft that has occurred. This has been reported to the Police.
Not withstanding the cost to replace these, it is completely pointless to keep removing them. Thankfully there are a band of volunteers prepared to keep replacing the signs in and around the immediate vicinity until the future of the woodland has been preserved for the benefit of the community.
Aside from the actions of the local community and allied community groups, it should be noted the support from our local councillors and wider government officials have all been steadfast in their condemnation of the proposed sale of this woodland as Green Belt Land. The council will be writing to the Government seeking legislation to protect sites like Thorley Lane East Woods. A spokesperson from our Group gave a speech at a council meeting and was highly commended for the research, the content and the passion for protecting Thorley Lane East Woodlands.
Regarding the handling of the sales listings with the auctioneers we as an Action Group have contacted each and every one of them reminding them of their obligation to not misrepresent the site by not stating the protective status of it. They also should not be stating there has been no previous applications for development ‘as far as they know’ because we have told them and provided the evidence to the contrary!
As written in the Bishops Stortford Independent – The business does not tell prospective clients that the woodland is both Green Belt and protected by a blanket tree preservation order. Its future as an open space is also safeguarded by the recently revised Neighbourhood Plan for the town, and two previous planning applications to develop new homes were refused by East Herts Council and dismissed again at appeal including by the Planning Inspectorate. Details can be found here.
There have been two previous planning applications for a single dwelling in the woodlands.
Application (3/94/1094/OP):
And, 2002 Application (3/02/2114/OP) :
From the refusal documents, as we have stated previously on this site – “Interestingly, the Planning Inspectorate acknowledges that, whilst Thorley Lane East Woods may become isolated from the open countryside on account of the residential developments occurring across the town (in the form of Thorley Park and subsequently St. Michael’s Mead) and the changing character of the neighbourhood, it is expressly stated in the refusal decision that the wood is an “important and attractive feature in its own right which contributes to the quality of the local environment”.
If it was worth saving then, on the basis of the proposed limited encroachment, it is certainly worth saving now, when we are facing proposals for the wholesale destruction of the entire wood”.
Moving forward the local council confirmed they will be engaging with the owners (new or existing) to ensure tree surveys are undertaken soon to determine the current condition of the trees and any remedial work that may be required to preserve the trees.
We are committed to continuing the campaign to protect and preserve this lovely woodland for the benefit of the community both now and in the future.
Look out for an update after the 18th November deadline.