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Council to investigate 'unauthorised' work on land

Louise ParryBedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire
BBC A yellow bulldozer faces the camera with its silver scraper at the front. It sits on a large area of soil that is amid a grassy field, and the soil appears to have been recently turned over. There are trees and fields in the background.BBC
A Dacorum Borough Council spokesperson said the police had been notified

Unauthorised construction activities at a field in an area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB) will be investigated, a council has said.

Diggers and bulldozers are being used on the field off Friendless Lane near Flamstead, which lies in the Hertfordshire green belt and among the Chiltern Hills.

The MP for the area said the work was causing "great distress to the local community".

Dacorum Borough Council said the activity was unauthorised and told residents not to approach the site. The BBC has been unable to establish who owns the land.

"The council is taking this matter seriously and has notified the police," said a council spokesperson.

"Our planning enforcement team will investigate, gather evidence and take the necessary action.

"We know residents will want action as swiftly as possible, but we must follow the required legal process in these circumstances."

A field, which has been partially turned over to soil, has a series of yellow diggers on. To one side large brown pipes are stacked up alongside wooden beams. Pylon wires run overhead.
Pipes, hardcore and wood were spotted in the field, which sits between Markyate and Flamstead

Flamstead Parish Council chairman Billy Pither said the activity within the Chilterns AONB had "shocked" local people.

"Flamstead is a very beautiful little village surrounded by green fields - that's part of its beauty. People live here because it's peaceful," he said.

"People are pretty cut up and shocked and disappointed. It's a big, big worry."

Pither said the timing of the construction work, at the beginning of the bank holiday weekend when borough council offices were closed, was "immaculate".

"They picked their moment," he added.

A green field with a barbed wire fence through the middle. At the back part of the field, several diggers roam around and there are piles of gravel stacked up.
Residents said multiple lorries had been delivering materials since Thursday evening

A Flamstead resident, who did not wish to be named, also told the BBC lorries had been driven back and forth to the site since 18:00 BST on Thursday.

Underground pipes were seen being installed.

Vitoria Collins, the Liberal Democrat MP for Harpenden and Berkhamsted, said: "The reported work in Flamstead is causing great distress to the local community... any unauthorised construction work must face the full force of the law."

Hertfordshire Police was contacted for comment.

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