20 Sep 2024
Appeals against enforcement action to remove illegally stored vehicles from the former Butterfly World site have been rejected – but it could be next summer before they are removed.
The one-time tourist attraction in Chiswell Green features diggers, recovery trucks and hundreds of cars parked up alongside semi-permanent structures in the car park at the 27-acre Green Belt location, allegedly as storage for the London used-car market.
But planning permission for Butterfly World was only ever granted on the condition it was used for horticulture, horticultural training, research, butterfly keeping and for visits by the public, and when the venue closed its doors in 2015 it was supposed to be restored to its original state.
A company called Convene Construction applied to have the adjoining land excluded from the Green Belt under the SADC Local Plan Examination in December 2019, but this was rejected by the council.
SADC then served two enforcement notices on the site on October 21 2022 requiring the following works to be carried out:
* ENF/2022/00005: Cease the use of the land for the stationing of caravans/shipping containers, vehicle sales and maintenance, storage of construction plant, materials and waste, scaffolding equipment, storage of vehicles, vehicle parts, motorcycles, household chatels and business use. Cease the use of the entrance building for business reception and offices. Remove all associated operational development being structures, racking, temporary buildings, hard surfaces, compounds and associated fencing together with means of enclosure that exceed 2m in height.
* ENF/2022/00006: Permanently remove the toilet blocks from the site. Remove from the land all materials and waste in compliance with the above.
Appeals were launched against the notices by a company called Bud Rescue and Recovery, but this week they were rejected and the enforcement action upheld with some minor amendments, but the terms give a nine-month period in which the site must be cleared.
That means SADC cannot take any action until next June at the earliest.
Herts and Middlesex Butterfly Conservation chair Malcolm Hull said in response to the decision: “Butterfly World remains a valuable wildlife site, home to one of the largest colonies of the Small Blue butterfly in Hertfordshire. We welcome the decision to evict the businesses currently on the site but are disappointed that they have been allowed nine months to leave.
“St Albans council have been too lax at enforcement and now need to ensure that the site is vacated promptly. This is a precious site and more positive action is needed to secure the future of both the land and the butterflies and other wildlife that live there.”
