18 Jul 2024
More than a year since enforcement action was ordered to restore the former Butterfly World site in Chiswell Green, the land remains tarnished by industrial use.
Visiting the site reveals diggers, recovery trucks and hundreds of cars parked up alongside semi-permanent structures, but the vegetation around the perimeter has grown wild, making it hard to see exactly what is going on.
The car park at the 27-acre Green Belt location has been used for industrial use since the former tourist attraction closed its doors in 2015.
Planning permission for Butterfly World was granted on the condition it was used for horticulture, horticultural training, research, butterfly keeping and for visits by the public. Should the venue ever close 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.
St Albans district council served two enforcement notices on the site on October 21 2022 requiring the following works to be carried out to comply:
* 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.
Both notices were due to come into effect on December 2 2022 with a compliance period of six months, but appeals were submitted in relation to both notices and so far nothing has changed. A Planning Inspector is expected to visit the site in the next few weeks, with a decision then made some four to six weeks later. If the appeals are dismissed and the enforcement notices upheld, then the owner will be required to comply with the enforcement notices within a specified period of time, but for now it remains a waiting game.
