SAVE OUR GREEN BELT
A Petition to Protect the Land North of Little Green Lane, Croxley Green

Addressed to: The Planning Inspector, Planning Inspectorate Appeal Inquiry
Application reference: 24/2073/OUT | Appeal Reference: 26/0012/REF | Inspectorate Reference: 6004972
Venue: Penn Chamber, Three Rivers House, Rickmansworth
Inquiry commencing: 10am, 27 August 2026 (four days)

We, the undersigned residents of Croxley Green, write with deep concern about the outline planning application to build up to 600 dwellings on 40 hectares of greenfield agricultural land north of Little Green Lane, and the Appeal Inquiry now being brought before the Planning Inspector.

This land is not merely open space. It is Metropolitan Green Belt that has always separated Croxley Green from the surrounding countryside, a home to protected wildlife, and a place that generations of residents have walked, cycled and cherished. Once built on, it is gone forever.

Our Concerns
Loss of protected green belt land
This site was relabelled grey belt during the application process, which made it harder for the district council to defend as green belt in the ordinary sense. A change in label does not change what this land is. It remains open countryside on the edge of our village, and the council's own Stage 2 Green Belt Review found its release would have a significant impact on preventing urban sprawl and encroachment.

1. Loss of wildlife and natural habitat
The site adjoins Whippendell Wood, a Site of Special Scientific Interest, and borders the Ancient Woodlands of Dell Wood and Long Newlands Spring, both also designated Local Wildlife Sites. Green Lane Wood, an area of ancient woodland, sits within the site itself. Objectors, including ecological consultees, raised concerns that mitigation for the dormice, badgers, bats, muntjac, foxes and protected bird species such as skylarks, swifts and red kites on the land has not been sufficiently addressed. A Tree Preservation Order protects ten individual trees and a wooded group on the site, yet development of this scale still threatens the wider habitat around them.

2. Traffic and road safety
To make this development work, a 20mph zone is proposed across Little Green Lane, Canterbury Way, Dover Way and Links Way, with raised junction tables and on carriageway cycling measures. New vehicular accesses are proposed onto Durrants Drive and Links Way, both residential roads never designed to carry this volume of traffic. The scale of the highway works and financial contributions being negotiated, running into millions of pounds, is itself an admission of how far this development would strain our roads.
Impact on heritage and local character
The site sits directly opposite Durrants House, a Grade II listed building, and close to Cassiobury Park, a Grade II registered park. The council's own Conservation Officer has confirmed the development would cause lasting harm to the setting of both. Six hundred new homes, some up to four storeys high, would permanently change the character of a village that residents chose to live in and love.

Strain on local services
Croxley Green's primary schools were already full at Reception level before this application was submitted, and the development would add an estimated 1,440 new patients to local health services. Objections to the application were submitted by the Croxley Green Residents Association, CPRE, and the governing bodies of local primary schools including Little Green Junior School. Of 741 responses received by the council, 708 were objections, and only 33 were in support.

Our Request
We ask the Planning Inspector to uphold the green belt status of this land, to refuse this appeal, and to protect Croxley Green for the residents, the wildlife and the future generations who depend on it. We ask that full weight be given to the overwhelming voice of the community that will live with the consequences of this decision every single day. We will be attending the Inquiry to make our voices heard, and we ask that this petition be formally entered into the record of proceedings.