Activists are ramping up efforts to protect the Green Belt after half of Thorley Lane East Woods sold at auction for £160,000 and a £96,000 bid to buy the rest of the site remains under consideration.
The 1.6-acre plots went under the hammer in an online sale by Barnard Marcus on Thursday (September 15).
The Thorley Lane East Woods Action Group has been monitoring the situation carefully and is sceptical about the sales.
A spokeswoman said: “Potential bidders were reminded that the lots were located within the Green Belt and were subject to Tree Preservation Orders, but that they were surrounded by housing estates – with no mention of the site’s proximity to the Southern Country Park or the wider open countryside around Thorley.”
Last Thursday (Sept 8) Barney Estates and Auctioneers offered the eastern half of the woodland, with a guide price of £150,000, but it failed to reach the reserve.
The spokeswoman said: “This comes after several previous attempts to sell the woods in various configurations over the past month, including as 12 individual plots of 0.3 acres, each at a guide price of £40,000.”
She said if the Barnard Marcus sale was genuine, the bids would yield £256,000 for the seller, “in contrast to the initial ambitious aggregate sale price, for the 12 plots, of close to £0.5m”.
She said: “The common theme is that all of these listings have been placed with out-of-town agents.
“One of the 0.3-acre plots supposedly sold with Barney Estates on August 18 for £35,000, only to find its way back into today’s 1.6-acre listing. When queried about this inconsistency, the agents commented that the seller had, within the special conditions of sale, an option to rescind any agreed sale, especially if they were not confident that the buyer would be able to complete, and that the seller was within its rights to ‘keep its options open’.”
She noted that woodland plots were still listed with estate agents despite their apparent disposal at auction.
She said: “The Thorley Lane East Woods Action Group is watching the situation closely and hopes to release further details shortly of the identity of any supposed purchaser. A bona fide arm’s length transaction will result in applications being made to His Majesty’s Land Registry on the woods’ registered title, which will reveal the identity of applicants and, ultimately, any changes in the registered proprietor.
“We are also still awaiting the results of our local authority and highways searches, which should further clarify some of the uncertainties about access to the public highway and the potential ransom strip encircling the site.”
The campaigners remain determined to protect the land from speculators and their stand against any development of the woodland has been backed by town, East Herts district and Herts county councillors and Hertford and Stortford MP Julie Marson.
Two previous applications to build on the site were rejected by the planning authority and again at appeal.
The spokeswoman said: “There has been a united front…against any proposed change of use of the woodland. All have been vocal in stating that they can see no way in which building houses on the site would be in the public interest or further the aims of local planning policy.
“Several offers have been made to the seller by the town council and by private individuals to purchase the site at its proper market value as a community asset and woodland amenity to preserve it as a much-valued green space. All have been rejected by the seller.”
