Please see this page for the full background.
Following the council’s efforts to secure urgent further action, an amended High Court injunction was granted and served this morning (Monday, 31 August) around 12:30am.
Police entered the site this morning and all those who had unauthorised access, left the site peacefully.
The High Court injunction meant that anyone found carrying out activities prohibited by the injunction – including bringing caravans on site and occupying the land for carrying out development – could be arrested by the police. No arrests were necessary.
We will continue to work closely with Herts Police and our other partners to monitor the site and prevent any further unauthorised works. Anyone with concerns about further activity at the site should report these to the police by calling 101.
Councillor Vicky Glover-Ward, Executive Member for Planning and Growth at East Herts Council, said: “I would firstly like to thank the local community for the part they played in supporting efforts to bring the unauthorised works to an end. It really was a collective effort, and I know how strongly residents felt about what was happening.
“While at times it may have seemed as though little was happening, I can assure residents that a huge amount of work was taking place behind the scenes to secure the action needed. I’d also like to thank council officers, the police and all our partners who worked incredibly hard over the bank holiday weekend to achieve this outcome.
“I hope this sends a clear message that we will use every tool available to us to take decisive action when unauthorised development takes place.
“We know local residents will understandably have questions about what happens next, and we’ll be publishing more information on our website shortly to answer these.”