An application to widen a Bovingdon lane has been submitted in order to make a major development of a golf course possible.

A planning application to modernise Little Hay Golf Complex was submitted last summer by Dacorum Sports Trust, who lease the golf complex from Dacorum Borough Council. The remodelling would involve 295,000 cubic metres of inert materials, or "clean soils" arriving to the site by heavy-goods-vehicles over a proposed 18-month period.

The application also seeked permission for a temporary access for construction works on Upper Bourne End Lane. The sports trust has estimated that there would be a total of 75 lorries in and 75 out of the site every day.

It was refused due to safety concerns around the use of Upper Bourne End Lane.

Glenn Povey, chairman of Bovingdon parish council, said when the application was first submitted: "We, as the parish council, haven’t actually got an objection per se, the only thing that is going to be an issue, in our opinion, is the volume of traffic that will be going up Bourne End Lane, and the damage that the lane would sustain with that number of lorries going in and out every day. We don’t feel their traffic management plans are robust enough to handle the volume.

"If a resident is trying to access their house and they have to wait for ages it is not going to be very good for them."

An amended application has now been submitted to the borough council, and proposes to widen the lane.

The revised application states: "As all safety concerns have now been addressed, I would respectfully request that our revised proposals for UBEL are considered by the council’s highways department, and viewed in the context of this route being the only available option to enable the project to proceed."

This route was chosen since it provides direct access to and from the A41 without passing any houses, compared to over 70 on the alternative Box lane route. It would also allow construction vehicles to be segregated from general traffic.

Meanwhile, some of the sports club’s plans have already been approved.

An application to extend the club house at a Bovingdon golf course was agreed by councillors in January.

Dacorum Borough Council’s development control committee discussed the application for the single-story expansion of Little Hay Golf Club’s clubhouse at a meeting on Thursday, January 16.

Bovingdon Action Group is fighting against the plans and encouraging residents to object to the borough council.