Controversial plans to build more than 30 homes on the site of an equestrian centre were refused consent by Watford councillors.

The planning committee at Watford Borough Council, discussed the proposals put forward by Clovercourt Fusion to build 34 houses and flats on the Bucks Meadow Riding School site in Bucks Avenue at a meeting last week.

Although majority of the development is in Bushey, the access site and a small number of car parking spaces is in Oxhey, Watford and it was this part of the application that the councillors deliberated on.

Committee member for the Oxhey Village Environment Group (OVEG), Kim Baxter, spoke against the application.

She said: "We carried out four of our own road safety and traffic audits by professionals with 100 years' experience within the field between them and they stated in their report that this scheme is dangerous.

"We put the findings from the report to Hertfordshire County Council officers in February and suggested the plans be recommended for refusal, because the access is simply not wide enough, but they said it is open to interpretation.

"We do not believe public safety should be open to interpretation."

Ms Baxter raised the key issues that had been identified in the road traffic audit OVEG had commissioned, which found that the site access was too narrow.

The plans list the access width as being just over ten feet whilst the county council suggests it should be just over 12 feet. Ms Baxter said this would not allow a fire engine to easily access the site.

She warned there could be more accidents because motorists would not be able to see oncoming traffic and said the narrow footpath would not be safe.

Oxhey ward councillor Shirena Counter also spoke on behalf of the residents against the plans. She said: "We have experts saying the access road is potentially a safety risk. There is also no mention in the report of a consultation with the fire service.

"This is an absolute showstopper."

Iain Taylor, head of planning at Clovercourt, defended the application. He said that whilst there have been many objections with regards to the access site, the plans comply with regulations set out by the county council and therefore have been recommended for approval.

He also highlighted that the plans not only include 12 affordable homes and 74 car parking spaces, but 11 hectares of Green Belt land, which will be open to the public with a link road to the Merry Hill circular walk.

During the discussion, members raised concerns about fire engines, pedestrians and generally the number of vehicles that would be going in and out of the site. Cllr Seamus Williams questioned whether you could fit a pushchair on the footpath and highlighted the fact that there are likely to be around 100 cars on the site in the first cycle of people moving there and this will only increase.

Cllr Iain Sharpe pointed out on this occasion the council has external professional surveys to back up their knowledge of the site. He said: "It is better to be safe than sorry."

Clovercourt Fusion were refused planning permission for their application, with six members voting for refusal and two abstaining.

As part of this development is in Bushey, an application has also been submitted to Hertsmere Borough Council and it's planning committee will decide whether to grant of refuse the application in due course.