A housing association has been criticised for allowing its workers to drive on a green used by children and dog walkers.

Watford Community Housing Trust employees have been driving and parking their vehicles on the green space in the Harebreaks, right next to a parking compound designed and built especially for that purpose.

Cllr Asif Khan said the vehicles were endangering children who play on the communal area and damaging the grass.

“They are continuously mounting the green and driving over the footpath. They are also parked continuously on the green which is used by residents either to dog walk or for children to play,” he said.

Watford Observer:

“They are completely ignoring this and as such a local amenity for children has been lost.

“It is typical that the trust is ignoring the wishes of local residents. It has been an utter nuisance that they have been doing this coming up to a year. It’s just not on.”

However the housing trust said it had been unable to safely access its parking compound for the past 12 months because a dropped kerb had not yet been installed by Hertfordshire County Council – despite it being applied for more than a year ago.   

Ben Johnson, director of operations at Watford Community Housing Trust, said: “When we initially consulted local residents about the compound, their biggest concern was the impact on parking nearby, so we made a commitment to park only on our own land rather than taking up valuable spaces on the surrounding roads.

“Unfortunately, we have had to wait for more than a year for Hertfordshire County Council to agree to install a dropped kerb which would allow our partners to park within the compound as planned.

“In the meantime, in order to keep our promise to residents, we have been parking on our land adjacent to the compound, using the dropped kerb on Dell Side to gain access safely and without damaging the pavement or existing kerb.

“We are pleased to report that we have now received assurances that the dropped kerb will be installed in the coming weeks. We would like to thank residents for their patience and ask that you bear with us a little longer whilst we finalise the installation of the new dropped kerb.”

Hertfordshire County Council has been contacted for comment.