It has been four years since we lost the battle to keep Farm Terrace Allotments. I would like to remind everyone that a small group of tenants and local supporters successfully challenged Watford Council and the UK Government twice in the high court before losing the third legal challenge in late 2016.

READ MORE: Homes approved for Farm Terrace Allotments site

Since then we have had time to think, move on and start again, physically and emotionally on another allotment site. We always knew that planning permission for Farm Terrace would be approved but were somewhat surprised to learn from the recent planning approval, heard by Watford Council, that no new hospital facilities would be built on the former Farm Terrace site. Apart from a multi-storey hospital car park it will be housing with a possible school in the current hospital car park. This will only place pressure on hospital facilities.

Over the years and in every legal challenge, Watford Council strenuously promised to the UK Government that around 40 per cent of Farm Terrace would be left for the hospital to build new clinical facilities, while the remaining space would be family homes.

Oh the irony. It is straight out of the great Joni Mitchell song ‘Big Yellow Taxi’ - “They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.” Have they never heard that song?

Dorothy Thornhill and her Lib Dem colleagues originally told us and Watford residents back in 2012 that Farm Terrace Allotments were needed for a ‘new hospital’. We would not have fought as hard as we did if we thought this was true. We knew there was no funding at that time or foreseeable future.

In 2013 Watford Council changed the approach to using Farm Terrace for “much needed hospital facilities”, a car park for Watford Football Club and family housing. This was what they promised until 2016 when the two sides met in court. At that time Watford Borough Council stated “flexibility” was always needed in a large-scale development so what was previously planned would not necessarily go ahead. I live opposite the hospital so I know a new car park is needed but on a historic, flourishing well-used and well-loved allotment site. Really?

With the latest announcement there are more flats approved in the allotment site as well as some of the promised housing and the proposed school in the current hospital car park. It now appears there is no space for any hospital expansion despite receiving the promised government funding. A sad and disappointing result from what was promised in 2012 by Watford Borough Council and the Lib Dems in the “Health Campus” masterplan, which has now been renamed Riverwell and is a mixture of commercial industrial units, flats and housing.

It still makes my blood boil that Dorothy Thornhill and the Lib Dem colleagues made this such a personal vendetta with Ms Thornhill left astonished and affronted that a group of her residents could not only disagree, but make a massive media and legal case by calling them out on the false promises!

As many Watford residents are aware, we suggested a compromise to the managing director of Watford Borough Council that would allow some of Farm Terrace to remain as an allotment for the sake of community history, but this idea was discarded. As we suspected all along, Watford Council wanted Farm Terrace to develop on and steadfastly pursued this aim, regardless of the social consequences. This latest ‘revised’ masterplan they intend to deliver now includes a hospital car park, housing and flats, but of course no new hospital facilities. A shame but at least this sad story has been well documented as has the lack of transparency from the council.

Will the voting residents of Watford take notice at the next elections?

Sara Jane Trebar

By email