Early plans for up to 20 affordable homes in the countryside have been turned down.

Three Rivers District Council said the proposal in Sarratt would be "inappropriate" development in the green belt and of "significant detriment" to an area of outstanding natural beauty.

Applicant Clovercourt (Sarratt) Ltd wants to build over an "under-used" parcel of land in Church Lane and says the planned homes would all be designated as affordable.

However, in its decision dated April 9, the council said the development would "fail to provide the tenure split of affordable housing" required as set out in its policies.

Therefore, it was concluded there are no "special circumstances" to justify building on the green belt and "harming its openness".

Watford Observer: A rough outline of the proposed development site in Church Lane in Sarratt. Credit: Google MapsA rough outline of the proposed development site in Church Lane in Sarratt. Credit: Google Maps

Agent Progress Planning argued in its planning statement the outline application showed how a "high quality" design could be "realised" without impacting neighbours, the wider outlook, the openness of the green belt, or the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The agent also submitted a housing need assessment which said there is a need for 55 affordable homes within the parish of Sarratt over the next five years.

Both Sarratt Parish Council and the Chiltern Society, which is made up of more than 7,000 members campaigning to "cut overbearing development and "conserving" the Chilterns, "strongly objected" to the proposal.

This piece of land has not been selected in the council's draft local plan, which identifies sites officers deem could be built on to meet Government housing targets for Three Rivers district.

The council recently delayed its local plan process after receiving around 20,000 comments from residents after a public consultation last year sparked huge concerns about the amount of land threatened by development.

In November, the council will repeat the same consultation again giving residents another chance to have their say. It means any local plan is unlikely to be adopted until 2024 or 2025 which means the council will not meet a deadline of 2023 that is thought to have been set by Government.

See more: Update on future of green fields in Three Rivers threatened by housing