DETAILS have emerged of how hapless council planners made a £17,000 “mountain out of a molehill”.

Three Rivers District Council has been rebuked by Government inspectors for making “unreasonable” demands of a Heronsgate landowner during a bitter ten-month planning dispute. It has also been ordered to pay legal costs incurred.

The row began in August last year when the 180 cubic metres of soil – left over from a domestic building project in Nottingham Road – was deposited in a nearby field.

The earth was to be used to “level off” an uneven patch of land – an action experts say does not require planning permission. However, this did not stop council officers ordering a stop to the work.

Landowner Jane Jackson and businessman Adam Walker (who excavated the soil when building a house in his garden) were then ordered to remove it within one month.

The exasperated pair, however, claimed the order was impossible to implement without dozens of giant lorries rumbling through the village’s picturesque country lanes.

Instead they instructed consultants to prepare a costly appeal.

When, in December, the council changed its mind and ordered the earth to be spread (as originally planned) costs of around £17,000 had already been accumulated – costs the council has now been ordered to pay.

In a damning ruling the Planning Inspectorate, acting on behalf of the Government, branded the council’s actions “misguided and unreasonable” and ordered it to pay up.

Mr Walker, who stepped in to fund the legal fight, claims the council’s actions had not just been incompetent, but vindictive and spiteful.

He said: “This is a clear case of the council throwing its weight around and bullying residents. For the council to get involved is unbelievable. It’s been a complete waste of their time and ratepayers’ money.

“To suggest that the best course of action would be to drive dozens of 12-wheel lorries down the winding lanes of Heronsgate is madness. They have really made a mountain out of a molehill with this.

“But what really upsets me is that in most cases the council would have steam-rollered this through to get their way. I am lucky that I had the resources to fight this – I was left with no other option. If I had done nothing the council would have prosecuted. Others are not in a position to stand up to them.”

Three Rivers District Council, which claimed the mound damaged the look of the Green Belt area, said it was “carefully assessing” a claim for costs but would not comment any further on the case because of ongoing legal action.