Three Rivers District Council announced on 23rd October 2026 that it had served an enforcement notice and a stop notice at Long Spring, Sarratt Lane, Loudwater, Hertfordshire. The Long Spring enforcement action concerns a new access and timber gates where the council says works started without planning permission in August 2026.
The authority says it first issued a temporary stop notice to prevent more unauthorised activity. Its latest statement confirms that the longer-term enforcement and stop notices have now been served to maintain controls and secure the removal of the works. The council describes the surrounding woodland as protected, although its statement does not identify the particular protection designation.
There is an important distinction here. A separate application for a two-pitch traveller site at the same location remains under consideration. Serving notices over existing works is not a decision on that application. I would keep that separation in view: the sequence shows how a council can seek an immediate halt while taking longer-term formal action.
Long Spring enforcement: what the council announced
The council’s official announcement identifies two elements of the alleged unauthorised development: the creation of a new access and installation of timber gates. It says the work began during August and that a temporary stop notice was issued soon afterwards. The authority has not published the notice documents or an application reference in that announcement.
Councillor Louise Price, the council’s deputy leader, said: “Such blatant disregard for planning law cannot and will not be allowed.” That is the authority’s stated position. It should not be confused with a finding by a planning Inspector or a court, neither of which is reported as having determined this case.
The Long Spring enforcement announcement says the newer stop notice and enforcement notice were served so restrictions can continue without interruption. However, the published release does not specify their individual service dates, effective dates, full schedules of requirements or any deadline for removing the works. Those details matter, and they cannot safely be inferred from a press statement.
Why both a stop notice and an enforcement notice?
An enforcement notice identifies the alleged breach of planning control and normally states the steps required and the period allowed for compliance. A stop notice is different: it can prohibit specified activities associated with the alleged breach before the enforcement notice’s compliance period expires. Under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, a conventional stop notice is linked to an enforcement notice and cannot stand entirely on its own.
A temporary stop notice works more quickly. It can require a specified activity to cease immediately without waiting for an enforcement notice. Under the current national Planning Practice Guidance on enforcement, a temporary stop notice can generally last for up to 56 days, rather than the former 28-day period. That explains why the timing of follow-up action can be critical.
Our existing guide to stop notices and breach of condition notices explains the different instruments in more detail. The Long Spring enforcement case illustrates the central point: stopping a harmful activity quickly and requiring the correction of an alleged breach are distinct legal objectives, even if a council pursues them together.
The traveller site application is a separate question
The council explicitly confirms that an application for a two-pitch traveller site is still being assessed by planning officers. Its statement does not say that permission has been granted, refused or withdrawn. Nor does it establish that the application encompasses every operation addressed by the enforcement notices. The lawful scope and merits of an application have to be checked against its actual description and drawings.
That distinction matters for both applicants and objectors. The council may consider the proposed use of land, access, landscape effects and relevant planning policies as part of the application. Any enforcement appeal, if lodged, would follow its own procedural route. We explain the wider planning context in our guide to Gypsy and Traveller site permissions.
For now, the Long Spring enforcement position is limited to the council’s report that notices have been served and that it wants the works removed. It would be misleading to turn that into a statement that the pending traveller application has already failed. The council itself says that application will be assessed on its own merits.
What is known about the woodland protection?
Three Rivers describes the land as protected woodland but provides no designation map, tree preservation order details, ecology assessment or legal analysis in its short announcement. The words alone do not establish whether particular trees are protected by a tree preservation order, whether other planning constraints apply, or exactly what harm the authority has identified.
In practice, a new vehicle access can raise several separate planning questions, including operational development, visibility and traffic safety, effects on trees and roots, drainage, landscape character and any protected habitats. Those are issues to investigate, not conclusions about this location. A reliable site-specific assessment needs the application file and the underlying notice evidence. The Long Spring enforcement statement is not a substitute for those records.
What comes next at Long Spring?
The immediate questions are whether the enforcement and stop notices take effect as described in the documents, what activities are prohibited, what precise remedial steps are required and whether any appeal or legal challenge follows. The council’s press release answers none of those procedural details. It also gives no decision timetable for the two-pitch traveller proposal.
It is also important not to collapse the two kinds of notice into one. The national guidance says there is no ordinary appeal to the Secretary of State against a stop notice itself, although judicial review may be available. Enforcement notices have their own statutory grounds and appeal procedures, subject to the facts and deadlines in the notice. The consequences can differ substantially.
The Long Spring enforcement case is therefore worth following for its procedural sequence rather than for any final planning outcome. A temporary restriction, followed by an enforcement notice and associated stop notice, can give an authority continuity of control while the underlying planning issues remain unresolved. But a fair account must keep allegations, formal notice requirements and the pending planning application separate.
Sources and verification
This report draws on Three Rivers District Council’s 23rd October 2026 statement and the government’s Planning Practice Guidance on enforcement and stop notices. The complete notice documents and the separate application file were not available from those sources when this report was prepared. We have therefore not stated service dates, compliance deadlines, appeal status or an outcome for the traveller site application.
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