A St Albans campaign group has expressed fears over the future of the city's Green Belt, after the government indicated its intention to move ahead with a radical housebuilding agenda.

Campaign by Locals Against Sewell Housing (CLASH) was set up in 2010 to fight against plans to build houses on Green Belt land in St Albans.

Gee Smedley has been the long-time spokesperson for the group, which insists they are not NIMBYs (Not In My Back Yard) but wish to work constructively with housebuilders and developers. 

She told the Herts Ad: "Building new houses on designated Green Belt land would be inappropriate for this area. The infrastructure cannot support it and it is not prime development land."

But the newly elected Labour government have made housebuilding a priority, setting out a plan for 1.5 million homes in the next five years, as well as a return to mandatory housing targets.

CLASH believe housing targets are "outdated" and Gee says that the group are "highly alarmed"  by some of what has been proposed.

Closer to home, St Albans City and District Council's Local Plan is set to be put back to the public in the autumn, headlined by a controversial pledge to build 15,000 homes by 2041.

Gee said: "The current St Albans Local Plan would see an amount of homes on the scale of a new Harpenden built within the district, and that is entirely inappropriate.

"There isn't enough infrastructure here for new houses, the roads and hospitals are already beyond capacity. People already have to go to Stevenage or Watford for urgent hospital treatment."

She also pointed to the city's high pollution levels and the risk of flooding that could come with building in certain areas of the district.

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But CLASH's "worst case scenario" could be on the horizon, with the King's Speech vowing to "get Britain building" by setting out a new Planning and Infrastructure Bill.

Legislation could tip the balance of power away from councils and local groups and into the hands of the Westminster government and developers.

Council leader Cllr Paul de Kort said: It is far better if locally-elected representatives decide on the details of our Local Plan rather than Whitehall which will not have a feel for the area."