A new action group has been established to ensure the environment is preserved during the redevelopment of Potters Bar's Bridgedown Golf Club.

Plans to expand and redevelop the St Albans Road course and build a nine-hole teaching academy were approved by Hertfordshire County Council last month. But neighbouring residents say they are not prepared to give up their cause and want to fight to ensure the balance of wildlife on the site remains. They are also anxious to protect the footpath that encircles the golf course as well as the surrounding landscape.

The action group comprises of representatives from SPACES, the Barnet Society, Barnet Friends of the Earth and the Friends of the Barnet Countryside Centre. It plans to hold a public meeting next month. A spokesman for the group said: 'We want to limit the inevitable damage to the countryside, and to alert the public to the immediate and long term threat to the environment. We intend to press for the imposition and enforcement of the most stringent conditions by the county council to limit the damage that is caused.'

The group recently discovered that the application will not be the subject of a public inquiry. 'We fear that the local environment will be degraded and that the site will never be properly restored,' the spokesman continued.

Tony Menai-Davis, project co-ordinator at the golf club, said: 'We also want to ensure that the balance of wildlife remains and that the footpath stays ,, we want to work with the group. We are happy for the new action group to contact us and discuss their concerns.'