The Stop Schools Move Fund

Summary

The BSCF engaged legal counsel to present its case on behalf of local communities across the town and, in order to meet these costs, the BSCF launched an appeal fund - the Stop Schools Move Fund. The Public Inquiry ended on 14 October 2011 and the fund has since been closed. See the Background Information section below for full details.

Donations and Thanks

The BSCF would like to thank the Town Council (a donation of £10,000), the fantastic efforts of fund raisers across the town and the generosity of the local community. The fund reached £29,500 which was a fantastic achievement!

All money donated has been used to pay fees for our legal counsel in presenting our case at the Public Inquiry. The results of the enquiry are not expected until April 2012.

Together we will win and save our town and Green Belt - we have done it twice before and we will do it again.

Thank you from the BSCF Chairman, Richard Hannah.

Background Information

The proposed move of the Bishop's Stortford High School and the Herts and Essex School to Green Belt land at Whittington Way has been emphatically rejected by the local community over the last few years. In spite of this, the governors of these two schools, supported by Herts County Council (HCC), lodged an appeal in March 2011 against the democratically process undertaken by the bodies listed below:

HCC and the schools' governors have once again ignored the irreversible impact that the schools move and all the additional housing on the vacated sites would have on local communities across the town. In contempt of public opinion, HCC continues to spend taxpayers' money in supporting the schools' move, despite having no control over the geographical reach of the schools admissions policy which extends well beyond Bishop's Stortford and the boundaries of Hertfordshire.

The BSCF understands that HCC has spent over £600,000 of additional tax payers' money funding this proposed move to date, not to mention the costs of the forthcoming appeal and the money that East Herts District Council (EHDC) will have to spend defending its decision to refuse planning permission.

The BSCF proposes to fight the schools appeal which will be heard at a Public Inquiry by an Inspector appointed by the Secretary of State. the Inquiry will start on the 20th of September 2011 and is likely to last for over two weeks.

The BSCF intends to engage legal counsel to present a case on behalf of the local communities across the town and, in order to meet these costs, the BSCF has launched an appeal fund - the Stop Schools Move Fund. We hope to receive donations from our local communities who overwhelmingly objected to the schools move. The appeal fund's target has been set at £30,000, which we hope will be generously supported.

In addition, the BSCF is also working closely with the leadership of East Herts Planning to share our combined strengths and expertise and to minimise legal costs for both parties. We have already had an extremely productive meeting with EHDC Planning Officers to formulate our joint strategy and prepare our submission documents.