Super-school plans for Bishop's Stortford should be scrapped, opponents claimed this week after a critical independent report was revealed. Using Freedom of Information Act legislation, the Observer has obtained a design review compiled by Inspire East, which was commissioned by East Herts District Council's head of planning Kevin Steptoe.
The East of England panel of six looked at the project to rebuild the Herts and Essex and Bishop's Stortford high schools on a shared Green Belt campus off Whittington Way as governors prepared to resubmit the high-profile scheme to the local authority.
Inspire East concluded: "We are not yet convinced that an approach that has two separate schools located next to each other, separated by limited shared facilities, is the correct approach here.
"A clearer understanding of the functioning and hierarchy of the organisation of the two schools is needed."
The panel predicted "conflict in the later stages of the development" unless key issues were addressed.
It said: "The panel feel it has not been made clear how the schools will provide a benefit to the wider community beyond the provision of two replacement schools."
The project's backers were warned: "The team need to demonstrate more robustly that building on this site is sustainable and sensible, rather than simply opportunistic.
"The panel has the sense that the school site is being presented without the benefit of a wider masterplan.
"Given that the starting point is an open greenfield area, we feel the current ideas regarding location and siting are not yet strongly convincing or fully justified."
The first draft of the plans to build on the Green Belt in Thorley and redevelop the schools' existing sites in London Road, Warwick Road and Beldams Lane for more than 700 new homes was withdrawn amid a storm of protest a year ago, but the controversy shows no sign of abating.
A spokesman for Bishop's Stortford Civic Federation, which has been leading the fight, said that the organisation welcomed the Inspire East report, but said its findings should have been shared with the local community and councillors.
He added: "The report emphasises that the promoters have failed to understand the educational and organisational implications of the two schools on the same site. It also points out that a thorough sustainable travel and transport strategy to and from the school has not been properly explored.
"Surprisingly, the report mentions that additional housing is planned on this Green Belt site, which is contrary to the Local Plan, but does not mention the impact of aircraft noise on the new facilities.
"The promoters of this scheme seem to have learned nothing from their previous proposal, which was comprehensively rejected by the people of Bishop's Stortford.
"The [Bishop's Stortford] Civic Federation (BSCF) wants the right solution for the children of Bishop's Stortford; clearly this is not the right one. We hope that the findings of the Inspire East report are accepted by the two schools and the local education authority (LEA) and that their proposal to build on Whittington Way is withdrawn.
"The BSCF believes that the LEA should now seriously consider focusing all their efforts to engage with local communities transparently and build new schooling facilities at their reserved site on Hadham Road."
A spokesman for the governors behind the schools move declined to comment.
The new head teacher of Herts and Essex High has learnt a harsh lesson this week. The strength and depth of feeling over the superschool plans is not quite the welcome Cathy Tooze envisaged when she took on the top job at the Bishop's Stortford secondary.
Her support for relocating her new school and Bishop's Stortford High to the Green Belt on the edge of town has once again whipped up a frenzy over what would be the biggest educational shake-up in Stortford for a century. Last week we reported that she was urging residents to seize an opportunity for change and believes pupils will greatly benefit from improved facilities on a shared site.
However, if the correspondents on this page are any indication, then opposition remains as fierce as ever. The pros and cons of creating a combined campus are complex and it is vital all parties are fully educated when considering this highly contentious issue.
With our children's futures at stake, Mrs Tooze's arrival presents an opportunity to ensure that we all do our homework properly.
The new head of Herts and Essex High has urged Bishop's Stortford people to back plans for a super-school in the Green Belt.
Cathy Tooze, who has now taken the reins full-time at the girls' secondary, said that revised plans for the controversial joint project with Bishop's Stortford High School would soon be submitted to East Herts District Council and she hoped town residents would seize "a real opportunity for change".
A storm of protest was provoked by the previous application to relocate both secondaries to a shared Green Belt site off Whittington Way, Thorley.
Their existing campuses in Warwick Road and London Road, plus a sports field in Beldams Lane, would then be redeveloped for 700 homes, along with a plot in Hadham Road owned by local education authority Herts County Council which is earmarked for a new school.
Bishop's Stortford Civic Federation has led the fight against the proposals, which were withdrawn more than a year ago after concerted opposition – including 1,000 protest letters and a 4,000-signature petition – and a recommendation from EHDC officers that councillors on the development control committee should reject the scheme.
However, Mrs Tooze said: "The message is not to just think about today's students, but think about the students of tomorrow and think about the advantages if we are able to rebuild these two schools so more children can benefit from the outstanding education we provide."
The former head of Hadleigh High School in Suffolk was appointed as Alison Garner's successor in September but split her time between both institutions until the start of this term. Since arriving at the Herts and Essex, the maths specialist said she had been struck by the quality of her staff and the application and ability of pupils, but it was clear that the aspirations of both were limited by the confines of a cramped and ageing site.
"This is a beautiful site, but we have just one small field. The girls have a 10-minute walk to get to the athletics fields and some of the buildings are falling apart. We're hugely over-subscribed, so if there's an opportunity to expand, surely we should be taking that."
She joins the Herts and Essex as the school celebrates its centenary and is well aware of its rich history at Warwick Road, but stressed: "A school is its people, not its buildings – but we can offer an education for the future in a building for the future."
With a new school just four years away if planning permission is granted, she was particularly keen to work with Bishop's Stortford High head Andrew Goulding in developing a sixth form at the new school which would offer the broadest range of subjects for students, but was clear that the secondaries would operate separately – preserving single-sex school choice for parents in the town and surrounding villages.
She said she had no doubts the Whittington Way plans were the only viable option for the town and while the mother of three has decided to commute from her East Bergholt home in order not to uproot sons Jack, 16, and Ed, 14, her hope is that her six-year-old daughter Anna will be able to attend Herts and Essex – on its new site – in five years' time.
This story: Experts called in amid claims council sold off Stortford land on the cheap appeared in the Herts and Essex Observer on February 4, 2010. A specialist team of number-crunchers has been called in to scrutinise East Herts District Council's £7.35m Bishop's Stortford town centre sell-off after critics claimed the figures simply do not add up.
A document detailing "A Vision for Bishop's Stortford" is being delivered to every home in the town this week.
The plan for the future has been prepared by the Vision 2020 group, a partnership led by East Herts District Council and made up of "a wide range of stakeholders in and around the town".
They claim it encapsulates the shared views and long-term aspirations of residents – although the civic federation had criticised its conclusions and produced a rival People's Vision.
Backers of 2020 say it spells out the opportunities and challenges that Stortford faces now and in the future and will provide a reference point for improving infrastructure, housing, education and leisure.
Now that the document is in place, they hope it will provide a reference point and guidelines for achieving these goals.
East Herts District Council leader Tony Jackson, chairman of the Bishop's Stortford 2020 group, said: "Bishop's Stortford is a thriving and successful town. It is safe and welcoming and rightly shows pride in its appearance.
"We produced this document to help ensure it builds on that heritage for now and its future generations. It not only looks at how we can make improvements, but, importantly, how we can prepare for the many issues the future will bring.
"It has been a challenge working together with so many different organisations; from the town council, the chamber of commerce, civic society (sic), voluntary sector, businesses, arts and leisure organisations.
"However, we soon found our common ground and reached a consensus. The shared vision those discussions produced provides a benchmark for the direction of Bishop's Stortford.
"We hope as many people and organisations as possible feel they are able to pledge their support for those wishes and aspirations for the town."
He is urging residents and organisations to sign up to the principles of A Vision for Bishop's Stortford at www.eastherts.gov.uk.
The rejection of plans to turn a Bishop's Stortford beauty spot into a floodlit, all-weather hockey pitch has been heralded as a victory for the community.
Residents in the Cricketfield Lane area had campaigned to block proposals from the town's hockey club to transform a Green Belt gem known as the Plateau Pitch into a synthetic playing area.
They were backed by East Herts District Council, which refused the scheme – to players' dismay – in April, prompting an appeal by the club. Now Government inspector Christina Downes has dismissed the plea.
Two of the staunchest opponents, award-winning garden designers Adam Woolcott and Jonathan Smith, said: "What we found amazing was that so many people from the local community got behind the campaign to protect this open space from development, either by writing letters, contributing money to fund the campaign, signing petitions or attending the opposition rally.
"It's so heart-warming that there's still a big sense of community in Bishop's Stortford and when people stand together we can achieve results.
"It was also so good to see that so many families used the Plateau Pitch over the last couple of weeks for sledging and playing in the snow. This area is part of the amenity space in this part of town and it's good that it will be protected for generations to come."
In her report, Ms Downes said: "The appeal development would, in my opinion, result in a substantial visual interruption within this open site.
"Although the fencing would be wire mesh and would be coloured green or black, I have no doubt that it would be seen as a sizeable enclosure and that the adverse impact would be further reinforced by the eight lighting columns around its perimeter. Openness is the most important attribute of the Green Belt."
She said that the loss for local people was not outweighed by the benefits development would bring to the club, which struggles to accommodate all its teams on sites around the town. Bishop's Stortford Hockey Club's disappointed chairman Simon Murphy said: "We're surprised at aspects of the decision, which appear to reflect a lack of understanding of the sport and the necessary provision of both fencing and lighting, which were identified as specific obstacles to consent.
"One of our main reasons for seeking to obtain planning permission at Cricketfield Lane was to ensure the financial security of the Sports Trust which runs the entire facility. However, if we are forced to move away from Cricketfield Lane then I fear for the long-term financial future of the trust and its very existence. The impact on the cricket, squash and tennis clubs, our trust partners, should not be underestimated if this were the case.