Breakspeare School decision deferred over access fears

At a meeting of the development management committee today (July 18), country councillors voted to defer its decision on a new Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) school in the disused former Durrants School playing field.

If approved, Breakspeare School, currently in Abbots Langley, would relocate to the new site next to Little Green Junior School and see a major boost to its numbers.

A CGI of how the new school could look. (Image: Hertfordshire County Council/Holmes Miller) The new site would be accessed via the narrow cul-de-sac Manor Way, which residents have warned is not big enough to become a busy access road to a school.

At the meeting, Conservative councillor Ken Crofton said that Manor Way was “completely unsuitable” and that the development “should and must go ahead, but only with a proper review of the access road”.

Cllr Ken Crofton said Manor Way was “completely unsuitable” as an access road. (Image: HCC) He added: “To expect Manor Way residents to tolerate this torrent of traffic with an apparently phased arrival and departure is ludicrous because that is a theoretical paper-exercise that just doesn’t happen in reality with late arrivals and changes.”

The school site and the proposed access via Manor Way. (Image: Google Maps/Canva) Councillor Jeff Jones (Conservative) said he did not want to refuse the application, but he was “not convinced” that other access options had been explored.

He said: “In my mind, I think this application should be deferred until we are totally convinced that they’ve looked at every single option.”

Chairman councillor Terry Hone concluded that the committee “accepted” the school in principle and its proposed site.

Development control committee chair Cllr Terry Hone said they accepted the school site in principle but deferred their decision to allow other access options to be explored. (Image: HCC) But they voted to defer the decision to allow planning officers to consider all possible other options and return at a later meeting on September 24.

Breakspeare School had 97 places in 2023, which increased to 145 earlier this year when it began using a satellite location for a smoother transition.

A CGI of how the new school could look. (Image: Hertfordshire County Council/Holmes Miller)

• Plan to build school in disused field recommended for approval
• Final plans for 210-pupil school Breakspeare School revealed

If approved, the new school site would see its numbers increase to 210.

A public consultation on the plans ran from March 5 until April 5, which received 46 responses from the public, all of which opposed the project.

Objectors also said the scheme would change the character of Manor Way and add to overdevelopment for the wider Croxley Green area following the Killingdown Farm scheme.

A report by planning officers noted however that many residents recognised the need for a special needs school in the area despite the access concerns.