New buildings to benefit the people of Borehamwood not just new homes must be provided at the town's surplus school sites, according to the borough council.

A planning brief outlining what should be built at the sites of Furzehill, Hillside and Lyndhurst schools was approved by borough councillors at a meeting last week.

But several councillors were worried that the county council, which owns the sites, would seek to allocate as much of the land as possible for new housing.

Hertfordshire County Council is seeking to recoup the £18million it has spent on reorganising Borehamwood's schools by selling land to housing developers.

Borough council leader Neil Payne said: "The county council has got to think beyond the financial implications making millions of pounds is not the only objective."

The borough's planning brief suggests 200 new homes could be built at the three sites, although it states that the maximum acceptable figure would be 290.

However, with other houses being built in Borehamwood, many councillors feel it is not necessary to construct so many homes on the three school premises.

A plan to build either 277 or 256 new homes at the old Fire Research Station site, off Melrose Avenue, is expected to be approved by Hertsmere Borough Council.

When the borough originally agreed that 200 homes could be built at the school sites, it was not aware that the Fire Research Station would become available.

Councillor Morris Bright claimed that the council could now satisfy its house-building targets without allowing 200 new homes to be built at the school premises.

"Let us ensure that we keep housing to a minimum and community use to a maximum, otherwise a good opportunity could be missed," he said.

But the borough's principal planning officer, Carol Hyland, said it was unrealistic to expect that a large number of community facilities would be provided.

Money would have to be found to pay for the buildings, and the allocation of too much space for community use would restrict house-building at the sites.

Borehamwood Community Partnership, an organisation set up to regenerate the town using Government cash, has put forward a proposal for a multi-purpose facility.

Mr Payne said the borough council would establish a steering group to talk to the county council about the potential for community facilities at the three sites. He also agreed to meet representatives of Elstree and Borehamwood Youth Council to discuss what kind of new facilities young people would like to see in the town.

October 31, 2001 16:22