NEWS that Hertfordshire County Council is planning to sell off Langleybury School has been greeted with anger.

When the school was closed in 1998, the county council said it would be possible to open it again in 2001 if the need should arise.

Since its closure, the site has been used for offices and for filming, including the television series Hope and Glory.

However, despite a shortage of secondary school places in Three Rivers, a spokesman for the county council said: "The long-term plan is to sell the Langleybury site.

"We have got to ensure it will not be needed again for a school before we sell the site, but at the moment we do envisage selling it.

"We are now preparing our options for its future use."

Three Rivers District Council has been critical of the county council for the lack of secondary school places in the district and at a recent meeting agreed to send a delegation to meet Education Minister Estelle Morris to complain about the situation.

On hearing the news, she said: "If they do that without proper consultation and consideration of the appalling shortage of secondary school places in this area, they will have let down the local community and gone back on their promise.

"When they said it could reopen in 2001, we accepted that in good faith.

"It now seems it is going to be abandoned without any further review."

Mr Barry Highland, chairman of Abbots Langley Parish Council, expressed his outrage at the move.

He said: "I am very disappointed and I am sure everybody in the parish will be disappointed. It is in an ideal position.

"I think it is absolutely disgraceful. The reason they hope to sell it is they will get a good price for it and, once again, we are losing another facility for short term gain.

"We are having to bus our children miles and miles from their homes."

On Thursday, October 11, the district council's development control committee objected to a county council plan to use classrooms for offices because they feared it would make it less likely the site would be used again as a school.

Councillor Phil Brading said: "The office use of these classrooms started some time ago, when the situation was not as dire as it is now.

"The time has come to cease the office use and bring it back as a school. We ought to be stressing that quite strongly to the county council."

The meeting also heard criticism that the building was being left to rot. Councillor Shaw pointed out it was listed by English Heritage as not being looked after by its owner.

October 17, 2001 16:01

Richard Evans