Comment: Do we need a huge new school at Bushey Country Club?

Around 250 people assembled virtually last night as Hertsmere Borough Council cautiously unveiled its grand proposal for the former Bushey Country Club, after many months of consultation.

Three years ago, the council was hosting similar meetings – in person – with crowds from the local community jostling for a seat to find out what had caused the club to close.

More importantly, people wanted reassurance that the site would not be developed into one huge housing estate.

Fortunately for residents, there are planning constraints on the site. Bushey Country Club is entirely on green belt land and there is a blanket tree preservation order.

But a scan of social media and the questions that flew in at last night’s meeting suggest the size of proposed development is much more than people were expecting – and the idea of creating Hertfordshire’s biggest secondary school - 1,950 pupils - raised the most eyebrows.

Read more: Huge secondary school lined up for country club site

Bushey Country Club site

This proposed masterplan was shown to the public last night. The red marks the secondary school and beige earmarked for housing. Pink in the top right would be community facilities, with the rest of the site left open as green space. Credit: Hertsmere

The local population will inevitably expand, due to soaring housing targets set by central government, but, arguably, the last place many would think needs a new secondary school is Bushey.

There are a host of schools and academies already in the town, including Queens’, which is the biggest school in the county, along with various private schools.

For all that Bushey residents may argue they lack, it is not educational facilities.

And this year’s school admissions data showed more than 95 per cent of Year 6 pupils in Bushey received a place at one of their preferred schools – and both the Grange Academy (formerly Bushey Academy) and Queens’ experienced a drop in the number of applications compared to last year.

Bushey Academy, pictured, Bushey Meads, Queens', Immanuel College, and St Margaret's are among schools in Bushey

If anywhere does need a new school, it is arguably West Watford. The same data shows Westfield Academy has accepted 358 current Year 6 pupils from September; around 80 more than any other school in Hertfordshire.

We have approached Hertfordshire County Council, which leads on education in the county, to find out what involvement it has had in this proposal at the country club.

At last night’s meeting, Bushey councillor Paul Morris, who has chaired the Bushey Country Club Consultation Group, reiterated a promise made by the leader of Hertsmere Borough Council in 2018 that the "community would be consulted on the future proposals for the site".

Cllr Morris said the group "undertook a series of focus groups with the community to understand their priorities".

A crammed Bushey Country Club in 2018 for a public meeting. There was so much interest, people had to be turned away

But a summary of consultation responses published on the council’s website for the preferred type of development on this site put a school right at the bottom - selected by just two people. The most popular choices were a country park or community hub.

With this in mind, residents will question whether last night’s proposal really does consider and represent the views of the community.

Another frustration from the public at last night’s meeting seemed to be the inability of the council to say how many homes it believed were realistic on two separate areas the council has outlined for possible residential development at the Bushey site.

Importantly, we must remember that absolutely nothing has been set in stone – and there will be plenty of opportunity for the community in Bushey to make comments.

But, for what seemed to be a genuine galvanisation from the council in 2018 to involve locals in coming up with an idea for the site, a familiar tale of public opinion being ignored by politicians could well be unfolding again.

We want to hear from you and what you think about the proposal for Bushey Country Club. Please email nathan.louis@newsquest.co.uk