BISHOP’S Stortford Civic Federation has taken its super-school complaint against East Herts District Council to the Local Government Ombudsman.
Vice-chairman John Rhodes acted after the local authority denied any wrong-doing in its dealings with the architects behind plans to shift the Herts and Essex and Bishop’s Stortford high schools to a shared campus in Thorley and redevelop their current sites for hundreds of new homes.
The proposals caused a storm of protest from residents and the federation was furious with the council’s head of planning and building control, Kevin Steptoe, after email evidence revealed his department had been “colluding in private” with Stevenage-based Vincent and Goring to move the project forward.
A revised planning application to move the secondaries to Green Belt land off Whittington Way and build more than 700 properties at London Road, Warwick Road and Beldams Lane is expected to be submitted before the end of the year.
After the initial allegations, council chief executive Ann Freimanis told the
Observer nothing untoward had occurred and demanded an apology from the federation over its claims.
But Mr Rhodes was unrepentant and has stepped up the pressure on the council by asking the ombudsman not only to investigate the original complaint regarding Mr Steptoe but also the council’s handling of that complaint.
In his letter to the watchdog, Mr Rhodes said: “As yet, no revised planning application has been submitted. The civic federation hope that this will not dissuade you from investigating our complaint.
“As you may have gathered, the proposals are extremely controversial locally. We therefore expect the council’s officers to show that they have displayed the highest standards of propriety in their dealings with the scheme promoters.
“In our view, the evidence shows that this has not occurred, and it is a matter of urgency that the situation is remedied before any fresh application comes before the development control committee for decision.”