A new Harpenden Secondary School Report of Public Exhibitions (December 2013) February 2014 prepared by Vincent and Gorbing architecture town planning interior design urban design PROPOSED HARPENDEN SECONDARY SCHOOL REPORT OF PUBLIC EXHIBITIONS REPORT OF PUBLIC EXHIBITIONS CONTENTS PAGE 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1 2.0 EXHIBITION ORGANISATION AND FEEDBACK 2 3.0 DATA ANALYSIS 5 4.0 SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS 16 APPENDICES Appendix 1 Leaflet delivered to local residents / newspaper advert Appendix 2 Plan showing leaflet delivery areas Appendix 3 Copy of newspaper advertisements Appendix 4 Copy of exhibition boards displayed at exhibition Appendix 5 Copy of questionnaire given to exhibition attendees Appendix 6 Redacted emails received after the exhibitions Appendix 7 Responses from Councils 4812/HP/RG FEBRUARY 2014 PROPOSED HARPENDEN SECONDARY SCHOOL REPORT OF PUBLIC EXHIBITIONS 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Vincent and Gorbing were commissioned by Hertfordshire County Council to organise and attend three public exhibitions to publicise the County Council’s current position in relation to; firstly, past and current education requirements for a new secondary school in Harpenden; and, secondly, the process and outcomes of initial town planning and highways appraisal work undertaken in 2010/2011 to search for, and identify, potential sites for a new secondary school. 1.2 This report sets out the process and outcomes from the public exhibitions which were held on Tuesday 3 December 2013, Wednesday 4 December 2013 and Thursday 5 December 2013. 1.3 Section two of this report sets out the exhibition organisation and feedback namely: venues advertising resourcing information provided to attendees level of attendance at the exhibitions level of feedback 1.4 Section three of this report contains the data analysis of the questionnaires that were returned before the deadline. 1.5 Section four of this report sets out the summary and recommendations. 4812/HP/RG/FINAL FEBRUARY 2014 PAGE NO. 1 PROPOSED HARPENDEN SECONDARY SCHOOL REPORT OF PUBLIC EXHIBITIONS 2.0 EXHIBITION ORGANISATION AND FEEDBACK EXHIBITION VENUES 2.1 The exhibitions were held on three consecutive days: Tuesday 3 December 2013 at The Grove Junior School, Dark Lane, Harpenden, Hertfordshire AL5 1QB from 3:30‐7:30pm Wednesday 4 December 2013 at St Helen’s Church of England Primary School, Brewhouse Hill, Wheathampstead, St Albans Hertfordshire AL4 8AN from 3:30‐7:30pm Thursday 5 December 2013 at Redbourn Parish Centre, The Park, Redbourn, St Albans, Hertfordshire AL3 7LR from 3:30‐7:30pm ADVERTISING THE EXHIBITIONS Leaflet distribution 2.2 The initial town planning appraisal (January 2011) shortlisted three potential sites and one preferred potential site. It was agreed with the County Council that households and businesses living in the area around the three shortlisted potential sites would receive an A5 flyer advertising the exhibition. The leaflet advertising the exhibitions is attached at Appendix 1 and the leaflet distribution areas are attached at Appendix two. 2.3 The leaflet was also sent by email to all the primary and secondary schools in the Harpenden Education planning area for onward transmission to all parents with pupils in existing schools. 2.4 The leaflets were displayed in public locations in Wheathampstead, Redbourn, Kimpton and Harpenden. Newspaper advertisement 2.5 A newspaper advertisement was printed in the Herts Advertiser Newspaper two weeks preceding the exhibition on Thursday 21 November and Thursday 28 November 2013 (copies of advertisements are attached at Appendix 3). EXHIBITION RESOURCES AND INFORMATION 2.6 The exhibitions were attended by a team of: officers of the County Council from the Children’s Services Department; officers of the County Council from the Property and Technology Department; town planning consultants from Vincent and Gorbing; and civil engineering consultants from Stomor Ltd. The objective of the exhibition resourcing was to ensure that questions 4812/HP/RG/FINAL FEBRUARY 2014 PAGE NO. 2 PROPOSED HARPENDEN SECONDARY SCHOOL REPORT OF PUBLIC EXHIBITIONS relating to education, estates, town planning and highways, raised by the public could be addressed by the relevant team members. 2.7 In order to ensure that members of the public had good accessibility to the exhibition material, two sets of panel displays were produced alongside 20 A3 bound copies of the panel material which were left on tables. A3 bound copies of site photographs were also available on the tables for reference. 2.8 Copies of the panel content are attached at Appendix 4. 2.9 The purpose of the exhibition was set out in the first panel to: Explain the steps that the County Council have taken to date to ensure that there is a sufficient supply of school places in the local area Set out the forecast demand for additional school places in Harpenden Explain why the existing Harpenden secondary schools cannot be expanded to meet that current forecast demand Set out the process used to search for a potential new secondary school site in Harpenden Explain why some potential secondary school sites have been rejected Set out the County Councils currently preferred site for a new secondary school Set out the next steps of the process in order for the County Council to be in a position to definitively demonstrate “very special circumstances” and move forward with a planning application Set out the processes for completing and reporting that work to the local community EXHIBITION ATTENDANCE 2.10 Attendees to the exhibition were asked to register on arrival at the venues. 2.11 Exhibition attendance was as follows: The Grove Junior School Harpenden: 248 attendees St Helens Church of England Primary School Wheathampstead: 210 attendees Redbourn Parish Council: 60 attendees 2.12 In total there were 518 attendees at the exhibitions across the three evenings. 4812/HP/RG/FINAL FEBRUARY 2014 PAGE NO. 3 PROPOSED HARPENDEN SECONDARY SCHOOL REPORT OF PUBLIC EXHIBITIONS EXHIBITION FEEDBACK 2.13 A questionnaire (to be treated confidentially) was prepared and given to attendees on arrival at the exhibitions. The questionnaire is attached at Appendix 5. 2.14 The questionnaire was designed to; gather the views of the local community on the feasibility work undertaken to date; and, to establish their understanding of the current position. 2.15 The number of questionnaires completed at the exhibitions was as follows: The Grove School Harpenden: 143 St Helens Church of England Primary School Wheathampstead: 144 Redbourn Parish Centre: 48 2.16 In total there were 335 questionnaires completed and returned at the exhibitions. After the exhibitions a further 190 questionnaires were completed and returned to Vincent and Gorbing making a total of 525 questionnaires completed and returned before the deadline. 2.17 The number of questionnaires completed and returned [525] at the exhibitions is slightly higher than the number of attendees [518] at the three exhibitions. This is likely to be as a consequence of some people having viewed the exhibition material on line; or, they may have attended a further exhibition prepared by Batford residents (using the exhibition panels) which was held on Thursday 12 December 2013 before the deadline for the questionnaires. 2.18 Following the exhibitions 104 emails were subsequently received, of which 2 emails were received after the deadline of Thursday 12 December 2013. Some of the emails responded to the questions in the questionnaire. These have been included in the data analysis. Some of the emails contained general comments. Those few emails containing general comments that have not been fed into the data analysis are redacted and attached at Appendix 6 for information. 2.19 Wheathampstead Parish Council and Redbourn Parish Council formally responded to the questionnaire prior to the deadline. Kimpton Parish Council formally responded to the questionnaire but this response was received after the deadline. No formal response to the questionnaire or the exhibition material was received from Harpenden Town Council. No formal response to the questionnaire or the exhibition material was received from St Albans City and District Council. 4812/HP/RG/FINAL FEBRUARY 2014 PAGE NO. 4 PROPOSED HARPENDEN SECONDARY SCHOOL REPORT OF PUBLIC EXHIBITIONS 3.0 DATA ANALYSIS DATA COLLATION 3.1 Questionnaire responses (treated as confidential) were recorded in a spreadsheet. Each questionnaire was given a unique reference with name and postcode being recorded. 3.2 Questions 1‐3 on the questionnaire were entirely yes/no/maybe questions. These could be recorded numerically and percentage calculations made. 3.3 Question 4 was a yes/no/maybe question and could be recorded numerically with a percentage calculation but the question also asked the respondents to give the reasons for both the yes and no answers. There were several reasons given and, following an initial reading of the questionnaires, a code system was set up to comprehensively record answers. 3.4 To the answer that Site F should be identified as a preferred site the following reasons and codes were established: 1 School is needed 2 Build a new school as soon as possible 3 HCC should determine the best site (using research/work to be undertaken) 4 Loss of part of a horse stud on Site G 5 Flood risk on site G 6 Adverse impacts on hedgerows/trees on Site G 7 Increased traffic generation/congestion in Pipers Lane/Ayres End Lane for site G 8 Site F has good pedestrian access to Wheathampstead 9 Site F is located