Planning success – development starts on a new secondary school for Harpenden

Vincent and Gorbing are pleased to announce that construction work has started on the Katherine Warington School in Harpenden after a planning process that has taken several years to reach a successful conclusion. The planning application required supporting technical evidence to prove that very special circumstances existed to develop in the Green Belt. A complex sequential site analysis together with viability analysis proved that the only site that could be delivered was the application site on the Lower Luton Road. A planning application was submitted in September 2017 with planning permission being granted in March 2018. Following two legal challenges both the High Court and Court of Appeal judges held that the decision to grant planning permission was sound. Vincent and Gorbing have worked as part of a consultant team led by Kier Construction preparing and submitting the planning application, dealing with the matters raised by the legal challenges and assisting with some complex archaeological, highways and drainage issues to ensure that all the appropriate mitigation is in place to protect the environment. The new school will provide much needed secondary education places for the children of Harpenden and we are looking forward now to the school opening in September 2019.