Have your say

Consultation on the proposal to increase the premises at Wheatcroft Primary School, Hertford

It is proposed to enlarge the premises at Wheatcroft Primary School, Stanstead Road, Hertford, SG13 7HQ.

Why is it proposed to enlarge the premises?

There has been an increase in the number of children aged between 0-5 years in Hertford. The County Council has looked carefully at the supply of school places for reception age children, and has concluded that it will be necessary to provide more places in the town. Without these, there will not be enough school places from September 2011 onwards for all the reception age children in Hertford to start school.

As Wheatcroft Primary School is in the area of pupil growth, it is proposed to increase the size of this school to take 60 children into reception from September 2011. The number of reception places available at the school (the Published Admissions Number – PAN) will be increased from 45 to 60 for September 2011. This will be consulted upon as part of the County Council’s normal annual admissions arrangements.

The school currently does not have enough classrooms to accommodate these extra children and so it is proposed to enlarge the buildings to provide additional classrooms and associated accommodation for the school. In order to provide the school with sufficient playing field space, it is proposed as part of this enlargement that the former Pines School playing field be allocated for the school’s use and to come under their management.

The County Council is consulting you on this enlargement and would like to hear your views.

How can you let us know your views?

You have twelve weeks from the date of this letter to let us know your views on this proposal. You can do this by one of the following methods:

• completing the online form on our website at: www.hertsdirect.org/csfconsultations
• completing and returning the attached form (freepost)
• emailing us at education.planning@hertscc.gov.uk

Your comments must be received by 8 December 2009.

How will the decision be taken?

Once the consultation period ends, a report will be made to the County Council’s Education Panel. This Panel is made up of key elected members from the three main political parties, and will consider the feedback from the consultation. The Panel will make a recommendation to Cabinet, which is the County Council’s decision-making body. If Cabinet decides to proceed with the proposal, the County Council will publish a statutory notice of its intention.

In the four weeks following the publication of the notice, anybody is entitled to comment or object. If there are any objections to the statutory notice, the decision as to whether or not to proceed with the proposal would be made by Cabinet in the light of the objections received. If there are no objections, the director of Children, Schools & Families would be able to proceed with the proposal.

The following timetable outlines the decision-making process. Please note that meetings marked with * will be open to the public.
Public consultation: 15 September – 8 December
Education Panel*: 13 January 2010 - link to education panel papers www.hertsdirect.org/yrccouncil/civic_calendar/archive/Education%20and%20Skills%20Cabinet%20Panel_3 )
Education Panel*: 10 February 2010 - link to education panel papers
www.hertsdirect.org/yrccouncil/civic_calendar/MeetingTypes/Education%20and%20Skills%20Cabinet%20Panel
Cabinet*: 15 February 2010 - link to Cabinet papers
www.hertsdirect.org/yrccouncil/civic_calendar/MeetingTypes/Cabinet
Statutory notice: 18 February – 18 March
Decision if no objections to statutory notice
(delegated to Director of CSF): March 2010
Decision if objections to the statutory notice (Cabinet*): 19 April 2010