Countryside campaigners have welcomed the news that brownfield sites in Harpenden are to be examined as possible secondary school sites.

Hertfordshire County Council is appointing consultants to look at the sites as an alternative to a Green Belt site at Batford, Harpenden.

CPRE Hertfordshire has consistently opposed this proposal for a secondary school on the site adjacent to Lower Luton Road.

Hon. Director, Kevin FitzGerald said: “Land can only be removed from the Green Belt as part of the District Plan and only under very special circumstances. This is enshrined in the planning system and has been confirmed by Ministers.

“It is not for developers to decide, by submitting planning applications, whether land can be removed from the Green Belt or not. All too often, this is what we are seeing happening. We are pleased to see that, before invading this Green Belt farmland, steps are being taken to find alternative sites.”