We passionately believe in the power of education to enrich lives, raise aspirations and create prosperity for individuals, businesses and the communities we work in.

Our aim is to be known as an exceptional place to study, where we provide students with an inspiring curriculum that develops the skills, knowledge and behaviours they need to be successful in their lives and future careers.

We also want to be a valued and visible part of the community and make a positive contribution to improve the lives of local residents. The college delivers a broad range of academic and vocational courses to young people and adults. We have over 2,000 full time students and a further 8,000 adults and apprentices. We are proud that our overall achievement rates make us one of the top performing colleges in the region.

In their November 2017 inspection report, Ofsted judged North Hertfordshire College to be ‘Good’ with our supported studies provision and traineeships rated ‘Outstanding’.

We have also just heard the great news that NHC is ranked fifth best in the country and first in Hertfordshire for overall student satisfaction, according to an annual Government commissioned survey of all FE learners.

Our sports facilities at the Hitchin campus are in urgent need of upgrading. Our sports hall is nearly 50 years old, has a leaking roof and high maintenance costs.

Our sports curriculum is changing to reflect national priorities and industry expectations. We need to ensure that our facilities are modernised and fit for purpose to deliver higher level technical qualifications.

The new facilities will include a multi-purpose sports hall with changing areas and a gym, a new 3G football pitch and sports science teaching facilities. Having industry-standard facilities will enable us to remain a successful college and help meet the demands of the local economy now and in the future. NHC students will gain the skills and competitive edge they need to gain employment in the sports and leisure industries.

To facilitate our new sports proposals, we plan to sell a portion of our land to CALA Homes (North Home Counties), which, in addition to helping to improve the College, will also help to meet local demand for new homes. CALA will create new homes on the south-east side of the site, including areas of public open space.

The residential part of the development will see the construction of around 120 new homes within a high quality and considered residential development. Landscaping and the provision of Public Open Space will enhance the scheme and it is being designed to minimise the impact on existing, adjacent residential properties.

Placemaking and good design is at the heart of CALA’s ethos and this is embedded in our approach to the development across the sites.

Our new sports centre will be a modern, attractive facility that meets the needs of our students and improves our offer to the wider community.

It will include a gym and large multi-purpose sports hall which will contain four badminton courts, as well as changing and showering facilities with direct access to the new football pitch.

Our new 3G artificial grass pitch will be an improved replacement for our current pitch, based on the most up-to-date standards to provide a high quality playing experience. We’ll also be investing in improved sports science teaching facilities.

Our new sports facilities will be open to the community, providing an exciting new amenity for the area and promoting engagement with sports and healthy lifestyles amongst people of all ages. The facilities will be designed to be welcoming and inviting and easy for students, staff and community users to both access and find their way around.

The redeveloped facilities will support high quality teaching and learning across a broad sports curriculum. They will allow our students to develop the skills that employers in the sports industry expect, and so prepare them for work in a growing sector that offers good career opportunities for young people.

The building of new homes is an integral part of the scheme as these homes are required to finance the much needed new facilities for the College. The homes are proposed on land which is now surplus to the needs of the College.

CALA Homes has a strong track record in delivering high quality new homes in the Hitchin area. Located near to the station and the amenities of the town centre, this is an excellent opportunity to create a new residential development in a highly sustainable location.

Working alongside the Council, we are developing the scheme to ensure the development addresses the identified housing need in Hitchin and North Herts through a range of house types; including affordable homes. We are expecting to build around 120 new homes on the site.

The desire is to create a high quality residential environment in a traditional style where the architecture and materials used to build the homes reflect local character. The layout of the site is informed by the landscape character of the surrounding area, the existing landscape features of the site and the existing built form.

The majority of homes will be two storey, in keeping with those of the local area. Some three storey buildings will be located within the centre of the site to identify focal points and key character areas. The apartment blocks adjacent to the college building will also be three storey to ensure correct proportions and to provide a design transition from the college buildings to the residential parts.

The use of apartments, terraced, semi-detached and detached houses provides a distinct character and diverse mix of buildings, along with design variation. Unifying features on each of the different homes, along with an effective palette of materials ensures design continuity throughout the scheme.

Landscaping is an integral part of any new development and the scheme has been designed to provide areas of green space with extensive new tree and hedgerow planting.

The use of locally native shrubs is proposed to help soften the appearance of the development whilst also enhancing ecology and biodiversity. Full ecological surveys are being undertaken to assess the ecological value of the site and how this can be retained and enhanced.

Key features of the landscaping include:

A play area designed to reflect the character of the site and its surroundings. This will be equipped with play elements to provide challenging and stimulating equipment for children.

Informal open space abutting the river, nature reserve and watercress beds to the north-east of the site with the retention of the existing tree belt.

A new avenue of trees to provide a defined entrance to the site.

The site falls within Flood Zone 1 and is therefore deemed to have the lowest risk of flooding by the Environment Agency.

The drainage systems for the whole site will be designed in accordance with the requirements of Hertfordshire County Council who, are the Lead Local Flood Authority for the area, and the National Planning Policy Framework.

The proposed drainage strategy for the whole site will employ Sustainable Urban Drainage techniques (SuDS), designed to limit and slow the rate of discharge from the site to a rate which does not exceed the run-off from the undeveloped site. This will therefore not increase the risk of flooding either on the site or elsewhere off the site.

The main drainage principles are as follows:

The use of a ‘dry pond’ to capture any excess surface water run-off

Surface water run-off to be released into the river in a controlled manner

Permeable surfaces to be used where possible to allow water infiltration to reduce surface run-off

SPORTS FACILITIES
To deliver a sports hall that is environmentally responsible, our approach will be based on low energy design principles. We will aim to minimise our use of energy through effective building design and efficient use of services.

High levels of natural daylight to reduce the need for artificial lighting will be considered within the design wherever possible.

The internal and external lighting design will provide the correct quality of lighting, minimise energy input and reduce internal heat gain. We will seek to minimise the use of water and reuse water where feasible. We are also exploring the feasibility of a range of low and zero carbon technologies including air source heat pumps and solar panels.

NEW HOMES
The new homes will meet stringent building regulations which require reduced energy and water use.

TRANSPORT
A green travel plan is being developed to reduce carbon emissions. Items under consideration include proposals to encourage more cycling, electric vehicle charging points and a car club.

Thank you for attending today’s event.

Your feedback is hugely helpful as we continue to refine our plans.

We will now collate all your feedback and incorporate it into the next iteration of our proposals.

We will be hosting another event on Monday 21st October when we will share with you our latest plans. We will provide more details about that event nearer the time.