Leahoe masterplan revealed

Plans for a long abandoned building emerged at a meeting of the county council's Resources and Performance panel last week.

A masterplan for the site next to County Hall was featured as part of a presentation to the council by Herts Living Ltd, a company established and wholly owned by the council.

Leahoe House was abandoned and boarded a number of years ago, whilst 34 adjacent homes in Leahoe Gardens are largely unoccupied and in a poor state of repair.

The proposals include the conversion of Leahoe House to residential use, with an option of commercial use on the ground floor. The rest of the site would be given over to a mix of new and existing buildings. There would also be a new neighbourhood green, a central belt of trees featuring a nature trail, whilst all the new homes would have private amenity space with their own garden, terrace or balcony.

However, the future of the site has yet to be secured and other bidders are expected to submit alternative proposals for the county council to consider.

The plans to not include the adjacent cricket pitch or County Hall itself.

Leahoe House was built built in the 1870s and the estate acquired by Hertfordshire County Council in the 1930s. The house was used by Hertfordshire’s Air Raid Precautions department during WWII.