A new synagogue and 12 homes can be built in Borehamwood after Hertsmere Borough Council’s planning committee unanimously approved plans for the redevelopment at a meeting yesterday (Thursday, 10 October).
Ohr Yisrael synagogue, based at the site on Theobald Street, told the council their existing facilities are now “too small and no longer fit for purpose”.
They applied for permission to demolish existing buildings and replace them with a new two-storey synagogue with an attached rabbi’s home and a four-storey building with 11 flats and commercial space. As part of the redevelopment, a historic schoolhouse which is currently empty will also become home to a nursery.
Council leader Cllr Jeremy Newmark, who spoke as a community advocate at the planning meeting, said the plans were “absolutely fundamental to our vision and plans for this borough”.
He praised the role of “strong faith communities” in Hertsmere, and added that the application would “provide a fit-for-purpose modern home for this wonderful, warm, charitable community that both directly and via its membership base contributes so much to our wider civic life.”
Cllr Newmark also said the development would contribute to the council’s “desperately poor” five-year housing supply situation, a point echoed by Cllr Natalie Susman. Cllr Christian Gray said it was “a lovely thing” that the old school house would be renovated and returned to use.
According to the officers’ report, Ohr Yisrael community was established by ten founding families 25 years ago, and now includes more than 120 families. It said: “The community is finding it very difficult to function and provide the basic minimum service for an orthodox synagogue … the space is too small for its needs.”
The new synagogue will include more than 800 square metres of space over two storeys, compared to 344 square metres at the current synagogue.
While no affordable homes will be provided as part of the development, contributions towards affordable housing elsewhere would be made at a later date if excess profits are made.
The proposals are not expected to be profit-making, with the cost of building the synagogue and restoring the schoolhouse partly to be covered through rental income from the commercial space and through selling the homes on the site.
It is expected to also require around £700,000 through a mortgage funded from communal membership fees, and £700,000 to £800,000 through community donations and charity campaigns.
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