The man in charge of planning in Hertsmere says keeping Hertsmere lovely and green is "not allowed" because of Government pressure, but that there will not be another Isopad House.

Hertsmere Borough Council has been ordered to build 3,896 homes in the next 15 years– and 1,000 of these will be in the Elstree Way Corridor - an already built-up area earmarked for further development along the major road.

Hundreds of people campaigned to fight this – but the authority says its hands were tied and the decision caused as much anguish for councillors as it did for residents.

Councillor Harvey Cohen, who is responsible for planning, said he and his colleagues devised the Elstree Way Corridor Action Plan to take control of the situation.

He said: “The ideal answer to the public would be no more building and I can understand that, but we can’t say no to it. Keeping Hertsmere lovely and green is not allowed.

“We want to end up with an area we are proud of and homes befitting of Borehamwood.”

Cllr Cohen says it is a common misconception that Borehamwood has borne the brunt of new developments, when in the last three years, Bushey has seen the most developments.

In the corridor, 500 new homes have been built or are under construction, with a further 500 due in the next ten years.

We asked you whether you had any questions about the plans - and here's what you asked...

Isopad House: will we have any other 12 storey buildings?

Cllr Cohen stressed the importance of having a design strategy, which states buildings can be a maximum of six stories high.

But when Isopad House was granted planning permission last year it was to be 12 storeys high – though Cllr Cohen promised this would merely be a “one off”.

He said: “Now that we’ve realised the strength of public opinion, if other developers want to exceed these guidelines this will only be in exceptional circumstances. We won’t see another Isopad House."

Won’t car parking become a nightmare?

For every new one, two and three bedroom houses built, one car parking space will be provided and four to five bedroom houses will be granted 1.5 spaces.

This, residents have argued, is simply not enough.

Cllr Cohen said: “The council has a car park and the rates are reasonable. If people look at a place here and realise they won’t have anywhere to park, they can make the decision not to live here.”

Health centres are already oversubscribed, so how will we cope?

Hertsmere Borough Council does not provide healthcare – but councillors have had a meeting with Hertfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group and a site for a new doctor’s surgery has been earmarked.

The clinic will be next to Cheeky Money’s Nursery in Elstree Way.

Traffic is awful – so will you improve the roads when new people move in?

Cllr Cohen says a new bus lane will go from around the perimeter of the Shenley Road roundabout, going all the way to the bus concourse in Tesco to improve traffic flow.

He also urged people to ditch their cars and start walking or cycling.

“Rush hour is quite bad but it still flows. We are living in an age where people are in their cars a lot more.” He said.

Although one person suggested turning the Elstree Way Corridor into a dual carriageway with a flyover at Stirling Corner, Cllr Cohen said this is both “physically and logistically impossible”.

Maxwell Park Centre

The well-loved Maxwell Park Centre could be knocked down and turned into a primary school - but Hertsmere Borough Council has vowed to fight “tooth and nail” to stop this from happening.

When 96 Shenley Road was opened, people said it was not “big enough” to house all the groups that Maxwell had.

Cllr Cohen said: “It’s bang in the middle and we want to keep it as it is, we don’t want it to go. We are in talks with Hertfordshire County Council about this.”

What about the children?

With an influx of new people, many have argued the need for community facilities for children, but this is down to Hertfordshire County Council.

“We regularly engage with the county and responsible providers, but it’s not up to us to provide it. We are facilitators, but very active facilitators.”

Affordable housing?

The authority has asked for between 35 to 40 per cent of all new builds to be affordable.

Cllr Cohen said: “We want Borehamwood to be affordable to children of those who have lived here for generations.

“The sad fact is that we are 18 minutes from London, so demand is very high.”

The Ark Theatre

The Ark, which is currently part of Hertswood Academy in Thrift Farm Lane, is to be knocked down as the school site is sold off for housing.

“We’re scrutinising it to make sure the new theatre will be the same or better than the old one. We’d love to be able to afford to build a brand new one, but we don’t have the money.”