25 Apr 2023
Countryside charity CPRE Hertfordshire has pledged its full support to campaigners fighting against the controversial rail freight development.
The organisation, whose remit is to protect, promote and enhance the countryside for everyone to value and enjoy, is backing Save St Albans – Fight the Freight, and calling for the Green Belt land at the former Radlett airfield to remain in public ownership instead of being sold to a developer.
CPRE Herts chief executive Martin Varco has written to Herts county council leader Cllr Richard Roberts urging him not to proceed with the scheme.
He saidL “We want the right kind of development in the right places for the right reasons. CPRE Hertfordshire is not about saying no to all proposals for development, we just need to ensure that what is built is needed and the impact of the development does not outweigh the benefits.
“We have long been opposed to the former Radlett Aerodrome being used as the location for a Strategic Rail Freight Interchange development. We understand the need for rail freight interchanges in the UK but feel that this significant area of Green Belt and countryside is irreplaceable especially given its close proximity to the highly populated city of St Albans.
“We also understand that despite this development being referred to as a rail freight interchange, the operations are likely to be HGV intensive which we feel will impact badly on the wider St Albans area, putting unacceptable pressure on the local roads and highways and generating more carbon emissions.
“We understand the county council’s argument that because the planning permission was granted by the Secretary of State in 2014, the county council cannot be seen to thwart the development. CPRE Hertfordshire, however, asks that HCC do everything in its powers to retain the former Radlett Aerodrome as part of its countryside and open green spaces estates. Retaining this land would also go a long way in demonstrating the country council’s commitment to improving the air quality throughout Hertfordshire.
“Our understanding from the published legal advice is that despite an offer being received for the former Radlett Aerodrome site, the county council, under their fiduciary duty, can place a value on non-monetary factors like the negative impact that the development would have on the population’s health and wellbeing as well as the damage it would cause to a large protected area of Hertfordshire countryside. We hope that this advice has been adopted by the county council in its process to approve the sale of Green Belt land.
“We also understand that the county council can look at possible change of circumstances regarding the current need for this development nearly a decade on from when the planning permission was granted for a SRFI in 2014. Indeed, huge increases in upgrading the rail line to make it suitable for freight trains, the development of alternative rail freight terminals at Willesden and Sundon Quarry near Luton mean the Radlett site no longer looks viable as a rail freight terminal.
“There is concern the developers understand this and intend to use this as a lorry to lorry depot which will only add to congestion and pollution. It is unlikely that such a terminal on Green Belt would receive approval if an application for such use was made today.
“The urgent need to retain and protect our open spaces and countryside has never been so important and was recently highlighted by Sir David Attenborough saying that the UK needs to ‘act now’ as ‘huge numbers of animals, birds and habitats have been quite literally wiped out in our own lifetimes and we must now accept that without urgent and collective action, our economy, the climate and the stability of future generations living in our wild isles all face a ticking timebomb’.
“As a charity whose mission and public benefit is to protect the countryside, we don’t think that an alternative use needs to be sought for Hertfordshire County Council to retain the former Radlett Aerodrome within their landownership. The land is serving a purpose as it stands and is an area of wide biodiversity, some species of which are protected.
“We understand that negotiations for the sale of the Park Street Green Belt are still ongoing with the developer. We ask that you seriously reconsider the decision to sell the former Radlett Aerodrome given the scale of open countryside involved and the importance of not further depleting our protected Green Belt. We cannot emphasis enough how important it is for councils to protect open green spaces and their biodiversity because they are disappearing at such a fast rate.”
A public meeting on the proposals is taking place at 8pm on Thursday April 27 at Greenwood Park Community Centre in Chiswell Green.
“The strength of opposition continues to grow and its time the county council listened,” said Terrie Smith, one of the campaign leaders. “We have provided HCC with evidence to support our case but they continue to ignore it.
“At the public meeting we’ll be updating residents on that evidence and outlining our next steps including the option of legal action against the council where there appear to be grounds for showing they have not followed due process concerning the sale.”
Terrie added: “We’ll also be updating people and correcting some of the misleading comments from Herts CC around this scheme. They have spoken nonsense about a by-pass that won’t be a by- pass and a country park they say is being created but which already exists. And we are concerned that there are no agreements with the developers to fund improvements to the roundabouts at Park Street and London Colney, improvements that will be necessary to cope with the extra traffic.”
