09 Nov 2023
The leader of Herts county council has washed his hands once and for all over the sale of the former Radlett Aerodrome for redevelopment as a rail freight terminal.
Cllr Richard Roberts said: “Not withstanding the legal challenge brought through the Judicial review, the sale of this site was decided by Eric Pickles a long time ago.
“Our role and St Albans district council’s is to ensure that as much as possible the downside of the strategic rail freight interchange are mitigated and residents benefit from the planning conditions that deliver this.”
County councillors voted to approve the sale of the land to developers Segro back in December, claiming they had no choice as former Secretary of State Pickles had given planning permission for the SRFI back in 2014.
He was responding to a damning email sent to county councillors by Frogmore resident Susie Taylor, blasting them for agreeing to sell the 300 acres of Green Belt land.
She said: “I’m struggling to see any benefits from this ludicrous development squeezed into an unsuitable piece of land closely surrounded by heavily populated residential areas. No other rail freight interchange is only feet away from residents homes with no direct motorway access. The loss of fields, the peace and quiet for 24/7 noise and light pollution, and increased emissions from the thousands of extra HGVs, LGVs and other vehicles.”
This week county councillors proudly announced the reclassification of part of the A5183 as a C-road following the construction of a new road linking the A414 to a section of the A5183 near where it joins the M25, effectively bypassing Park Street and Frogmore.
Susie responded to the reclassification: “The reclassification of a section of the A5183 will not help with the consequences of emissions. The bypass will be another avenue for air pollution that will hang over Frogmore, Park Street, Napsbury, Sopwell , Radlett and beyond – that’s thousands of residents and their children. The bypass entrances will be a few feet from southern Frogmore residents’ homes, it’s quite frankly immoral.
“There also seems to be an oversight on the Curo Park Industrial Estate and HGV training centre located between Frogmore and Park Street. How will HGVs be able to access the estate if there are restrictions on this section of the A5183? How will Ventura Park Industrial Estate HGVs be affected? Will these HGV’s still have a right to use the A5183 to Park Street roundabout?
“I can only hope and pray the Judicial Review will be successful and this unwanted, outdated and highly polluting development will be stopped. Seventeen years of controversy and 9,000 residents signing the recent Fight the Freight’s petition has been for good reason.”
Meanwhile, another Park Street resident has challenged claims that the bypass will somehow reduce the amount of traffic on Hertfordshire roads and not contribute to excessive pollution.
Andy Love asked councillors to explain how the reclassification of a small stretch of the A5183 would solve many of the local residents’ concerns with the thousands of additional vehicles that will be using the rail freight terminal daily.
“Let’s be clear about this, all the roads surrounding the former Radlett aerodrome are interconnected and when traffic is gridlocked on the A414, the surrounding roads and villages are equally impacted. Even the South Herts sections of the M1 and M25 can be badly affected by closure of the St Albans section of the A414.
“The former Radlett aerodrome is in the St Albans Vale. The St Albans Vale is a trap for pollution so wherever the bypasses are constructed on the Green Belt, it will not stop pollution being airborne over villages and schools in the local vicinity.
“When the A414 is gridlocked or closed for major maintenance work, where is the rail freight interchange traffic going to be redirected?
“The new bypass will just create another avenue for pollution which not only includes vehicle emissions but also brake pad dust, noise, light and tyre wear particles which seep into the water table.”
Cllr Roberts told him: “I’m really pleased the improvements are now starting to get underway. They would be even quicker if there weren’t further legal obstacles but lets get the bypass built, the highways improved, the parks landscaped, the job opportunities created and the freight off the road to bring the best sustainable commercial activity to Hertfordshire.
“I hope St Albans district council are as enthusiastic as me to make sure this development is as good as it can be and hold Segro’s feet to the fire in getting all the conditions met.”
Andy replied: “I’m a little confused that you feel that the St Albans strategic rail freight interchange will be taking freight off the roads! You might then be surprised to learn that south Hertfordshire’s roads will have an additional three to five million additional vehicle movements yearly from having a freight operations located at Park Street! The air quality in this densely populated part of the county is already not great and the additional traffic from a SRFI in St Albans will certainly not improve this, especially given that south Hertfordshire’s main roads and motorways are already badly congested at peak times.
“I do feel very sorry for the youngest generations that live and go to schools in this part of the county. They don’t have a voice to say that they don’t want their lungs and hearts put at further risk from being permanently damaged from any substantial increase in vehicle emissions and pollutants.”
