28 Nov 2023
Campaigners fighting the proposed rail freight terminal on the former Radlett airfield to the south of St Albans now expect a judge to rule whether to grant their request for judicial review early in the New Year.
If the review is successful the decision by Herts county council to sell the land to developers Segro at the end of June could be overturned.
Protest group Save St Albans: Fight the Freight lodged their claim for a judicial review at the end of September arguing that previous legislation proved the 300 acre site had been designated permanent open space which should not be developed.
HCC has now submitted its response. A judge will also consider evidence from Segro who plan to build a huge freight terminal on the Green Belt site.
One of the campaign leaders, Cllr Nuala Webb, said: “We believe we have a strong and arguable case supported by documents dating back more than 70 years. Planning permission for the terminal was granted by the then-Secretary of State ten years ago. But that is a completely different and separate issue to the legality of the sale.
“We have shown that covenants and statutes show the land is protected as permanent open space. Indeed from what we’ve seen Herts’ own records support this. They bought the land for just £1 in the mid 1980s. No landowners would sell for such a sum if there was future development value.”
The Fight the Freight campaigners have also set up a group of local experts to monitor work currently being carried out on and around the site by the developers.
“Even though the sale could be reversed by judicial review, the developers and their contractors have been carrying out survey work and preliminary excavations which is already causing a nuisance and a disturbance to people living nearby,” said Terrie Smith, another campaign leader.
“We have put together a group of experts with specialists knowledge in areas such as rights of way and nature and the environment, to monitor the impact on wildlife, the local area and local people and make sure the developers comply with the strict planning regulations that were set out when planning was approved.
‘”We will also be monitoring the impact on traffic volumes, pollution, impact on the River Ver and local communities. The site is also of great archaeological interest, especially with the number of Roman ruins in the area, so we have experts keeping a close eye on anything the excavators may uncover.”
