08 Jul 2024
The fight against the proposed rail freight terminal on hundreds of acres of Green Belt to the south of St Albans is set to continue.
Campaigners have now launched an appeal into a High Court decision to reject their claim that the sale of the land was unlawful.
Save St Albans: Fight the Freight insist the land should not have been sold by Herts county council because it was designated open space that cannot be developed.
Mrs Justice Leiven made her decision based on late evidence from a local farmer who said he had a tenancy agreement since 2017 that showed the land was not open space.
But campaigners say they had no time to consider or challenge this evidence and that it ignored a number of factors that may have persuaded the judge to reach a different decision.
“We accept that the farmer has had a tenancy agreement since 2017 but up until then he had a rolling three month grazing licence, which is consistent with the land being designated open space, ” said Cllr Terrie Smith, one of the campaign leaders.
“It’s not clear who knew about the change, whether it was publicised or indeed whether it was even legal. It seems like much of Herts county council policy it was based on assumption that the land was not designated open space even though neither we nor Herts can find any documentation to show this was the case.”
Under the tenancy agreement the farmer was obliged to fence the land and prevent trespassers. But local residents say they have never seen any signs saying ‘No Trespassing’ and were still able to access the land via a stile.
They say any fencing seemed designed to keep animals in rather than people out.
“Local people tell us they have used this land for leisure for many years,” said Cllr Smith. ” It was especially popular for walks during lockdown. Others have told us that the land is a popular spot for tobogganing when it snows.”
“The judge accepted that when Herts County Council agreed to buy the land for £1 in the mid 1980s the intention was to preserve it as open space and prevent development, ” said Cllr Nuala Webb, another of the Save St Albans: Fight the Freight leaders.
“The land was used for mineral extraction by Redland aggregates over 15 years and should have been restored by Redland when that finished but that work was never completed. We have copies of correspondence from former senior council officials at the time asking when the land was going to be opened to the public as originally intended.
“Herts county council should have enforced this but didn’t. But that failure does not mean the land was not designated open space and we don’t believe it should guide the legal verdict either.”
Campaigners have been frustrated that Herts county council say they cannot find crucial council minutes, documents and correspondence from a two year period either side of the time they agreed to buy the land.
“It’s sloppy and negligent, ” said Cllr Webb.
Save St Albans: Fight the Freight have now lodged their appeal and have two weeks to finalise their legal argument.
A spokesperson for HCC said: “Hertfordshire County Council is not aware of an appeal being lodged in this matter and we have not received any notification of appeal from either the Court of Appeal or the applicants within the required timeframe.”
