17 Jul 2026
Should rail freight company SEGRO be compensating neighbouring residents for the disruption caused by the massive development on their doorsteps?
With a hosepipe ban imposed across the district, households in Park Street and Frogmore are legally prohibited from hosing down the thick sandy dust which is daily deposited on their cars and properties from the scheme.
As the summer heatwave continues, dust from the former Radlett Aerodrome site is being blown across the villages and onto vehicles, windows, garden furniture, washing lines and into people’s homes where it is ruining their carpets and furnishings.
Neighbours are reporting headaches, sore throats and irritated eyes. They cannot open their windows to cool down in the soaring temperatures, or go outside to use their gardens.
But SEGRO is doing nothing to tackle the situation or compensate residents whose lives have been blighted by the dust.
Arguably, they have not breached their planning conditions, and air quality readings are within acceptable limits, meaning SADC is satisfied with the metrics.
But the monitoring measures airborne particulate concentration, not the dust which is falling out of the air and landing on people’s property, ruining their homes and cars.
Local residents are now joining forces to demand compensation for SEGRO blighting their lives, which they say the company can comfortably afford to pay given the scale of the project and the profits it is expected to make.
Campaigner Peter Hawkins, on behalf of the Impacted Residents of Frogmore & Park Street, is just one of many people demanding action.
He is urging St Albans MP Daisy Cooper to press SEGRO to establish a Residents’ Impact Fund for the households directly affected by the earthworks phase.
He wants this to cover the cost of regular external cleaning of vehicles, windows and property for the duration of the earthworks; provide compensation for damage to paintwork, garden furniture and property caused by dust deposition; and give recognition to the loss of amenity suffered over the 2026 and 2027 construction seasons.
“Against a development of this scale, the sums involved are trivial. SEGRO spent £72 million on a single rail underbridge. What we are describing would not register on their balance sheet. But it would make a material difference to the families carrying the cost of their project.
“If this development is as good for the community as SEGRO claim, why are the people bearing its heaviest cost the only ones receiving nothing?
“People here aren’t being unreasonable. Nobody expects a site of that scale, in this weather, with these winds, to produce no dust at all. Nobody is asking for the development to be stopped – that ship sailed years ago and residents know it. And I don’t think anyone seriously believes SEGRO can eliminate this entirely.
“But new cars are being damaged. People can’t open their windows in a heatwave because the dust comes straight in. It’s getting into furniture, into televisions, into carpets. It’s a constant, grinding, expensive inconvenience, and it will go on for another two summers.
“So the question is a simple one: who pays for that? At the moment, the answer is that the households on the boundary pay for it. Every wash, every clean, every replacement.
“Meanwhile SEGRO’s shareholders make multi-million pound profits from the development, their directors are paid handsomely, and their future tenants get a state-of-the-art logistics park.
“What residents are asking for is not a legal remedy or a windfall. It’s a gesture. Something that covers the cost of washing your car, cleaning your windows, or buying a fan or an air conditioner so you can keep the windows shut in August. An acknowledgement that while SEGRO are making very large sums of money, the people living 20 feet from their earthworks are the ones paying the price for it.
“I raised that with SEGRO and their response was to deny liability, refuse any payment, and then formally shut down all correspondence. Their Head of Legal has written to me to say they will not be responding to further emails on the subject. I find that genuinely disappointing from a company that talks so much publicly about being a good neighbour and about community investment.
“SEGRO describes Radlett as nationally significant infrastructure. HS2 is also nationally significant infrastructure – and it compensates residents for construction dust and noise, despite being compliant, because the Government accepted that compliance alone doesn’t make it fair. If SEGRO wants the status of a national infrastructure project, why won’t it accept the responsibilities that come with it?
“SEGRO’s position is that they will do nothing, pay nothing, and have now stopped responding to residents altogether. That is a choice, not a rule. Nobody is asking them to stop the development. Residents are asking for enough to wash a car, clean a window, or buy a fan so they can keep the windows shut in August. Against a development of this scale, it is a rounding error.
“With the hosepipe ban imposed residents are now legally prohibited from hosing down the dust. You can’t safely wash clay grit off paintwork with a bucket and sponge – without a hose to float the abrasive particles off first, you’re effectively grinding them into the lacquer.
“So residents are left with a choice: drive a filthy car, or damage it further trying to clean it. Which means the only real option is paying a commercial car wash – because they’re exempt from the ban and remain open.
“This means paying out of their own pockets, week after week, to clean off dust that SEGRO’s development is putting there. The local car washes will do very nicely out of it. The people living next to the site will be out of pocket. And SEGRO, as a commercial operator, is exempt from the ban entirely – so their water bowsers can keep running, for all the good they’re doing.”
Frogmore resident Susie Taylor added: “Residents in close proximity should get compensation.
“When the bund is removed behind Radlett Road and Hampden Place residents will be exposed to panoramic views of the construction site and machinery, and having to deal with horrendous noise and large amounts of dust.
“Then of course when this inappropriate development is finally operational residents will be exposed to significant noise 24/7 and light pollution at night.
“It’s wrong that compensation was never offered by SEGRO to residents in close proximity whose daily lives would be disrupted with loss of enjoyment of their homes and gardens.”
SADC strategic director for community and place delivery Christine Traill said: “Dust nuisance and contaminated land concerns have been extensively investigated by Environmental Health.
“Dust suppression vehicle bussers are operating across the site, they are deployed to different areas as and when required. Dust monitoring and air quality monitoring in the form of static electronic equipment is taking place across the site and EH have witnessed these around the boundaries with residential property.
“The developers have provided EnSEvironmental Health with the data and there is no evidence in the data to determine a statutory nuisance that would require independent monitoring.
“There is regular communication between the developers, environmental consultants, SADC and the Environment Agency as the site redevelopment progresses, ensuring that planning permission conditions are followed.”
St Albans MP Daisy Cooper responded to the complaints raised by local residents: “It’s a disgrace that local residents are continuing to suffer dust and noise pollution, as a result of Conservative Secretary of State Eric Pickles giving it the green light 12 years ago and setting the planning conditions that are allowing SEGRO to get away with this disruption.
“I’m incredibly glad that the council’s planning and environmental health teams are actively monitoring the development, including for any potentially harmful contamination, which I know some residents are worried about.”
“Ultimately, when investigating any complaints the council are bound by the planning conditions set by the Secretary of State at the time.
“However, I’d continue to encourage anyone who believes noise, dust, pollution or any other disruption may be breaching these conditions to report it via the council’s website. This will ensure they can be investigated fully.
“Residents can also contact their local district councillors about reporting incidents of dust or noise that may constitute a statutory nuisance.
“Please rest assured that my team and I will keep doing all we can to hold SEGRO to account, ensure they’re fulfilling their obligations to protect and maintain our local environment, and that they’re minimising disruption for local residents.”
Due to the need to clarify their full position on the issues raised in this article, SEGRO was unable to provide a detailed response before we published, so we will include their comments in a follow-up next week.
