10 Dec 2024
Liberal Democrat councillors in London Colney and Park Street have called for greater scrutiny of planning applications related to the Segro rail freight terminal after it was found significant changes to plans – including the felling of mature trees – were being pushed through planners as “non-material changes”.
A chance discussion with the St Albans Footpath Society alerted Napsbury parish councillor Keith Loud to the planning felling of mature trees and London Colney Parish Council quickly raised an objection. However, residents who also raised objections were told their comments could not be accepted and published on the St Albans district council planning website.
London Colney Parish Councillor Keith Loud said: “It is unbelievable that changes to plans to fell mature trees that were expected to screen Napsbury residents from the freight site noise pollution can be pushed through as non-material changes without proper scrutiny, and outrageous that the council has refused to accept comments from Napsbury residents.”
At a meeting of the council’s planning policy and climate change committee Fight the Freight campaign veterans Cllr Nuala Webb and Cllr. Terrie Smith called for changes to the council’s planning process to ensure they were fit for purpose when dealing with a huge site like the freight terminal.
Cllr Terrie Smith said “Through Fight the Freight we went to the High Court to fight the legality of the sale of public land by Hertfordshire County Council to Segro. We have to accept that we lost, and the terminal will be built. Our focus is now on
ensuring the best outcome for London Colney and Park Street residents. The first step is getting the planning process right, so changes to plans cannot slip through unnoticed.”
Cllr Nuala Webb added “For small scale applications minor changes can be approved without councillor scrutiny. But the freight terminal is a huge development, so they are trying to push through changes that are of great public interest using the process designed for minor changes. We just cannot accept this.”
Following protestations from Cllrs Loud, Webb and Smith the proposal to fell the mature trees has been withdrawn by Segro. At the meeting, officers agreed to look at improvements to the process and report back to committee members.
