01 Feb 2023
It has been an albatross around the necks of local politicians for decades, a harbinger of impending doom casting a grim shadow over the district’s future. But now, after years of wrangling, could the Park Street strategic rail freight interchange finally become a reality? Not if an alliance of campaigners and the city’s MP have their way it won’t…
It was Herts county council which changed everything. Last December’s controversial vote to formerly decide to sell their share of the land to SRFI developers Segro (formerly HelioSlough) may have removed a major impediment to the project progressing to fruition.
To recap, the multi-million pound scheme will involve the conversion of 3.5 million sqm of Green Belt – the former Radlett airfield – into a massive rail and lorry park alongside associated warehouses, lorries, container storage and HGV parking.
The disruption to surrounding roads and commuter rail links is expected to be massive, with thousands of heavy goods vehicles visiting the site daily, and additional freight trains on the already busy Thameslink line.
It was back in 2014 that then-communities secretary Eric Pickles gave outline planning permission for the SRFI to HelioSlough, with SADC losing a subsequent High Court appeal.
But the world has moved on, and it could be argued that the scheme is no longer of strategic national importance, and the loss of such a vast swathe of Green Belt goes against current government policy.
Campaign group Save St Albans: Fight the Freight says HCC is relying on data from 2001 and has failed to take into account the fact that there will be no direct motorway access from the Park Street site, with an additional 3,000 HGVs and 7,000 cars and vans a day adding to congestion on local roads.
Sign their petition against the SRFI here: change.org/p/suspend-the-sale-of-st-albans-land-for-a-rail-freight-interchange-development
See this week’s St Albans Times for an exclusive interview with MP Daisy Cooper on the ongoing issue.
