Suspend the sale of St Albans land for a rail freight interchange development
Suspend the sale of St Albans land for a rail freight interchange development
Why this petition matters
This affects EVERYONE in and around St Albans, residents and visitors alike and all commuters on the Thameslink line.
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The Rail Freight Interchange is not feasible for a rail interchange so will bring, daily, thousands of additional HGVs and other vehicle movements to our already congested roads. Our roads will become less safe to use and the air quality in St Albans will become even more polluted. The engineering work on the Elstree tunnels, that is needed to accommodate freight wagons on the Thameslink line, would cause months and months of disruption to the busy commuter services so this is likely to never happen and be replaced by HGVs only and will no longer be a strategic piece of infrastructure.
The land required to build the site is currently owned by Herts County Council. Residents of St Albans and surrounding areas have been informed, without consultation, that this land will be sold to SEGRO for the development of the rail freight interchange.
We petition Herts County Council:
1) To immediately suspend all negotiations with regard to the sale of the Park Street green belt until all County Councillors and local residents have had the opportunity to scrutinise the information requested below.
2) To publish all questions asked of Rhodri Price Lewis KC and Landmark Chambers in relation to the offer received from SEGRO,
3) To publish the legal advice received to the question “What would be the consequences for Hertfordshire County Council if the Council were to refuse to sell the Park Street land to SEGRO?”
4) To publish any other advice received from any other party that is relevant to decisions taken by the County Council that they have no alternative but to sell the former Radlett Airfield.
5) To disclose any new questions being asked of any legal Counsel in relation to the Council’s obligations, or otherwise, to sell its land to SEGRO, and to publish this advice with immediate effect.
Our aim is persuade the relevant authorities that the former Radlett Aerodrome (green belt) in Park Street should stay in public ownership and be kept for the benefit of the local community.