Frequently asked questions
Who are we?
We are non-political group formed by local residents who are trying to Save St Albans from a massive Road/Rail Freight Interchange.
What's at stake?
400 acres of green belt that will be irreparably damaged from 5 massive warehouses, some of which will be 20 – 30 meters tall, and the infrastructure needed to service the site.
All this damage is likely to be at a net LOSS to Hertfordshire County Council, who seem to be selling at far below market value, especially when considering the outrageous highways costs that will be incurred by the Council.
Who will be affected?
Everyone living, working and going to schools in St Albans and surrounding areas.
The immense traffic generation will severely blight this part of Hertfordshire, affecting health, travel times and property values.
Why should residents be concerned?
There will be thousands of additional HGVs and other freight vehicles sharing our local roads. The development will destroy 400 acres of green belt, of which 300 are publicly owned.
Where is this happening?
It’s happening here in St Albans – This massive industrial development will be built on the former Radlett Aerodrome and thousands of HGVs will daily enter the site via a new A414 roundabout between the Park Street and London Colney roundabouts.
Our mission?
To persuade the relevant authorities that the former Radlett Aerodrome in Park Street should stay in public ownership and not sold to SEGRO, the rail freight interchange developer.
What is Section 106?
Section 106 is an agreement between the developer and planning authorities which makes commitments including: Purpose is to mitigate harms and strains caused by the development
Financial contributions by developer with the authorities
Conditions agreed to by developer with the authorities
Read in full here
Why, as a resident of Bricket Wood, should I care?
Because with 15,000 extra vehicles pouring out onto the A414 near Hedges Farm (about halfway between the London Colney and Park Street Roundabouts) – a 43% increase on 2019 traffic, our road system in the southern villages of St Albans (and wider) will grind to a halt.
I live in Bricket Wood so why would that affect me?
Because since the first time this Rail Freight Terminal was suggested in 2006 we all have SAT NAVs… all the traffic will be trying to find alternative ways to work, school, the doctor’s, to shop…. Down Smug Oak Lane, Lye Lane, Mount Pleasant Lane, all the back roads towards Old Watford Road… we all become Rat Runs. But instead of this being just when there are accidents, this will be all the time. And don’t get me started on pollution!
But won’t they stop this at peak hours?
No- they have said they’ll cap it for 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the evening to 202 HGVs an hour – that’s more than 3 a minute – and no caps on white vans and cars.
Won’t SEGRO – the developer pay to upgrade the roads and roundabouts to carry the extra traffic?
SEGRO are not planning on funding improvements on the roads – they think that you as taxpayers through Herts County Council are going to have to do that… and it will cost millions to try and alleviate this. Unlike in most large developments, HCC have no legal agreements on funding with SEGRO. SEGRO is one of the largest land companies in the UK, cash rich and litigious… not easy to fight with. More on our council tax !
What is it actually, just a few warehouses?
These aren’t supermarkets or B&Q depots. These are massive logistics warehouses of the type you see near Milton Keynes – 100ft high, shaded different colours. There are 5 planned for the Radlett site and the biggest one alone is larger than Heathrow’s Terminal 5!!
The earth mounds round them will not hide them. The deep cutting and levelling of the site will make it unrecognisable, and disturb the landfill with worrying implications for the River Ver.
It’s an ecological disaster over 300 acres.
Won’t it bring us jobs?
SEGRO and Herts County Council boast that it will bring 3,500 jobs . Brilliant, if we were in a run down area with high unemployment. But our unemployment rate has been 1% over the last 20 years. And over 70% of these jobs will be low paid warehouse jobs – and a lot of the delivery drivers. We don’t have the people here to fill those jobs, so they’ll have to come from North London, Luton, Watford … We don’t have enough people here to drive our buses as it is…
But isn’t there a Park Street Bypass that will take most of this traffic away from Bricket Wood?
The developers have pledged to fund a bypass which will run round the western outside of the warehouse site. But they can’t stop lorries going up Watling Street to Curo Park or to access shops there. What lorry is going to willingly go up the bypass and into a jam on the A414 even further away from the Park Street Roundabout? And SEGRO’s plans for traffic monitoring are so poorly thought out that Highways England and HCC Highways refused to approve them in 2021 – scathing about the lack of detail and out of date data.
I thought the whole idea of a SRFI (Strategic Rail Freight Interchange) was to get lorries off roads and onto rail?
Yes… and it’s a really good idea… and there are some very good examples up in Daventry and East Midlands – but this isn’t it. Great sites have a direct access within a few hundred metres of a motorway, and excellent rail links from two directions to a major line with capacity for freight, and are built away from densely populated areas. But not the old Radlett Airfield! It alone out of all the SRFIs has no motorway link, will overburden already strained and dangerous local trunk roads, is built right up against two densely populated areas, is up against the historic Roman Watling Street, and has a very poor and contentious rail connection, only from one direction, and is planned for a protected Metropolitan Green Belt site.
I thought the whole idea of a SRFI (Strategic Rail Freight Interchange) was to get lorries off roads and onto rail?
Yes… and it’s a really good idea… and there are some very good examples up in Daventry and East Midlands – but this isn’t it. Great sites have a direct access within a few hundred metres of a motorway, and excellent rail links from two directions to a major line with capacity for freight, and are built away from densely populated areas. But not the old Radlett Airfield! It alone out of all the SRFIs has no motorway link, will overburden already strained and dangerous local trunk roads, is built right up against two densely populated areas, is up against the historic Roman Watling Street, and has a very poor and contentious rail connection, only from one direction, and is planned for a protected Metropolitan Green Belt site.
No direct motorway access!
Despite being right next to the M25, the Highways authority have said that it will never get an exit there, because of the close proximity of the junctions for the M1, 21a and 22 on the M25. The more junctions close together the more terrible accidents. So we will just get the accidents on the A414and A405- already the most dangerous and heavily used non motorway route in Hertfordshire.
Right on the doorstep of Park Street, Frogmore and Napsbury
This awful, tragic saga has been going on since 2006 – planned by SEGRO and Tarmac (then Redland) and Gorhambury Estate (thanks Lord Verulam!) in 2003 – 20 years ago.
Defeated in 2009 on all counts by St Albans, Herts CC, public inquiry and appeals, the second 2009 planning application was approved, then quashed by Eric Pickles – then his decision quashed in 2011, and then despite all the evidence he decided in December 2012 he was ‘minded to approve’ it, which he did in 2014, and the final legal battle against PLANNING PERMISSION was lost by St Albans District Council and STRIFE in 2015.
But since then it went quiet.
We all thought it had gone away.
It didn’t even come up on searches when people bought flats and houses.
Imagine the shock to find it’s only going to be a hundred yards away from your garden?
The Fake Rail Terminal!
The ONLY reason they were able to get their hands on this protected Green Belt site was because of the RAIL link.
But will it ever happen?
It is only from the south, and will have to cross the slow southbound line to London. The trains are ¾ km long – that’s the equivalent of 36 carriages. The back wheels of the last ones will still be on the Thameslink line, when the front is almost at the warehouses!
There is hardly any capacity during the day on this extremely busy passenger line for these enormous slow freight trains. The high cube containers (off the ships) are too high for the old Victorian tunnels. They have to lower the rails by 18” (46cm)… not a problem unless you have 2 tunnels each over a mile long at Elstree and Belsize!
The slow line would have to be closed for over 2 months at least and the costs would be horrendous. Who will pay for this? I think Network rail think SEGRO will, and they expect Network Rail to upgrade it. This year, next year, sometime…
Once SEGRO gets the land and its Green Belt, it won’t mind. It only needed the Rail part to be ‘strategic’ to get the land. It is a warehouse builder and land owner. That is what it will get. If there is no rail connection it will apply to waive the conditions about the rail freight as it did up in Northampton in August 2022.
But what about the Country Park they are giving us?
It already exists – the beautiful Lakes near Hyde Lane (if you’ve never been there – go – it’s a real treat – one of the hidden treasures of this area) – and the moors, with skylark meadows and full of wild flowers and blossom – so how can this ‘mitigate’ for the harm done by the warehouses when it is already there?
Past Councils of all parties defended this Green Belt loyally for us for over 40 years.
Herts County Council and St Albans District Council defended this site continuously from 1970 when Handley Page went into receivership, till 2012 and Pickles letter of Doom, against all developers, a magnificent story.
They bought it for £1 in 2006 to protect it against development having made an arrangement with Redland and the Receiver in 1985, whereby they granted planning permission for mineral extraction and some landfill for 15 years in exchange for removal of all runways (a real problem), restoration of the site to agricultural use and woodland, and clearance of Handley Page’s debts.
Betrayal by Herts County Council - what can we do? Tell them NOT TO SELL THE LAND
Although Planning Permission was forced on both HCC and SADC by Eric Pickles, they still owned the land. I could apply to build anything on your land, and could get planning permission. This would stop you doing anything, but you don’t have to SELL ME YOUR LAND.
HCC does NOT have to sell this land.
The Secretary of State wrote on 20th December 2022 that he had no interest in this, it was a local decision and totally up to HCC.
If they don’t sell, there is NO SRFI here.
We are fighting back – legally challenging Herts CC decision on 12th December to sell.
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SAVE ST ALBANS: FIGHT THE FREIGHT
It is David vs Goliath, but we have a good case. Herts CC wants the money, but with no agreement about the roads, they may get the money in one hand and have to pay it out to sort out the roads with the other. And blight our whole area in the process.