Posted 15th July 2014 | 7 Comments
Railfreight terminal decision greeted with dismay
PLANNING permission for a new railfreight terminal on the Midland Main Line has been granted by the Government after an appeal, but the news has been greeted with dismay in the local area.
Communities and local government secretary Eric Pickles has allowed the appeal by developers Helioslough, who wish to build on the former Radlett airfield site south of St Albans, which is green belt land.
The city's MP Anne Main has slammed the decision and said she was 'gutted'. However she admitted she was not surprised, after a separate planning decision a few days ago.
She said: “We had the incinerator decision last week and I felt sure this would come out soon after. Just because you have permission to develop doesn’t mean you have to develop and we have to secure the land. I will be urging Hertfordshire county council to sit down with St Albans district council because it is still very much up in the air what Green Belt land St Albans wants to release for development.” She added that there could also be a judicial review.
The site itself is owned by the county council, which had postponed any decision about its future until the planning process had been completed.
The terminal could affect people in the suburban villages of Park Street and London Colney, which are near Radlett, and where there has been strong opposition to the scheme.
London Colney labour councillor Jacob Quagliozzi told the Herts Advertiser: “Today’s decision is a hammer blow to London Colney and surrounding villages as well as the rest of St Albans. It is an insult to the more than 10,000 people who have signed the anti-railfreight petition and the many more who have campaigned against this proposal.
“I expect the leaders of the main parties on the district council to convene a meeting as soon as is possible to discuss what options are available to the council to challenge the decision. But there can be no dressing this up -- this is a terrible day for St Albans.”
However, the Freight Transport Association said the approval was 'a welcome boost for railfreight'. The FTA's policy director Chris Welsh said: “FTA has long campaigned for increased railfreight development, and investment in rail connected intermodal terminals is crucial for future growth in domestic rail intermodal traffic. Schemes such as this are vital in order to meet challenging railfreight growth targets and any development that will improve and expand railfreight capacity is good news.”
DB Schenker Rail UK CEO Geoff Spencer said: “We are pleased to see another positive step forward in the development of the rail infrastructure, providing customers with real options around how they transport goods. This type of Strategic Rail Freight Interchange makes rail a very viable and efficient choice for transporting goods within the UK, will help move long haul from road to rail, reduce congestion, CO2 emissions, and ultimately save lives.”
If the terminal is built it will be the second new railfreight development alongside the southern end of the Midland Main Line. Work is already underway on the development of a separate rail-road freight interchange at Sundon, just north of Luton, which will be connected to the main Midland line near Leagrave and also serve a new junction on the nearby M1.
Reader Comments:
Views expressed in submitted comments are that of the author, and not necessarily shared by Railnews.
Chris Wilson, Letchworth Garden City
(This comment has not been published as it did not conform with RN Guidance Note 6 [older stories].)
Tony Crook, St Albans
Tony Pearce's comment that "this closed airfield seems ideally suited next to the M25 and Midland Main line" would be valid if it were not also the case that:
a). no direct access to/from the M25 is to be permitted. Hence any and all road traffic arriving/departing from the new terminal will have to be routed via already overcrowded roads;
b). the railway line has no additional capacity for rail freight, being fully utilised by passenger services (Midland Mainline and First Capital Connect)
A strong case has been put forward for the terminal/interchange to be located either in Slough and in nearby Luton, both of which would appear to be better locations for a variety of reasons (not least being they are actually wanted by local people). But of course localism only extends as far as Eric Pickles wants it to.
Bob Heath, Nottingham
Any scheme that reduces heavy haulage on our overcrowded road system is welcome. It makes one wonder why the existing Toton marshalling yard ideally situated next to the M1 is not being used.
grantown , watford
The opportunity seems to be here to provide a link (paid for by a developer) between the St Albans Abbey line and the Midland Main Line, giving the potential to link Watford and Luton directly by rail. The marginal cost of this would seem to be very small.
Gary Broadbent, St Albans
This is a road freight terminal in all but name. The rail slots through he site are already full. Critically it has no direct link to any motorway. If you live anywhere near the proposed site, you'd know that the local roads, on which 3000 additional HGVs per day would run, are full during the rush hour now. In addition, most of the jobs that will created will be filled by staff from towns such as Luton and Hatfield. They will arrive by car, putting thousands more vehicles on roads that cannot cope with current levels of traffic.
bob ajob, london
simple term 'NIMBY'.
Some people would have us still living in caves.
Many people want freght off the roads and onto rail. BUT NOT NEAR THEM.
As it'san old airfield, wonder what they would say if they opened a runway for flights...they'd still moan about aeroplanes taking off and landing.
Tony Pearce, Reading
Although there are always some environmental downsides to every Project, this closed airfield seems ideally suited next to the M25 and Midland Main line. The Terminal would seem to be a Container Transfer Depot which won't cause any more noise than exists from M25 traffic. Reading's Freight Depot is at Theale and has stone, cement and petrol traffic. It is hidden behind embankments and careful tree planting, and causes no problems, even at the main A4 roundabout which joins the Depot.