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| From Your MP - Anne Main |
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Long before being elected as your MP for St Albans I know there were rumours and talk of a possible rail freight terminal on the outskirts of St Albans at the former Aerodrome at Radlett. Many people, including myself, even without being aware of the true horror of the proposals were against the idea. People are too aware of the traffic problems in and around St Albans, not to mention the very real threat to our green belt. Park Street wanted a bypass but not at this price.
This year things have progressed, plans were submitted in August to St Albans District Council who will reach an initial planning decision on 1st November. With the site bordering the Napsbury Estate and access off the M25 via Junction 21a or Junction 22 this proposal will indeed impact on London Colney residents.
The proposed site access is off the busy A414, this means that all site
traffic, including the predicted 3,000 lorries a day and 2,500 extra cars, must use the Park Street and the London Colney roundabouts. Anyone using this route daily will know that these roundabouts are severely congested at peak times and traffic ratruns through the village. Conversations with an officer of Hertfordshire County Council, lead me to believe that these roundabouts cannot easily be improved to accommodate current traffic let alone a huge increase in volume. Extra traffic will surely only add to the misery for local residents.
I truly believe that Napsbury Park will not escape these traffic problems: there will be a direct impact on the Napsbury development and local roads. There is the worry of additional noise and pollution from the site operations which will potentially operate 24hours a day, 7 days a week. There will be no new station for Napsbury as part of the proposal as some believed there would be.
Some dismiss my objections to the Railfreight terminal as 'NIMBYISM'. But I want to stress the need for a truly critical appraisal of the merits of locating a large industrial facility in the green belt accessed off local roads in areas of acknowledged traffic congestion, poor air quality and noise
pollution. In fact the Department of Health's own 2006 health profile for St. Albans accepts that our local air quality rating is below the accepted England average.
On the 17th October I led a Parliamentary debate on the proposed
development. I was determined that this debate was framed in strict
planning terms. I wanted the Minister, Yvette Cooper, to be aware of the numerous comments both from the Hertfordshire County Council and the Regional Assembly that indicate that this proposal simply does not stack up.
Local people value the village status of London Colney and will naturally be apprehensive about the effect that this proposal may have on their
quality of life and local house values.
It is highly likely that once St Albans District Council have made their
decision the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Ruth Kelly, will call in this application and make a judgement.
You have my assurance that I will keep pressure on the Government, at all levels, and I hope all residents will join with me in fighting this monstrous proposal.
Anne Main
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