The Member of Parliament for St Albans, Daisy Cooper, has branded a proposed rail freight terminal on green belt land as "monstrous" and "devastating".

The proposed terminal would be constructed on the former site of Radlett Airfield.

Speaking with The Herts Advertiser this morning (Wednesday, March 29) Daisy Cooper said: "Residents are campaigning incredibly hard, as am I, to stop the rail freight interchange.

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“There are two halves to this whole campaign, there was a question around planning and whether it was the right place for it.

“Once the former Conservative secretary of state Eric Pickles gave the go ahead, the question came down to the land and whether or not Hertfordshire County Council needs to sell the land.

“Many of us have put forward a very strong case that says they don’t have to sell the land.

                                                                                   

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“There are now two different pieces of legal advice - one of which is the council’s own legal advice - that says that if the circumstances have changed, then actually they may not have to sell.

“What I have revealed, through my questions in Parliament, is that Hertfordshire County Council hasn’t even bothered to see whether or not the circumstances have changed.

Herts Advertiser: Daisy Cooper MP says that she will campaign against the proposed development until it’s too late and there are spades in the ground.” Daisy Cooper MP says that she will campaign against the proposed development until it’s too late and there are spades in the ground.” (Image: Archant)

“They haven’t written to the Government to find out whether there have been changes to freight demands, they haven’t consulted on any other possible changes.

“To me, that shows that this is not a county council that is a reluctant seller.

“Hertfordshire County Council has said time and time again, that they are a reluctant seller.

“But, if they didn’t want to sell the land, then they should be fighting tooth and nail to find reasons not to.

“It’s clear to me that they just haven’t done that.

Daisy Cooper MP went on to explain the effects that she believes the proposed rail freight terminal would have on the district.

She continued: “The impact would be enormous!

“First and foremost, it’s going to affect people who live immediately next to it.

“We have freight terminals around the country and they’re normally in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by green fields and on the side of a major road.

“The site in St Albans is ‘cheek by jowl’ with where people are living and their back gardens.

“So it’s completely the wrong place, it’s going to have a huge impact in terms of noise.

“But, it’s going to have a huge impact across the whole of St Albans, potentially across the whole of Hertfordshire as well.

“We’re going to have thousands and thousands of lorries coming into our area, we all know what the roads are like when it’s school pick up time or commuting time.

Herts Advertiser: The site would be constructed on the former site of Radlett Airfield.The site would be constructed on the former site of Radlett Airfield. (Image: Newsquest)

“We absolutely, cannot stand the pressure of these thousands of extra lorries.

“It’s going to have a devastating effect, it's a monstrous freight exchange that should never have been given permission to be built here in the first place.

“Now that that’s happened, it’s really in the hands of Hertfordshire County Council to decide not to sell the land.

“We hope and pray and campaign to try to stop that from happening, and we’ll keep campaigning until it’s too late and there are spades in the ground.”

Hertfordshire County Council has previously spoken of a new country park and Park Street by-pass, to be created during the development.

A spokesperson for the local authority said: "As one of the parties to the sale of land in Radlett to SEGRO the county council has already considered representations from community groups, residents, and elected representatives.

"These representations included a petition opposing the sale of the land which was considered at the time the decision was taken.

“After consideration, and in light of the planning permission already granted in 2014, Cabinet agreed to proceed with the sale of the land.

"The disposal of this site will lead to the creation of a new country park for the benefit of residents, a by-pass for Park Street, create much needed employment and will reduce the carbon footprint of transporting freight across the nation.”