Radlett Aerodrome rail freight depot land can be sold by council

Land on which a long-disputed rail freight terminal near the M25 could be built can be sold, councillors have agreed.

Earlier this month Hertfordshire County Council agreed terms to sell the former Radlett Airfield site to developers.

Liberal Democrat councillors asked to have the terms reviewed due to changes in circumstances in the nine years since planning permission was granted.

A council report said there had been "no relevant changes in circumstance".

The plan to build a major freight depot at Radlett Aerodrome had been opposed by campaigners for about 15 years when in 2020 St Albans District Council withdrew its opposition.

Developers, Segro, first applied for planning permission in 2009 and after a Planning Inspectorate appeal, planning permission was granted in 2014.

The district council lost a High Court appeal against the plan in 2015, after it received government approval.

But it could still only be built if the county council sold land it owned to the developers.

At a special meeting of the council's overview and scrutiny committee, Liberal Democrat councillor Sandy Walkington said the decision to sell was "fundamentally flawed".

He said when planning permission was granted in 2014, the council had said it had "no legal option other than to sell the land" but there were now alternatives because of the "substantial changes in circumstance" in the intervening years.

These included the "nearly halving" in the use of rail freight between 2014 and 2021 and the "explosive growth of light goods vehicles".

He also pointed out that the council had bought the land for £1, "with the clear intention of protecting the Green Belt" and it was now being sold for a "massive and inappropriate development which the council claims to deplore".

The council's deputy chief executive, Scott Crudgington, said the decision to sell the land was made by councillors in December 2022 and the more recent decision related only to the terms of the sale and the disposal.

He said property, highways, legal and specialist staff had been part of the detailed sale process and the final decision on the terms of the sale was only taken in May after a range of documents had been considered.

A written report circulated at the meeting said the council was satisfied there have been no relevant changes in circumstance that would alter the decision to proceed with the sale.

Mr Crudgington also said strategic rail was still national government policy.

It was agreed by six votes to four that the committee had no objection to the decision being implemented.

Campaign group Save St Albans said it was "regrouping to pursue a judicial review".

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