Former airfield site at the centre of railfreight storm (From St Albans & Harpenden Review)

Former airfield site at the centre of railfreight storm

9:40am Wednesday 8th October 2008 in News By Alex Lewis

In a second railfreight article Alex Lewis looks at the history of the former Radlett airfield site.

IT was in 1929 that The Handley Page aircraft business relocated its factory from Cricklewood to land between Radlett and Park Street.

As the company had to test its products – including early airliners and heavy bombers such as the Halifax, it soon installed a runway, along with hangars and a control tower.

Many years after the firm went out of business in 1970, much of this infrastructure was still clearly visible to passengers on trains from St Albans to London.

The land was the scene of extensive gravel extraction, and ownership today is shared between Hertfortdshire County Council and quarrying firm Lafarge.

Around the turn of the Millennium, the council was approached by representtives of Helioslough, a business consortium formed to investigate the idea of building a large rail-linked goods yard on the site.

The same businessmen approached Kerry Pollard, the then St Albans MP in summer 2004, hoping that, tempted at the promise of hundreds if not thousands of jobs, he would be swinging his weight behind the proposal.

Backed by a central government keen to encourage a shift of goods from road to rail, Helioslough argued the former airfield was an ideal site – flat, lying on a main rail line, close to two major motorways and well situated for the key market of London and much else of the over-populated south east.

More in tune with the current of local opinion, Mr Pollard quickly forged a cross-party alliance with local people convinced the proposal would be disastrous, not only for the immediate Park Street area, but for London Colney, Radlett, Bricket Wood and the whole of central Hertfordshire.

The main objection was the fear that the A414, already groaning under the weight of excessive traffic, would have to cope with hundreds of extra slow-moving lorries.

By the time a planning application was finally submitted in 2006, passions were running high.

The district council was cheered on as it refused the application, and committed £750,000 into fighting off an appeal.