THE airfield where the railfreight terminal is proposed is a grassland providing a useful feeding area for rare barn owls and kestrels, a parish councillor has told the inquiry.

Lib Dem St Stephens parish councillor David Parry said that barn owls, “hanging on by their wing-tips” in central Hertfordshire, bred successfully this year at Netherwylde Farm less than three-quarters of a mile away.

He said: “Such grassland landscapes are increasingly rare.

“For these barn owls to survive they need hunting areas like this which give them the ability to link with other breeding populations.”

Councillor Parry said that from the volume of the proposed 20-metre high warehouses he had calculated there would be at least double the number of lorries predicted by Helioslough.

He said: “The simple but fundemental flaw in the logic behind the appellant's figures is that they are comparing floor areas rather than capacity.”

In cross-examination, he acknowledged the previous inspector had known about the barn owls but said the species had declined in Hertfordshire from 25 to 20 pairs since the last inquiry.

Mr Forsdick challenged the traffic calculation, saying Councillor Parry's method based on volume had been rejected at inquiries into other developments involving warehouses of a similar size.

The hearing has adjourned for lunch, with more members of the public due to speak from 2pm.