Mrs. Anne Main MP

Member of Parliament for St Albans

House of Commons

London, SW1A 0AA

22nd May 2007

Dear Constituent,

Railfreight appeal lodged by developer 17th May 2007

Further to my last letter I am writing to inform you that, on 17th May, Helio Slough lodged a formal appeal with the Planning Inspectorate against St Albans District Council’s decision to refuse the proposal for a railfreight interchange site. Helio Slough and the Planning Inspectorate have also confirmed to me that an appeal is now proceeding.

As you may recall the Highways Agency had major concerns about this proposal and in December recommended that the Council should refuse the application, although negotiations were ongoing with the developer.

I was trying to ensure that deals were not being done ‘behind closed doors’ aiming to resolve highways and other objections. Encouragingly, despite ongoing discussions, we have now learnt from the Highways Agency that as of 21st May that “the Highways Agency view remains unchanged.” However a further meeting is now requested between Helio Slough and the Highways Agency for late June and further information may be presented.

Consequently the proposed meeting with the Chief Executive of Highways Agency, STRiFE and me to reiterate our position and get the latest highways position has now been deferred until the meeting with the developer has taken place.

I, and many other local people, believe that the environmental and traffic issues are insurmountable and I am encouraged that the experts seem to maintain their position; I will be stressing this aspect of the flawed scheme on appeal.

Now we must wait to be given a date for the appeal hearing, which many expect to be in the autumn. All the original letters of objection to the Council should be considered as part of the Council’s case and the Council is also obliged to contact interested parties as soon as the details of the appeal have been finalised. There will then be an opportunity to pass on your concerns to the Planning Inspectorate.

We must continue to fight this proposal together. I will also keep you informed of any developments as soon as I am aware of them.

This proposal can be defeated— there is everything to fight for!

With best wishes,

Anne Main MP