SIR – I was horrified to read the headline in the Herts Advertiser regarding the possibility of 1,200 extra homes being built west of Verulam Estate (September 10). It will be like a mini town being constructed and a bypass road as well that will merely t

SIR - I was horrified to read the headline in the Herts Advertiser regarding the possibility of 1,200 extra homes being built west of Verulam Estate (September 10).

It will be like a mini town being constructed and a bypass road as well that will merely transfer traffic from Watford Road and King Harry Lane through an extra estate that will create more traffic to sit in queues.

1,200 extra houses with potentially two cars per household to start with will add an extra 2,400 cars on already overcrowded roads.

When any children grow up and have their own cars, there is a potential for maybe up to 6,000 extra vehicles on the roads.

Where are they all supposed to drive? Could Herts Highways' handling of the roads cope with this extra potential traffic? I doubt it!

Some people may dismiss these comments as nimbyism. However, I believe that the potential development could be similar to lumping Verulam Estate, St Julian's Estate and most of Watford Road and its associated estates into one small area.

It is such overdevelopment of a few acres of land and impossible to invisage without a comparison area.

Where are these extra people supposed to find work? Where will they park? Where are the shops that can cope with possibly an extra 6,000 mouths to feed? Where will the extra lorries come from that will be needed to deliver extra food to feed the extra mouths? Where will the children go to school? Where will these possible residents find health care?

Our emergency departments in St Albans and Hemel Hempstead are closed - what happens if there is an emergency? Watford is a nightmare any day of the week.

Where will the water supplies come from? Where will the rubbish be taken? We are constantly told the landfill sites are almost full!

The questions keep arising and I feel very angry that somebody who does not live in the area has made a decision that St Albans has to have so many extra properties attached to it, without any thought for the infrastructure of the town and the facilities within the town centre.

It feels like the area is to be swamped with housing, with the Crown Estate wanting to build 6,000 extra homes next to Buncefield and beyond, developers wanting to take more Green Belt to join St Albans to Harpenden and Harpenden to Luton boundaries.

Before long St Albans will be regarded as part of London and the M25 will no longer be an orbital road around London, but a road that goes through the middle of London.

What about the protected species of animals and birds that live on the land? Are they just to be got rid of to suit developers? Before long there will not be a blade of grass anywhere if these type of developments get the go ahead.

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