With the fate of the controversial rail freight development in Park Street now resting with the county council, there is mounting pressure to get 10,000 signatures on a petition calling for the land not to be sold to developers Helioslough.

The e-petition on the county council’s website currently stands at over 6,300 signatures but 10,000 signatories are needed to trigger a debate in public about the land at Radlett Airfield which Helioslough now has planning permission to develop as a Strategic Rail Freight Interchange (SRFI).

The petition closes on September 26 and action group STRiFE - Stop The Rail Freight Exchange - and the panel and audience of an information meeting held in Chiswell Green last month, including St Albans MP Anne Main, are concerned that residents of other parts of the district and Herts as a whole have not realised the impact the SRFI could have on them.

They warn that increased lorry movements, pollution and the impact on commuter rail services will be felt far further afield than the Park Street area.

A spokesperson for the county council confirmed this week that no date has been fixed for a decision on the sale of its land on Radlett Airfield but it is understood that Helioslough has made an approach to purchase it.

The petition can be found here.