Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 11 March 2022 to Question 133334, and notwithstanding the fact the St Albans District Council is developing a local plan, if his Department will hold discussions with Hertfordshire County Council on the potential merits of disposal of the land that the County Council owns at Radlett being developed to support the delivery of community initiatives or facilitate local regeneration, instead of the construction of a Strategic Rail Freight Interchange which was approved by the Secretary of State for Housing in 2014 as a strategic infrastructure project, and cannot therefore be included in the local plan for any other purpose.

Due to the Secretary of State’s quasi-judicial role in the planning system, it would not be appropriate for me to hold a meeting with Hertfordshire County Council to discuss the details of this specific site, particularly when a local plan is currently being prepared for that area.