Essentially the council has passed everything back into the lap of Secretary of State Eric Pickles and is hoping that he will come up with improved substantive grounds as to why Colnbrook is a better place than Park Street to site a railfreight terminal to serve the north-west quadrant of London.

My niggling doubt is that we saw the Conservative-controlled county council refuse to stand up for local residents in the second public inquiry, leaving it to the District Council and to STRiFE.  That was a dereliction of duty of their part and must have played a part in allowing the Inspector to recommend approval of the project,  leading to the Secretary of State having to over-rule him, and so this most recent legal challenge by HelioSlough.

I hope the new Conservative-led district council administration, which is in St Albans but not of St Albans, is not wobbling in resolve to stand up for residents in the south of the district.

It is the proper reward for years of hard campaigning.

Had this awful development gone ahead, it would have irrevocably destroyed the character of our city and district and would have reduced our roads to gridlock.  Of course it is disappointing that the Inspector did not accept the powerful arguments put forward by the council, by STRiFE and by local residents.

But at a political level, the new Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government has shown that it understands the importance of Green Belt and that there are alternative sites for railfreight terminals where much less damage would be caused.

Three cheers for a government which shows common sense.  And congratulations too to STRiFE, to St Albans District Council, to all the local political parties who were genuinely united on this issue, and most of all to local residents and interest groups who gave evidence, put up posters, wrote letters, raised money and delivered leaflets.  It is their well-deserved triumph.

The county council deserves a good kicking for its abject failure to mount a challenge on highways grounds – that allowed the Inspector to ignore the evidence presented by David Parry and myself that the traffic generation formulae were flawed (see earlier blog entries here).  My own belief is that we have identified a serious issue which will alter the way that traffic models are constructed in other similar applications.

One final thought.  12 months ago, our City and District had the twin threats of a wholly inappropriately sized Tesco in London Road and this terrible proposal for a gigantic lorry terminal to the south of the district.  In both cases, determined campaigning by local residents, a firm stance from the council, and a blessedly united front from the political parties have seen the respective Goliaths off.

We now have to take our city and district forward with appropriate developments which go with the grain of our ancient and wonderful community.

My car made some interesting manoeuvres when exiting our side road, but it is people trying to walk on the pavements who are particularly at risk.  I think we need a fundamental review of the relative priorities of pavements and footways versus roadways in ice and snow clearing.

This winter’s snow should not be seen as an aberration.  Increasing climate extremes will be part and parcel of overall climate change.  Just as the ‘once in five hundred years’ west country floods of a couple of years ago were repeated this year, we cannot assume it will be another thirty years before the next big winter freeze.

The Liberal Democrat opposition on Herts County Council has done a great job in highlighting the lack of overall preparation by Herts Highways.  But we now need a wider discussion on whether we have the priorities right between roads and pavements.

Elderly people in particular have been prisoners in their own homes because they dare not set foot outside their front doors for fear of slipping over and breaking something.  All of us have take our lives in our hands when we walk down the street – and in a hilly town like St Albans, ‘down’ is often the right word with sloping pavements making icy conditions yet more treacherous.

Yet the county council’s policy statement on ‘Winter Maintenance’ leaves footways as an afterthought – less than one hundred words tucked at the end of a 1500 word document.  This ignores the fact that journeys start at people’s front gates.

It is clearly not plausible for the council to clear every footway itself.  But I would like to see a summit meeting called by the county council (which has overall responsibility) to bring together local councils, local voluntary groups and other interested residents to explore mechanisms for community self help.

I can see a role for street wardens looking after street salt bins to which they could have a key if theft is a problem – either as volunteers or on a small retainer.  The uniformed groups could play a part in their areas – again earning a modest contribution to their funds, when they come out to clear footways. And each and everyone of us could start from the presumption that we are responsible for the piece of pavement outside our home, provided that the county council provides the means.

In the meantime I applaud all the community minded people who have used their own initiative to help older neighbours by salting and gritting front paths.  Also Oakwood School for getting a team of parents to clear the nearby pavements and make them safe.

None of this is rocket science.  It’s not about letting the county council off.  But it is how other countries manage much worse conditions by everyone working together.  Not only would this release older and less able-bodied people from being imprisoned in their homes, it could be a brilliant mechanism for building community spirit.

It is not even a case of being stabbed in the back – it’s a knife in the stomach.

There were perfectly sound reasons for the highways issues to be revisited at this Inquiry.  Patterns of road usage are always changing, for example there is the potentially significant impact of Butterfly World.

The fight against the terminal will continue of course.  The rail capacity arguments remain powerful reasons for the application to fail yet again.  But it is quite shocking that the Conservative ruling group on Herts County Council have decided to put narrow financial interests above those of the residents of St Albans.

The picture above shows seven of the eight LibDem councillors from the St Albans constituency with the road and pavement dossier which has become a metaphor for Conservative failures in Hertfordshire.

For the remarkable result can’t just be explained by the current St Albans MP’s tangle over expenses. The simple fact of the matter is that our critique of the current Conservative administration in Hertford really hit home. An absolutely abject performance on roads and pavements. Failure to plan ahead for school places. An Adult Care Service which had a starring role on Panorama (not for good reasons). Inadequate youth services. £28 million thrown away in dodgy Icelandic investments. Council tax doubled in just ten years. And a chief executive paid more than the Prime Minister (though perhaps performance related pay would mean that virtually everyone should earn earn more than Gordon).

No wonder St Albans was not the only place in Hertfordshire where LibDems made gains off the complacent Conservatives. For the first time we are the main opposition party. Now we need to really hold their feet to the fire.