I am writing in response to the “Redevelopment of station is top of list” article which appeared in the September 16 edition of your paper and was written by MP Richard Harrington.

As anyone who uses Watford Junction station knows walking from the car park to the forecourt, it is to say the least taking one’s life in their own hands.

With the only footpath being less than a half a metre wide, in very poor condition, with no hand rails or barriers (I have personally pulled a three-year-old from the roadway on one occasion) and directly next to a heavily used roadway, improvements are essential to ensure users’ safety and cannot wait for another 40 years, as stated by MP Harrington.

My concern is that he has placed the safety of the user of the area third when he stated “I don’t want the main objective to be forgotten – improving the passenger experience, station use and safety.”

Safety should be the FIRST thing anyone thinks about when making such decisions as the redesign and redevelopment of an area that has already had many millions of pounds spent on it with no improvement to pedestrian safety.

I am also very apprehensive that the brief outline for the development of the area submitted by Watford Borough Council seems to include or suggest the construction of 3,000 new homes in a 20-storey block of flats near the station.

Really? By combining this development of overpriced, high-rise flats with the urgent safety needs of the station we are inviting another exercise in bureaucratic red tape and delays when the concentration should be on the safety of the users of the station.

Thomas Brooks, Ovaltine Drive, Kings Langley