A new motorway service station proposed at junction 20 of the M25, replete with a host of big name shops and coffee chains has, not surprisingly, aroused the wrath of those living close to the recommended site and therefore most likely to feel the effects of change before anyone else.

A community interest group in Kings Langley are understandably outraged by the news, taking issue with the likely noise and pollution from an inevitable increase in traffic, and the sheer footprint the service area will make on Hertfordshire’s green countryside.

In addition to an ongoing disruption to traffic caused by its construction and major alterations to the A41 that will again see a spike in road users, the group are rightly appalled at the despoilment of Green Belt land in favour of another overcrowded hive of fast food, bad coffee, worse sandwiches and throngs of red-faced people filing in to top up an already strained septic system.

However, it might be argued that there are some positive elements to this development that could, in time, serve to balance, if not entirely eradicate, any perceived negatives.

The first glaringly obvious benefit to a service station of such scale is job creation. Moto will install major concessions who must hire people, preferably from Hertfordshire, to perform a range of jobs from skilled labour, to service, to managerial. Such jobs could enable a single person or family to have a better quality of life, simply by having an income that can be gotten on their doorstep and eradicating potentially exorbitant travel costs into London.

Secondly is that a major investment such as this means a deal of money is paid directly to our local authorities for the privilege, which is then channelled into public services.

There will also be many who would welcome the added convenience of having small supermarkets or fast food outlets closer to home.

It is hard to argue against the need for more services on the M25. But many people ask: why here? The trouble with this complaint is that anyone can make it. Plans for a service station have also been tabled close to Chorleywood.

Unfortunately, it is near impossible to swing a cat in Hertfordshire without hitting the Green Belt and kicking the service station can down the proverbial road may mean a service station is built somewhere else.

This is not an invitation or endorsement for wholesale and promiscuous destruction of the countryside and this newspaper would actively encourage you to respond honestly to the consultation.

But we already enjoy the results of roads and railways that run through this county today, such as the M25 itself, that have not prevented us from enjoying Hertfordshire’s beauty and wildlife.

It is almost inevitable a service station will be built - somewhere. Is it worth trading a pleasant green hill for the prospect of jobs and shops, tempered with an increase in traffic and noise?