Hauliers happy as Lynn ban dropped
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HAULIERS have welcomed Norfolk County Council's decision to drop plans for a lorry ban in King's Lynn, following warnings that it could be a dangerous move at a time of recession.
Under the plan, lorries would have been denied access to London Road, King's Lynn between 5am and 9am and 4pm and 8pm, but a meeting of the County Council took account of chief executive Barry Capon's warning that this is not the right time to introduce a ban on heavy Jorries.
He said: "At the present time, I would suggest you don't take a gamble with industry and jobs in King's Lynn."
Road Haulage Association Eastern area secretary Ken Williams told CM this week that he was pleased that the Council had taken account of the RHA's objections to the scheme, and said that the scheme would have been of little benefit to most residents.
"I hope this helps the port to stay alive," he said, and pointed out that the death of the port could have had serious consequences for hauliers in the area. While the traffic would have been diverted to other British ports, and would probably have been carried by RHA members, the King's Lynn area operators would have lost the business, according to Mr Williams. "If they tried to move to where the traffic is, who would buy their houses?" he added.
The decision has also been welcomed by the local branch of the Transport and General Workers Union which planned to mount an active campaign against the ban if the Council had gone ahead with it.
District secretary Roger Ward said: "I would not say that this is a victory for anybody. But as far as we are concerned, it is an important decision for King's Lynn."
For King's Lynn shipping agents Garland and Flexman, Bill Wharton said that commonsense had prevailed. But he warned: "Knowing some of these environmentalists, this will inevitably crop up again."