'Undemocratic'
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LORRY CONTROLS agreed by district councils are unlikely to be as effective as those agreed by single metropolitan counties, the Association of Metropolitan Authorities said last week.
In its response to the Department of the Environment consultation paper on Streamlining the cities, in which proposals for the abolition of the metropolitan counties are aired, the AMA said the Government's proposals would be both costly and undemocratic.
But it was reluctant to put any figure on its forecasts, as its chairman, Sir Jack Smart, believed the Government had not costed its proposals. He said the suggestion that great savings would arise was a fallacy.
The AMA is opposing the proposals for joint boards of district councils to take over work like lorry controls, largely because it fears that district nominees on the boards will not be answerable to their sponsor authorities and, in consequence, the boards' decisions will be undemocratic.
It is questioning whether joint agreements on matters like lorry routing and urban traffic control can be as effective as existing methods.
And it says the proposals fly in the face of AMA/Association of County Councils/Department of Transport recommendations last year that £9m would be saved by transferring DTp trunk roads to the counties. "The case for greater efficiency, combined with economy, is totally ignored," it said.