Clifton Joint Service Jeopardized? Local Authorities Apprehensive
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ASUGGESTION that arrangements for the joint service between his council, Nottingham Corporation and South Notts Bus Co. (reported in The Commercial Motor, July 17) were being jeopardized by the East Midland Licensing Authority's ruling that South Notts could operate additional services through Clifton was made by Mr. F. G. Mansfield, clerk to the West Bridgford Urban District Council at an appeal inquiry in Nottingham last week. "The proper course for the Licensing Authority to have adopted at this stage of the joint service was to ensure that there was full co-operation between the parties who were running the service," he said.
" My complaint is that they should have gone further and said, having regard to the importance of this tripartite service, it is essential at this stage that the parties should co-operate with one another. That has not been done." He added that he hoped the Minister of Transport would share his view.
Mr. L. W. A. White, appearing for South Notts, suggested that the Minister was now being asked to deal with the case as a test case affecting the future of the joint service. The local authorities were apprehensive about the future, and were asking the Authority to make a decision which would be effective in future arrangements. He added that the Authority would have been very wrong and misguided, and would have gone beyond his statutory duty, if he had attempted to do that.
Outlining the case for Nottingham Corporation, Mr. R. 0. F. Hickman gave details of the additional services granted to South Notts. "The corporation can have no interest in what the South Notts do south-west of the Clifton estate. We have no buses there. But we are concerned once they reach the housing estate," he said.
He went on to say that the Minister had decided that the Clifton service should be operated by all three interests, and any device which could be discovered by any of the operators which would upset that distribution would be contrary to the spirit of the Authority's and the Minister's decisions.
"The application which South Notts submitted for these two additional outof-town services was contrary to the spirit of the Minister's decision, because it would enable them to abstract passengers from the internal joint service," he said.
"Are they going to be given complete freedom of operation along this part of the route, where it had previously been "decided that the service should be shared in a certain proportion?" asked Mr. Hickman.
Not Discussed Mr. Mansfield submitted that the amendment to the original application by the company for the additional services had been designed solely in relation to the Clifton estate, and was not discussed in any way with the operators concerned in the joint service.
Mr. White said that South Notts had been operating along the route in ques: tion for 27 years. He denied that there would be clashing in the times of buses and abstraction of passengers from other services. He asked that the Minister's decision should stand.
The East Midland Licensing Authority has granted applications by the operators of the NottinghamClifton estate service, Nottingham Transport Department, West Bridgeford Transport Department and the South Notts Bus Co., Ltd., to double the frequency and extend the terminal point.
Objections were lodged by Barton Transport, Ltd., and the company was joined by the South Notts concern in opposing a proposed workmen's 7d. return fare. They were unsuccessful.
THREE IN CAB: NO PROPER CONTROL?
THE Chesterfield magistrate last week dismissed the case against a lorry driver who was said to have been without proper control of his vehicle because there were three people sitting tightly together in the cab.
A police inspector said that the, middle passenger had his arms behind the other two men. The gear lever was near his knee and the brake lever between his legs. The defendant said that he had no difficulty in driving with two passengers.