Councillors urge Progress on Palmer plan
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national lorry ban
• Somerset County Council has launched what it hopes is the start of a national campaign to ban trucks over 17 tonnes from towns and minor roads.
Its report, Lorries and the Environment, will be debated this week by the South-West Regional Planning Conference, and support will be sought from the Association of County Councils at its next environment meeting on 10 January.
Somerset hopes this will result in action from the DTp on its proposal to restrict HGVs to motorways and specified roads. • The merger of the Vehicle Inspectorate with the traffic examiner organisation is taking shape, with plans to open seven enforcement group offices across the country from April next year.
Traffic examiners will work from offices in Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Manchester, Leeds and Eastbourne. The Eastbourne office will handle the London Metro politan area and the SouthEast. Examiners will report to enforcement managers, who will in turn report to a national enforcement manager at the Vehicle Inspectorate's Bristol headquarters.
The moves are in response to the Palmer Report on Traffic Commissioners and traffic areas. Palmer recommended a merger of the VI and the traffic area offices.