Norris plans London daytime truck ban
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• by Charles Young Former Road Haulage Association director-general Steven Norris plans to ban trucks from central London during the day if he is elected mayor.
The Tory London mayoral candidate has not released details of the scheme, but a spokesman for his campaign says it would probably ban deliveries from 07:30-18:30hrs.
This would leave delivery slots of just half an hour in the morning and two-and-a-half hours in the evening, assuming existing restrictions remained.
Norris says: "The proposals are not the abandonment of the night-time ban but a means of enforcing an effective. operable system to assist motorists, businesses and householders in London by removing lorries from peakhour deliveries. London has a night-time lorry ban that is bureaucratic and substantially ineffective. My plans for a daytime ban for lorries will come as a relief to motorists and businesses throughout London who currently suffer with the chaos caused by lorries delivering during the day."
His proposals have been described as "plain daft" by the Freight Transport Association. Director for London John Guttritige says: "It will drive business from London and lead to even greater congestion as companies switch to smaller vehicles to stay in business. To suggest that he MR extend to daytime a ban which he admits doesn't work seems muddled thinking to say the least.
-Smaller retailers, offices. pubs, restaurants, manufacturers and schools will not be able to afford the staff to receive deliveries in the middle of the night," he adds. And few
residents will want new furniture delivered at 2am."
RHA national chairman John Bridge welcomes the chance to talk about the problems facing London. "There's a need to get all parties together to look at the situation," he says.