Night-shift?
Page 17
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THERE IS often intolerable parking space for lorries at motorway service areas has been placed firmly at the Government's door.
The three groups in question have urged the Government to do an immediate survey of overnight parking space on our motorways to ascertain where service areas are likely to need pressure on available overnight parking space for lorries at motorway service areas. It is therefore encouraging to see that in a joint submission to the Department of Transport by the Road Haulage Association, the Freight Transport Association and the motorway service areas, responsibility for providing extra facilities. How swift officialdom will be in moving to meet this pressing problem remains to be seen.
Whatever the outcome of the argument for-and-against heavier vehicles, more traffic will use our roadway system as the country emerges from recession, and with more sleeper cabs, the problem of overnight parking will increase, and not only at service areas. One hopes that in addition to facilities at service areas, local authorities will make provision for the overnight parking of vehicles, in the interests of " residents in their areas and also the drivers involved.
Some have already provided good overnight parking facilities. One known to me, has been sited, at a cost of many thousands of pounds, way outin-the wilds. It is unfenced, and there is no public transport service to or from the place. No telephone service exists. There is not a cafe on site, or nearby, where a cup of tea could be obtained. There are no toilet facilities! Little wonder that this particular so-called overnight park is not being used. A driver finishing a day's work wishes to park his vehicle in a secure place, within a reasonable distance of good lodgings for the night.
There are some good sites, but the location mentioned above is a recent development in an area which is growing industrially and will offer scope in the future, but at the moment not much in the way of the basic necessities for the "trunker".
How can responsible authorities expect to serve their community, and road hauliers, in this haphazard manner? Are there not some good guide-lines for the siting of overnight parks, for providing the basic services to be embodied therein, and for ensuring the proper usage and return on some of the money expended? If not, it's high time something was done about it on a national level.
NIGEL BREEZE Southend-on-Sea