LA criticised
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A LICENSING AUTHORITY has been criticised by the Transport Tribunal for his handling of a public inquiry at which he refused an application for an operator's licence from a company whose efforts were being opposed by the Road Haulage Association.
Wilkinson Freight UK's appeal to the Transport Tribunal followed the refusal by North Western LA Roy Hutchings of this company's application for an international 0-licence, and his statement that proprietor Brian Wilkinson's previous operating history made him unfit to hold an 0-licence (CM, March 17).
It emerged during the hearing that Mr Wilkinson had been the managing director of another company which went into voluntary liquidation in April 1983.
In overruling Mr Hutching's decision and granting Wilkinson's licence, the Tribunal criticised the LA's handling of the hearing. Evidence of Wilkinson's financial standing was heard in private and lawyer John Backhouse who represented the RHA was excluded from that part of the proceedings.
No transcript of the private evidence was taken and the Tribunal found no reason to believe that Mr Hutchings had taken any note of the evidence given.
The decision by Mr Hutchings to refuse a licence was based on "certain other matters" which came to light in the course of the private session.
According to the Tribunal, Mr Backhouse was unable to question Mr Wilkinson effectively, and it believed that nothing emerged from his questioning which could justify the LA's ruling.
The Tribunal added that Mr Wilkinson had no history of involvement in several failed companies, and a testimonial from a company owed £1,090.50 by Wilkinson Freight, a previous company of which Mr Wilkinson was managing director, described Mr Wilkinson as someone who would not walk away from his problems.
It added that Mr Hutchings had no power to exclude an objector from part of the hearing and said that where an inquiry is held in private, a verbatim record should be made of the proceedings.