No Decision on Spelmonden
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AS reported briefly in last week's issue of The Commercial Motor, the Transport Tribunal reserved its decision on the appeal by Spelmonden Estate Co. Ltd., of Goudhurst, Kent, against the South Eastern Licensing Authority's refusal to grant an application for four vehicles on A licence.
Counsel for Spelmonden, Mr. J. R. C. Samuel Gibbon, claimed that the Authority had been misled at the lower hearing by the objectors, British Railways and British Road Services. In reply, Mr. R. M. Yorke, for B.R.S., challenged a written agreement between Spelmonden and Henry W. Arnold, fruit wholesalers of Spitalfields Market, London. The agreement, which contained a "priority clause ", allowed Spelmonden to carry other customers' goods during the slack fruit season provided Arnold's goods were given priority.
Mr. Yorke claimed that Spelmondert was attempting to get the best of both worlds" and the arrangement was, in effect, indistinguishable from C hiring. The applicant would be able to compete with other hauliers for other traffic for which there had been no evidence of need.
If this application be right ", said Mr. Yorke, "it really is the end of Contract A licences. What the applicants want are all the advantages of Contract A without the disadvantages of having to enter into a minimum payment clause and not being able to earn a bit more jam for their bread and butter when the vehicles are doing nothing."