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Armitage findings due next Tuesday
Page 5
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XT TUESDAY could be one of the most memorable days in the story of British road transport, if, as expected, the Armitage Inqur is published then.
For the five-strong Inquiry am, headed by Manchester iiversity vice-chancellor Sir -thur Armitage, this marks the ilmination of an 18 month slog
through hundreds of arguments and counter-arguments to report on lorries, people and the environment.
The Inquiry has been dominated by the question of whether the present 32.5 tonne gross vehicle weight limit should be increased, and it is this which will colour the report when it is debated by the Houses of Commons and Lords in the coming months. But it also takes in such factors as licensing and controls.
Anticipating the report's publication, a Road Haulage Association spokesman said this week: "We hope that the Armitage Inquiry is the last in a long line of inquiries on road haulage."
He said that the RHA wants the Government to act quickly and introduce regulations which reflect Armitage's findings by August 1981, and said it is convinced that Britain must move unilaterally on lorry weights, and not allow itself to be held back by the debates on European harmonisation.
The Freight Transport Association, which also is looking for a positive attitude towards the heavier lorry, said: "If the Inquiry finds in favour of heavier vehicles, having comprehensively analysed environmental concerns on the matter, then, in agreement with the views of British industry, the Government must not shirk the need quickly to give effect to that recommendation." Meanwhile, Transport 2000 director Nick Lester said this week: "Everyone is saying that Armitage is going to recommend an increase in gross vehicle weights. All we would say is that he may have made a mistake if he does."
Mr Lester urged the Minister to stand by his promise to have the report debated in Parliament, and warned him not to act hastily on its findings.
"If he acts quickly, he won't have studied the full implications of what Professor Armitage has found."
But that argument was rejected by the RHA spokesman who said: "It would be naive to expect the Government to come up with a proposition which is not in the Armitage report. So let's get on with what we're here to do, which is to run an efficient haulage industry. We are hoarse with argument."