North Devon Transport Discussed
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TWO local members of Parliament— Mr. Jeremy Thorpe (Liberal, North Devon) and Mr. Percy Browne (Cons., Torrington) were the main speakers at Barnstaple last Friday when the Beeching Plan and its probable effect on North Devon's transport was discussed. The meeting was convened by the North Devon sub area of the R.H.A. and was attended by many of its members as well as a number of T.R.T.A. members.
Mr. Thorpe, who opened the meeting, stressed that the Beeching Plan was useful when taken in isolation, but the future pattern of transport should be based on a full survey of the needs of the area, including the provision of adequate roads.
Liner trains were the real competition to road haulage, said Mr. Browne. He suggested that hauliers should consider using the railways as their sub-contractors rather than Allow a situation to arise where the railways would employ hauliers. who would then be much worse off.
In the general discussion that followed, all speakers agreed there was need for an improvement in roads in the area, but few agreed with the views of Mr. Browne. Hauliers believed they would compete well with any future pattern of railway operation, while C-licensees considered there were many fetors that would still make it preferable for them to run their own vehicles.