Change the rules say FTA
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SUGGESTED changes in the regulations that enable local authorities to make traffic orders have been sent to the Department of Transport by the Freight Transport Association.
The FTA says its main concern is centred around Government intention to take away all control which the Department can exercise over the making of orders.
And a loophole in the rules governing public inquiries should be blocked, it says. Where there is an objection to a plan, an inquiry must be held, but councils are blocking roads for a day or two in order to pedestrianise a street, the FTA claims.
Legal doubts on whether a public inquiry should be held must be cleared up, the FTA declares.
Experimental order systems that make it easier for objections to schemes to be overruled are also giving cause for concern. They are being used to speed up slow processes rather than for genuine experiments, the association alleges.
Consultation requirements should be tightened and safeguards established, says the FTA. "Sound procedural rules are vital in ensuring that the right standards are established in the long term," it adds.