Smooth take off
Page 2
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THE CONSULTATIVE document issued by the Department of Transport concerning the restructuring of Traffic Areas is unlikely to draw much criticism from the industry. It is probably the least disruptive document ever produced in connection with transport.
The Department has been careful in reducing the number of Traffic Areas from 11 to eight and eventually, it seems, to seven, in order to ensure that the industry is not inconvenienced. Day to day inquiries will be answered at local level as will public inquiries.
Such consideration for a smooth transition is laudable. The change is long overdue.
Quite apart from the projected £150,000 saving there are other good reasons for change. The prime reason surely is the reduction in public inquiries and objections now that proof of need is no longer the criteria. The recession has also ensured that only fit people, in a financial sense, attempt to enter the industry.
The financial aspect, allied to the Certificate of Professional Competence requirement, has brought a respectability to the industry we could not have contemplated 12 years ago.
This is the Department's acknowledgement that road transport is now more easily governable and that the house is now in order. We welcome this latest move and commend it to the operators.