Turvey slams 0-licence proposals
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• Government proposals to change the 0-licence regulation's environmental provisions have been slammed as "negative and petty" by Garry Turvey, director general of the Freight Transport Association.
The Road Haulage Association has called the ideas "worrying". This week, the Department of Transport published a review of the current environmental clauses. The subject has caused much debate in the transport industry this year, and several haulage companies have been through long wrangles with their local Licensing Authorities and the Transport Tribunal over whether or not their operating centres create environmental disturbances.
Do not be fooled by the DTp's claim that it is only proposing minor changes, says Garry Turvey. "Some of the changes could be moving towards the realms of back-door planning," he says. "By broadening the scheme and making it clear that the environmental effect on access roads in the vicinity of an operating centre can be taken into account, the Government is moving away from controlling operating centres towards overall planning procedures.
"The Government might like to sell the line that there are no major changes put forward following the review but clearly there are some very important points to be cleared up."
There are five major changes proposed by the Department of Transport: Clarification of the law on the extent to which the environmental effect of traffic on local roads is a relevant consideration.
CI A limit to the use of operating centres by operators with centres in more than one traffic area. IllAn extension of the range of activities that may be subject to conditions imposed by a licensing authority.
Permission for parish councils to make representations. El A reduction in the requirement that operators advertise their applications.
There are also a number of other ideas which the Department floats in the discussion document which followed the review, which though not firm proposals, raise fundamental issues.