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LONDON'S traffic and environmental problems would be solved if a road network similar to that of Paris was built, John Ockenden, head of communications for the Road Haulage Association told the Inquiry.
"Paris has many radial routes linking the centre of the city with the outer ring roads and motorways," Mr Ockenden explained. Radial routes, along with the M25, would make Lon don an easier place to travel in, and allow drivers to avoid the "seething centre" of the capital.
And if the radial routes could be built in non-residential sites, problem areas such as Archway and Edgware Road would be relieved of most of their congestion, Mr Ockenden declared.
Although some residential areas do have traffic problems, he noted, some environmental groups are "hysterical" in their overplaying of situations. "There is a market for goods in London," he said. "These demands must be met. People who are after peace and quiet should not be living in London."
He declared that London operators would go out of business if a ban was introduced while operators based outside the M25 would be left to deliver goods into the capital at a loss, relying on their operations in other towns and cities to subsidise these London deliveries.
Other modes of transport such as rail and waterway cannot be seriously considered, Mr Ockenden said. The River Thames is a "recreational facility" and trade on it could not be significantly increased.
Rail would not be able to cope either, he thought. Giving exemptions to lorries on Freightliner-business only would be "discriminating." "There would be more lorries on the road carrying Freightliner containers, and the terminals themselves would be overcrowded," Mr Ockenden said.