Amendments to Area Scheme Drafted : 0.P.P.A. Extends
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COUTH SHIELDS has approved the
principle of nationalization of road passenger transport but the council has proposed the following amendments to the draft 'area scheme:—
The Area 'Board should: (a) comprise 11 members, including six to be appointed by the Ministryof Transport from a panel of persons nominated by local councils: (b) control the finances of its area within estimates approved by the British Transport Commission; (c) appoint its own chief officers. The area, the council adds, should be divided into a number of sub-districts, with powers, delegated by the local board, to operate local transport services.
Middlesbrough Transport Committee considers that the district committees should have executive powers to control day-to-day operations in their areas. Under present plans, district committees will be employed only in a consultative capacity.
The transport committee's recommendations have been adopted without comment by the general purposes and parliamentary committee.
Sunderland in Favour A special corporation sub-committee which has been considering the scheme, will recommend Si. derland Town Council to accept it in broad principle."
It suggests, howev r. a number of modifications and its ecommendations are largely the resul of conferences which have been h ld between the Durham County Bor • ugh Committee and an operators' ass iation.
'I he sub-committee aintains that the strength of the prop used area board should be II. Three of the members would be chairmen of the district management committ s and the eight other members should be appointed by the Minister of Trans ort himself, and not the Commission, a suggested in the
A30 draft scheme. They would be chosen from a panel of elected representatives of local authorities in the area.
The three district management committees, it is recommended, should he composed entirely of elected representatives of local authorities in the district, and should be given power to appoint sub-committees where necessary.
On the question of fares, the subcommittee recommends that instead of this being the responsibility of the Commission, local fares should be fixed by the area board.
So far as long-distance fares are concerned, however, it is considered that they should be settled at a national level.
Another point on which the subcommittee differs from the Commission is that of the appointment of principal officers. This, it points out; is a question for the area board. and not one for the Commission.
New 0.P.P.A. Branches A campaign to farm branches of the Omnibus Passengers' Protection Association in the North-western region of England is being conducted by S./Ldr. G. Godsave, The foundation of such branches in the north-west would be necessary to resist the threat of nationalization, he said, when addressing Birkenhead Chamber of Commerce. The Association was preparing for the fight that would come when the British Transport Commission transferred its activities to the counties of Cheshire and Lancashire.
Another branch of the 0.P.P.A. has been formed in Birmingham to cover the Midlands and East Anglia. The chairman, Major C. W. Barnard, MC., recently stated: "We expect that something will be done in the Midlands before long and we are forming an organization to lead opposition on behalf of the travelling public."