Think again, says judge
Page 16
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• At the Transport Tribunal Judge Hampden lnskip has taken the unusual step of referring a case back to a licensing authority public enquiry.
The case involves Tiptree Union Haulage of Colchester, which specialises in transporting trailers to and from the East coast ports. Tiptree was appealing against a decision by the Cambridge licensing authority restricting the company to the operation of five vehicles and five trailers.
Appearing for Tiptree, Gordon Linington of the FTA told the court that the company was operating 14 vehicles and 10 trailers at the time of the earlier hearing but that number of vehicles was rarely parked in its operating centre. This was because most of the vehicles were busy on operations between the ports and manufacturers.
He asked the tribunal for Tiptree to be given an operating licence allowing the company to operate up to 14 vehicles and trailers on condition that it agrees to keep no more than five vehicles and five trailers in its operating centre at any time.
Inskip asked Linington whether this point had been made at the public enquiry. Linington replied that the point had been made, but not as clearly as it might have been.
Inskip ruled that the question of whether a company could operate more vehicles than specified in its operating centre licence was a matter for public enquiry.
"We have discussed so many imponderables that we have decided to send the matter back to the licensing authority," he said. If the licensing authority agreed to the arrangements Linington suggested, he might well wish to impose additional conditions, he added.