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SMALL WELSH OPERATORS WIN LONDON TOURS
Page 48
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THE North Western Traffic Commissioners granted applications at Chester last Friday for two small North Wales operators to operate excursions to London. The chairman, Mr R. D. Hutchings, said it was in the public interest for people in rural areas to be picked up in their own locality when going on coach tours.
Thomas Hollis, trading as Hollis Coaches of Queensferry was seeking to operate twoday duration tours to London or Wembley for theatres, exhibitions, shopping and sporting events commencing from Buckley. H. 0. J. and S. A. Phillips, trading as Phillips Motor Services of Holywell, were seeking to offer similar facilities commencing from Flint, Northop and Mold. The applications were opposed by C. Wright and Sons of Wrexham.
For the applicants, Mr H. H. Andrews said small operators were now becoming the providers of this type of facili ty in remote areas which large national organisations could no longer serve. Original objections from National Travel (North West) and National Travel (Midlands) had now been withdrawn.
Wright's London operations were essentially different. The applicant's licences cover 25 picking-up points compared to Wright's four in the area. Again Wright offered packaged mini holidays in London and this was not what was being proposed. The applicants passengers would have to find their own accommodation.
Mr Hollis said they were seeking to offer the same facilities enjoyed by people living in the larger towns and cities to the people living in these remote rural areas who had been neglected for very many years. Two-day duration tours were being sought as it was felt that people would not be prepared to spend 16 hours on a coach in one day.
Questioned by Mr J. E. Wright a partner in C. Wright & Sons, Mr Hollis said it was not proposed to offer hotel accommodation. He would operate the excursions no matter how small the number of passengers who booked. He felt it was a matter of goodwill. He denied the applications were designed to keep Wrights out of the area. He said he had paid a lot of money for his business and he wished to protect it. Mr A. S. Phillips said his fire operated common excursion to those offered by Hollis an when there was insufficien traffic they interchanged pas sengers at a common pickim up point. It was proposed t( adopt the same workim arrangement with the Londoi excursions.
Mr Hutchings commente( that the present licences di( not authorise such a linkim arrangement. If a grant wa made for London a linkim clause would be inserted.
Detailing his firm's Londoi facilities, Mr Wright said then had been five departures ii 1975 and 11 in 1976. Protectioi was required because unfet tered competition would lea( to a deterioration of the faci lities on offer. The area to thi North of Wrexham wa important because the firn had only a limited catchmen area to the south on th, London licence. Not a singll publ. witness had been calle( to sho. there was a dernanc for the proposed excursions The applications were at attempt to get "a share of th( cake" now his firm had buil up some demand after expend ing a considerable amount o money on publicity.
Announcing the Commis sioner's decision Mr Hutch ings said they felt the propo sals were sufficiently differen from Wright's operations as tc avoid any likelihood o abstraction.