BY JANUS
Page 56
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Trust the Trust! '
OUTSIDE the road transport industry, prevailing opinions on the Armitage Report are like that of the curate on his egg. There are parts that may be tolerated, even found palatable. The rest is rubbish.
Restrictions and bans, stricter controls and enforcement, higher taxation and other inducements to send traffic by other means, all find wide support. Road improvements are acceptable, although with some reluctance. The main ondemnation is reserved for the proposals to increase vehicle Neights.
Such a reaction was expected. t explains why, when appointng Sir Arthur Armitage, TransDeft Secretary Norman Fowler added to the somewhat woolly terms of reference the sharply defined request "to face squa-ely the question of whether :here should be any change in :he present limits on the maxi-num weight of lorries — and to -eport quickly".
The natural anticipation of the Minister was that Sir Arthur Nould come — as he has come — to the only sensible decision. -lis Report can now be the bar-ier between the well-organised anti-road lobby and the legisators. The opponents must first demolish his conclusions before :hey can get at the politicians 'ram whom they expect support.
Their tactics are revealed with 3Imost indecent clarity in the -esponse from the Civic Trust. It s one of several organisations — others include the Council for :he Protection of Rural England, he Friends of the Earth and Transport 2000 — which on this (ind of issue work closely toother and thus give the impres;ion of a wide range of public ;ympathy.
The Civic Trust was fortunate or astute in its choice of name, In .wo short words it suggests sev
eral estimable virtues. Its members should feel that they have automatically acquired merit by belonging. Critics must look to their own reputations.
To operators with no other knowledge of the Trust, its pronouncements on transport show it as a somewhat dandified organisation, which regards the heavy lorry as uncouth and barbaric even where it is not dangerous and destructive.
The Trust has a taste for the apocalyptic. In a report which made some impact ten years ago, it prophesied the disastrous effects of increasing lorry traffic on buildings both ancient and modern, underground works of all kinds, and above all the Civic Trust way of life.
One of its few precise estimates was that by 1980 there would be nearly half a million lorries weighing over five tons unladen. The fact that the actual total is still not much more than it was in 1970 does not prevent the Trust from further forecasts of the calamitous consequences of Arrnitage.
His report undergoes drastic surgery at the hands of the Trust. It cuts away all the recommendations for increased maxi
mum weights. They should not even be considered, says the Trust, until everything possible has been done to reduce the nuisance and disruption caused by existing heavy lorries. As an afterthought, the Trust finds the proposed maximum of 44 tons unacceptable in any case.
Once the weight issue is out of the way, the Trust is almost happy with the rest of the Report. Where so many restrictions and handicaps are proposed, there is wide scope for congratulation.
Perhaps in one or two cases Armitage is a little too lenient, the Trust suggests. The proposed speed limit increase from 40 to 50 mph on dual carriageways is (of course) unacceptable. Drivers who do not keep to 40 mph would probably not keep to 50 mph. Where would it end?
Increased enforcement is welcomed, but there must also be increases in enforcement staff, says the Trust, and in the penalties for infringement.
On the subject of roads, the Trust is briefly in two minds. It is against the Armitage proposal for a halt in the absolute decline in road-building; but it has to give a grudging welcome to the continuation of priority fo passes.
Several extra recomme tions by the Trust involve collection by the Governme the evidence about the h and nuisance caused by lor In one or two cases the Armi report comments on the lac information, but neverth( makes as sound a judgment can on what is available. Trust seizes on the point reason for delay.
The Government must r attempts by bodies such aE Civic Trust to play fast and 14 with the Armitage recomme tions. In the words of the Re( "They enable us to gain eq mic advantages and substa environmental advanta! They considerably reduce effects of heavy lorries people and the environrr Heavier lorries help in that provement."
In evidence to the Hous Commons transport commi Sir Arthur took away some o force of this admirable sumr by saying that the Report not a packaged set of propc to enable a 44-tonne lorry t, introduced.
He had in mind the por impression of the report. In case the popular impressio right. Sir Arthur may see heavier lorry issue as "on subsidiary to the main rer and the anti-road lobby pretend to support this view. it is that issue on which the I lic wanted an independent informed decision and it is decision which has registere, If this were not so, prolonged Armitage 'rig! would have been largely a w of time. With the proposab the heavier lorry deleted, th4 port is very much like Fla, .without the Prince, and the ir iry just another quango we cc well have done without.