Sparshatt's Appeal For Service Depot
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From a Special Correspondent
ON Tuesday Mr. John Sparshatt, managing director of J. H. Sparshatt and Sons Ltd., put forward a reason for the present controversial condition of the country's heavy lorries. And, in turn, he proposed an answer.
Mr. Sparshatt said at an Egham planning inquiry: "This situation is caused entirely by the great shortage of servicing depots throughout the country. Owners are finding it very difficult to get running repairs and maintenance work carried out and consequently arc being tempted to run =roadworthy vehicles."
His solution is a nation-wide set-up of servicing depots, each covering a radius of 20 miles. At Egham he was fighting Egham Council in an attempt to implement this proposal, which he said was backed throughout the trade as a whole. But his original application to develop a site at Thorpe, near Egham, had been turned down by the Council because it conflicted with the local town map.
The Council had planned to use the land to re-locate local non-conforming industries and to cover the expansion of existing factories. Mr. Sparshatt, however, had appealed to the Minister of Housing and Local Government. who ordered Tuesday's inquiry.
• Mr. Sparshatt said the Egham site had been chosen because of its close proximity to the London-Penzance trunk road, because it was out in the open away from towns and villages, and finally because it could fit perfectly into the 20-mile radii artas being planned for the southern region.
Commenting on the appeal, Mr. John Peak, deputy North West Surrey planning officer, said: "We must keep a reserve of land in this area to implement our long-term plans. This plot is specially set aside for the expansion of local industries and re-location of factories."