No case no grant
Page 16
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• An application by K. J. and H. Condliffe of Middlewich, for a 111;-ton low-loader to be transferred from the applicant's C licence to a new B licence, WH$ refused in Macclesfield last week. The North Western deputy LA, Mr. A. H. Jolliffe, said that he did not think a prima facie case had been presented: There were four objectors.
Mr. K. J. Condliffe said that his work consisted of plant hire and repair and that he had bought the low-loader when the cost of hiring such vehicles became too expensive. The vehicle had a carrying capacity of about 18 tons but was employed for 80 per cent of its time in connection with his own business, said the applicant. Mr. Condliffe also gave the undertaking that the vehicle would only be used when one of its Journeys was for himself.
In answer to Mr. J. S. Lawton, for Pickfords Ltd., objecting, Mr. Condliffe said that he was paying between £80 and £150 a month to other hauliers to move machinery over 20 tons. A new tractive unit was on order which would increase the carrying capacity to about 28 tons. Mr. Condliffe said that he was at present operating the low-loader on trade plates and if the present application was successful he would have to pay an additional £480 in tax, so he had not entered the application without thought.
Mr. A. Jacks, of Fram Landscapes Ltd., and Mr. F. J. Lowe of Lowe. Millward and Sully Ltd., both said that they had experienced a certain amount of difficulty rn obtaining low-loader transport and would be glad of Condliffe's service, In summing up, Mr. J. A. Backhouse, for two objectors, said that he thought the 20 per cent availability referred . only to when the vehicle was standing in the applicants yard. There was another 20 per cent availability when it was running empty. As regards operating on trade plates, Mr. Backhouse said that he thought this practice, which the applicant had been using since May 1969, was illegal.
Mr. G. Clayton, for the applicant, said the operation had not been illegal and asked the deputy LA to rule that a case had been made out.