SPACE PROBE
Page 73
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NATIONALIZATION of road transport was hardly an issue at all, let alone a major issue, during the election campaign This does not mean that transport has been taken out of politics, or even of party politics, but it will make it harder to pin on hauliers the time-honoured accusation either that they are the lackeys of the Conservatives or that the Conservatives are in their pockets.
There has been a fair amount said on nationalization in general.. Warnings have been given against what is picturesquely and aptly described as "creeping socialism", and the progress of the Transport Holding Company has been given as an example. Perhaps surprisingly there has been little response among road operators. Whatever they may think about the creeping process in other industries, they can see no genuine signs of it so far in their own. They are accustomed to the expansion of businesses or groups by acquisition and would object only if the THC received funds from the government or departed in some other way from the accepted pattern.
DANGER NOT PASSED
The danger of unpalatable national legislation has still not passed. During the next few months, however, more attention might well be paid to what is happening in the regions. Now that they have been established, the regional economic planning councils are not likely to be disbanded. They will expect to continue what they were doing before the election. One request made to them by Mrs. Barbara Castle was to make a study of transport.
Although according to reports the word "integrationwas bandied about freely during the discussion between the Minister and the chairmen of the councils, there is no indication that they have been ordered or even encouraged to shape their investigations towards any specific conclusions or recommendations. They are expected to cast their net wide enough to include all the interests concerned.
On this basis road operators of all kinds are bound to be consulted. Their opinions on integration, if sought, are probably predictable. There are several other points which could be put forward for their own sake. They might have the incidental beneficial effect of persuading the councils that there are many more urgent problems than that of integration, which might well be left even to solve itself. Most of the inquiries put in hand by Mr. Ernest Marples during the last Conservative administration were prompted by the increasing difficulties arising from the lack of space for road users. In one way or another space is the theme of the reports associated with such names as Hall, Smeed and Buchanan. Commercial vehicle operators have only recently come to appreciate the full significance of this and are now beginning to make their complaints heard.
The demand for vehicle parks, preferably guarded, was first put forward in the interests of security. One of a number of points put to local authorities was that the site ought to be chosen with due regard not only to the desire of drivers to find accommodation as near as possible to their vehicles but also to the advantage of easy access to the industrial centres or docks where the vehicles would probably be calling the following morning.
The almost incredible lack of guarded parks even in large towns or conurbations may very well be because of the reluctance of the local authorities to .make available a site which meets these two conditions at a reasonable price. Most authorities would agree in principle that a park is needed. Some of them have not hesitated to threaten operators whose vehicles are parked overnight in the street, on verges and central reservations and in any other spot which presents itself. The threat is unreasonable if there is nowhere else to go.
NEEDS DISREGARDED
The operator finds his needs disregarded in other ways. Often it is not easy for him to find premises where he would like to have them. He is refused planning permission for extensions to meet the expansion of his business or the need for maintenance facilities. He is offered unsuitable alternatives when his premises are subject to a compulsory purchase order. As has recently been pointed out his indignation is hardly assuaged when he sees diverted to other uses land which would have met his requirements admirably and which had for a century or more been used for transport purposes by the railways.
In turning a cold shoulder to the pleas of road operators the local authority is to a large extent reflecting local opinion. Reports, of inquiries into planning applications show that in residential areas the road transport depot is attacked as a nuisance and in more rural areas it is regarded as a blot on the landscape. In central or industrial areas a suitable site may be almost impossibly expensive for an operator whose use of land must be extravagant in comparison with a manufacturer who can concentrate his activities into a small space and in a building with several floors.
Pressure from uninstructed public opinion must be resisted. There must be more frequent reminders of the fact, unpalatable to some sections of the public, that commercial and business transport is more important than private motoring and that the economy depends upon the van and the lorry. Sufficient space must be provided for commercial vehicles and, if necessary, on favourable terms as in the case of the railways.
A FIRST TASK
A space probe on behalf of road transport ought to be one of the first tasks of the regional economic planning councils. As a positive contribution towards the provision of the best possible transport service for trade and industry it shows more promise both of immediate and long-term advantages than consideration of a topic such as integration, which there are good grounds for thinking has already been discredited in camera by Lord Hinton.
The terms of reference of the councils are somewhat vague. They are to assist in forming a regional plan making best use of regional resources. They are to advise on the implementation of the plan on the basis of information and assessments from the Economic Planning Board. They are also to advise on the implications of regional economic policies.
Integration as a criterion seems out of place here. It may not be needed for and may even hamper the best use of resources. It may be equally unnecessary for implementing regional plans or for following up the implications. On the other hand the need for operators to have enough space to deploy their vehicles to the best advantage is something which transcends political fancies.